Matrix Model

The ProActive Institute, as part of its commitment to outcome-based treatment process, utilizes the MATRIX IOP method. The Matrix model has been refined over a twenty year period and has been adopted by the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration SAMHSA as one of its evidence based practices. The model is a manualized program that integrates cognitive behavioral therapy, contingency management, motivational interviewing, and other components to give clients the skills and understanding they need to overcome addiction.



Mindfulness Based Interventions 

Victor Frankl, a famous psychologist and Holocaust survivor, once said: “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our freedom to choose our response. In our response lie our growth and our freedom.” Mindfulness meditation is a practice that widens the space between stimulus and response. It affects not only our experience in the moment it also physically alters the brain’s neuro-pathways. The area of the brain that is most active when an individual is struggling with the disorder of addiction or anger management is known as the amygdala. When this area of the brain is in charge the space between our stimulus and our response is so small that we are unable to make healthy choices for ourselves. Mindfulness meditation, however, stimulates and “turns on” the prefrontal cortex – a much newer area of the brain in human development that controls our ability to make decisions, regulate emotions, and moderate social behavior. Here at ProActive Institute, we strive to be at the cutting edge of treatment for addiction and anger management by integrating mindfulness meditation into our programs.

 

Anger Management

As an Anger Management Certified Facilitator, the therapist will provide anger education; conduct anger management classes, groups or individual sessions.  This education is designed to prepare clients with coping skills needed in anger management, civility and/or emotional intelligence and styles of communication (Passive, Passive-Aggressive, Aggressive, & Assertive). This education helps the client to understand that anger is a completely normal, usually healthy, human emotion. However, anger can become maladaptive when it gets out of control and turns destructive. It can lead to problems at work, in your personal relationships, and in the overall quality of your life. The goal of anger management is to reduce both your emotional feelings and the physiological arousal that anger causes. You can't get rid of, or avoid, the things or the people that enrage you, nor can you change them, but you can learn to control your reactions.

 

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

Dialectical Behavior Therapy is a technique developed by Marshia Linehan. Originally intended to treat borderline personality and suicidal behaviors, DBT has also proven highly effective in treating substance abuse. DBT assumes that all individuals struggling with mental health issues are trying their best, but are often held back by maladaptive behaviors and thinking. By deeply exploring the chain of thoughts and behaviors the result in the unwanted consequences of mental health, like addiction, DBT strives to interrupt this chain at its beginning by introducing healthier responses and actions.