The Impact of Trauma in Substance Use Disorders

In the late 1990s, a groundbreaking study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Kaiser Permanente, known as the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study, revealed the profound impact of childhood trauma on long-term health outcomes.  

The findings were startling: individuals with higher ACE scores were significantly more likely to suffer from chronic health issues, including alcoholism and other substance use disorders (SUDs). For example, those with four or more ACEs were seven times more likely to become alcoholics. 

Today in the US alone, 21.5M people are diagnosed yearly from what is called co-occurring disorders (mental health + substance use) and recent research continues to highlight how trauma fuels the development and persistence of SUDs. (NIH)

Unfortunately, traditional SUD treatments often overlook the trauma component, not because they don't understand its impact, but due to lack of resources and capacity to address both trauma and addiction effectively. As a result, these treatments focus primarily on stabilizing patients initially but fall short in supporting their long-term trauma recovery journey. This gap in care leads to poor engagement and higher relapse rates.

Implementing trauma-informed care in SUD treatment will be a significant shift not only towards driving better outcomes but also attracting better insurance contracts and rates; especially for private facilities that constitute ~85% of all treatment facilities in the US. 

Building Trauma Care in SUD

In the last four months, spending time with many treatment facilities, our focus was less on aligning on the need for trauma care—almost every facility we talked to understands its critical impact on their outcomes. Instead, our efforts were centered around how to successfully implement and blend the solution throughout a patient journey; while adding value to patients and treatment facilities.

Key critical areas we are focused on with Sentur Optima to ensure frictionless adoption and integration:

• Client-Centered Approach: Engagement is the cornerstone of any solution. Integrating both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations is essential, as they play different roles throughout the therapeutic journey. This foundation is crucial for any solution, digital or otherwise.

• Timing: The timing of when to start the Sentur care journey is critical. Our ideal timing is immediately after the stabilization period is over when patients typically transition into a Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) or Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP), depending on the facility.

• Continuous Support & Progress Beyond 1:1 Therapy: Providing 24/7 de-escalation support and coping-skill building tools that are tuned to the 'Stage of Change' of the patient will not only amplify therapeutic impact but also ensure we are driving outcomes . That is why we are very particular about having a progressive journey of trauma care that wraps around the actual patient. It provides consistent support and experience regardless of the state of change. It is NOT a library of courses or meditation contents.

• Amplifying Therapeutic Sessions: As Sentur wraps around patients, we are able to use rich real-time data for pre-session prep (i.e. SOAP Notes); optimizing in-person programming and allowing for seamless transition for new care providers.

• Flexibility in Contingency Management: We adapt contingency management applications to the unique needs of each facility, customizing milestones and reward systems to seamlessly integrate with their operations.

• Long-Term Recovery Support: Post-discharge, we maintain client engagement through a consistent contingency management experience, leveraging modern gamification elements to support long-term recovery and continuously propel patients forward.

• Empowering Facilities with Data: We equip facilities with comprehensive data to track and enhance engagement and recovery outcomes. This data helps improve their negotiating power for better insurance contract rates and reimbursements and prepares them for the value-based care (VBC) model that is coming sooner or later.

At Sentur we are on a mission to generate vast social change by revolutionizing mental health care through the comprehensive treatment of trauma. We invite you to be a part of this transformative journey. Subscribe to this newsletter / follow me or the Sentur LinkedIn page.