Sunspire Health Desert Palms, one of Sunspire Health’s nationwide network of addiction treatment facilities offering personalized treatment and addiction recovery services, announced today that it is participating in the 2018 Finding Freedom: LGBTQ Symposium. The symposium, which takes place in Palm Springs, CA, January 25 – 28, brings relevant information to attending therapists, addiction professionals and psychologists for best practices in supporting the LGBTQ community with co-occurring disorders.

To kick off this four-day program, Dr. Rebecca Gaba, clinical director of Sunspire Health Desert Palms, is leading an educational workshop about suicide prevention and assessment in LGBTQ patients, including a review of current research and findings in the field, community resources and evidence-based treatments for providing comprehensive personalized care. The discussion brings to light some of the unique characteristics and experiences that are common among members of the LGBTQ community dealing with suicidality, as well as intersections with substance abuse, addiction and other co-occurring mental health disorders such as depression.

It is estimated that LGBTQ youth alone are almost five times as likely to have attempted suicide compared to heterosexual youth. And in a national survey, approximately 40 percent of transgender adults reported having made a suicide attempt.

“Comprehensive behavioral health care for LGBTQ individuals can encompass a complex set of practices and nuanced approaches that go beyond a heteronormative understanding of patients and their experiences. In addition to providing care in a space that is safe and supportive, individualized treatment should help address the obstacles that may be specific to, or exacerbated among, this community, such as grappling with identity, addressing trauma, or even working through the coming out process,” says Dr. Gaba. “As part of our dedication to patients and our communities, it is essential that behavioral health care professionals commit themselves to supporting gender and sexual diversity, both in thinking and in practice, and continue to engage in productive, solution-oriented conversations and workshops such as these taking place at Finding Freedom.”

Dr. Gaba draws on more than 30 years of experience as a clinician in the mental health field and leads the evidence-based practices at Sunspire Health Desert Palms, including the facility’s specialized care and programming for LGBTQ individuals.

In addition, representatives from Sunspire Health Desert Palms, Deborah Sutton and Gregory Silva, both directors of Clinical Outreach, are at a booth on-site throughout the duration of the symposium to distribute information and speak with attendees about the facility’s expertise providing inclusive and targeted care for addiction, trauma, and co-occurring mental health disorders to members of the LGBTQ community. Located in Cathedral City, CA, Sunspire Health Desert Palms has a wide range of addiction specialists and treatment professionals on staff and patients are able to receive hyper-specialized care that suits their needs.

About Sunspire Health

Sunspire Health is a nationwide network of accessible and affordable community-based addiction treatment facilities that offer personalized treatment plans for people of all walks of life, meeting them where they are and guiding them through recovery. Sunspire’s mission is to be a source of hope, knowledge, and support for people and their families affected by substance use disorders. Our vision is to change the course of the addiction crisis and set the standard for quality treatment in the United States. Our facilities offer an array of addiction recovery services across the United States and are able to provide the full spectrum of care including detox, residential and outpatient treatment programs in settings that are designed to promote healing. What distinguishes Sunspire Health facilities is that each one provides quality care for substance use and co-occurring mental health disorders from experts and specialists in the field of addiction medicine and mental health counseling. Our treatment teams utilize the latest advances in addiction medicine and draw on therapeutic modalities that are evidence-based, meaning that extensive studies and research prove that these methods are effective at treating addiction. For additional information, please visit: https://sunspirehealth.com/

About Finding Freedom: LGBTQ Symposium

The Finding Freedom Symposium is about bringing forward relevant information for best practices in supporting the LGBTQ community with co-occurring disorders. The intention is to offer a container for discovery and focused discussion to find effective solutions for professionals and their LGBTQ patients, with a goal of cultivating a conversation that will lead to clinical, research-based information. The conference is open to the community, treatment professionals, doctors, therapists and anyone who is interested in the unique issues facing sexual identity and co-occurring disorders treatment.