Kris Williams-Falcon, Ph.D., a New Season therapist specializing in substance abuse and addiction counseling, conveyed a radiating message in a July 7 article published in Savannah Morning News.

Williams-Falcon notes that treatment at the Savannah Treatment Center is highly affordable, in which the daily rate averages $15 across the 72 New Season treatment centers in the U.S.

She tells the newspaper, “That covers the medical care and the other resources.” The other resources include individual, group and family counseling, along with resources to find housing, employment, transportation and child care.

“There are people who spend $200 to $400 a day on addiction,” she said. “I have patients who have blown hundreds of thousands on addiction, lost mega-million dollar businesses, lost marriages, lost relationships with children, had friends and family isolated from them.

“They’ve lost more to addiction than it costs to get the help they need.”

Williams-Falcon brings up another insightful point in the article. She says methadone treatment is not what a lot of people think.

“Most people confuse crystal meth with methadone,” she said. “Crystal meth is an illegal drug cooked up from over-the-counter sinus or cold medications. Methadone is an entirely different drug.

“Methadone is an agonist medication, studied, analyzed and approved by the FDA,” she said. It blocks the ability to get high and blocks symptoms of withdrawal, like sweating, fever, nausea and diarrhea. It reduces cravings.”

Williams-Falcon advises that the daily dose of methadone does not alone address the underlying reasons for addiction. In addition to medication-assisted treatment, clients require counseling to overcome their addiction.

“Some have an image you just come in, get your medicine, that it’s just a quick place addicts can go and they’re fine until they get their next fix. That is not what we are about,” Williams-Falcon said. “We are a medication-assisted treatment program designed to treat patients who battle opioid addictions.”

Treatment is a long-term commitment to physical health and mental wellbeing. The National Institute on Drug Abuse, as cited in the article, recommends patients receive methadone treatment for a minimum of 12 months, and some patients may require treatment for years.

New Season provides individually-tailored treatment plans for each patient to achieve full recovery and return to a health lifestyle.