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Sierra Tucson's Medical Director Discusses Services on Inexcess.tv

By Leslie Davis

Sierra Tucson's ability to provide top-of-the-line treatment in a restorative setting to patients with a variety of disorders was the topic of discussion during an Inexcess.tv interview of the facility's Medical Director, Dr. Robert Johnson.

"We have an incredibly rich and broad depth of programming and clinical staff," said Dr. Johnson during an interview at the 6th UK/European Symposium on Addictive Disorders (UKESAD) in June 2009. "Geographically, (Sierra Tucson) is a very calming, restorative, and renewing place."

That setting proves effective in treating complex patients, the majority of whom have been through multiple treatments in the past. Patients typically stay at Sierra Tucson for 4-6 weeks, often to get their co-occurring illnesses addressed. "About 40-45 percent of our patients have some substance abuse issue, but many have co-occurring chronic pain, eating disorders, panic disorder, or some other mood or behavioral issue," Johnson said. "We have the capability of engaging whatever is on their plate, simultaneously as opposed to sequentially."

Sierra Tucson recently enhanced its treatment abilities with the addition of neuroimaging. Brain SPECT scans now allow a patient to see how his/her brain is affected by drug or alcohol addiction, head trauma, depression, etc., by comparing his/her results with a normal functioning brain image. "It's an amazingly powerful intervention, even simply for motivational purposes... It shifts the conversation from character and failure of willpower issues to more of a neurobiological conversation... that tends to call out compassion, patience, and understanding rather than judgment and criticism," Dr. Johnson said.

For the entire interview with Johnson, click here.