San Clemente, CA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 10/11/2016 --Sovereign Health, a leading national provider of behavioral health treatment services, has launched a new Pain Program at its San Clemente treatment center, designed to assist individuals whose pain has led to an addiction to prescription and/or illegal drugs. Sovereign's integrative approach to pain management focuses on the biological, social, environmental and personality variables that trigger pain. Sovereign's mission is to reduce patients' primary reliance on addictive medication and to enhance their nonpharmacological pain management.

"Many individuals suffering from chronic pain are forced to take excessive medication to cope with their pain. As a result of their suffering, they may isolate from loved ones, experience unpleasant changes in mood, sleep and appetite," says Roxana Lal, Associate Program Director, Special Programs. "Sovereign Health is not a Pain Management Program; rather, it's a Pain Recovery Program, where we'll help patients unlearn poor habits and replace them with taking medications as prescribed and developing healthy coping habits. My ultimate goal is to have patients learn to live a healthier life with the injuries they have."

Approximately 100 million Americans suffer from chronic pain, defined as pain that lasts longer than six months. Chronic pain can be mild or excruciating, episodic or continuous, merely inconvenient or totally incapacitating. With chronic pain, pain signals remain active in the nervous system for months or even years. This can take both a physical and emotional toll on a person.

To be eligible for admission to the Pain Program, patients need to be 18 years of age or older and cannot be managed on an outpatient basis. For patients needing treatment from chemical dependency, Sovereign Health offers the following levels of care: detox, residential treatment center (RTC), partial hospitalization program (PHP) or intensive outpatient program (IOP). During detox, the patient's medical treatment is supervised by a Sovereign prescribing addiction psychiatrist who helps to safely wean the patient off addictive substances. A licensed residence provides social-model detox to prepare patients for their entry into the next phase of treatment. During RTC, PHP and IOP, patients continue to receive 24-hour assistance with daily living skills and medication management, and monitoring to prevent self-harm and suicide. Patients receive two hours of individual therapy and one hour of case management per week. Patients also have the opportunity to meet with an alcohol and other drug counselor throughout the week, but will have to participate in different group therapies.

Sovereign Health's Pain Program is dedicated to ending the patient's medication dependency. To accomplish this goal, the treatment team focuses on the whole person and his or her individual needs. The program's staff will help patients work on lowering pain levels; improving the quality of life; identifying the negative emotions that reinforce pain; re-establishing meaning, purpose and social relationships; decreasing dependency on medical professionals; and refocusing energies on functioning rather than limitations.

Common sources of pain include headaches, joint inflammation, injury and backaches. Other forms of pain include tendinitis, sinusitis, carpal tunnel syndrome and aches affecting specific parts of the body, such as the shoulders, pelvis and neck. Generalized muscle or nerve pain can also develop into a chronic condition. Chronic pain may originate with an initial trauma, injury or infection, or there may be an ongoing cause of pain. Some people suffer chronic pain in the absence of any past injury or evidence of body damage.

About Sovereign Health
Sovereign Health's mission is to provide a broad spectrum of high-quality behavioral health treatment services for adults and adolescents, including support services for family members. Sovereign's treatment facilities are licensed to provide both addiction/dual diagnosis treatment and mental health treatment for conditions such as trauma, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Sovereign also offers treatment for patients who have chronic pain, eating disorders and cognitive deficits. One factor that differentiates Sovereign from other treatment providers has been the company's ability to offer separate mental health and addiction or dual diagnosis treatment programs at its facilities.

For more information, visit www.sovhealth.com.

Media Contact:
Wendy Allen, Public Relations Manager: 866-948-9688