Adult men and women come to Sierra Tucson exhibiting the behavioral signs of deeper causative problems. We look deep into each client, to help them make the kinds of lasting changes necessary for enduring peace and recovery. As an accredited hospital and behavioral health residential facility, we can admit patients with a variety of needs.

Sierra Tucson specializes in the integrated treatment of people battling a substance abuse problem and a co occurring disorder, such as anxiety or depression, chronic pain or an eating disorder.

Located on 160 acres of breathtaking dessert, accommodation is serene and comfortable and nestled against the spectacular Santa Catalina Mountain Range. Living quarters are semi private and filled with resort style amenities. The client lodge boasts high timber beamed ceilings, a fireplace and a cozy lounge area with balconies and patios. The quiet of nature induces peace and serenity and the comfortable living ensures an easy transition into our environment.

The Sierra Model

You can’t treat the symptoms; you must treat the underlying troubles that manifest as problematic behaviors. Therapy at Sierra Tucson is grounded in the Sierra Model of Treatment, a model that integrates a variety of effective therapeutics to restore the mind, body, soul and emotions of each client.

The Sierra Model employs and integrates program element and concepts from the 12 steps, from medicine, from psychological therapeutics and from the self help community and applies these as warranted to the needs of each client, on an individualized basis.

Clients leave Sierra Tucson having developed a great understanding of their underlying causes of behavioral problems and have learned what steps  they must continue to take to continue on an upwards path of recovery. It is this deep and comprehensive understanding of the root causes of problematic behaviors that empower Sierra Tucson graduates to enjoy a lifetime of recovery and better health.

Who Benefits from the Sierra Tucson Experience?

Sierra Tucson is one of America’s most well respected and comprehensive inpatient behavioral health facilities, licensed and able to provide hospital level care, down to residential services and continuing care services. As a comprehensive treatment provider offering individualized treatment, Sierra Tucson is able to serve a wide range of groups in need.

People experiencing one or more of the following challenges will benefit from a stay at Sierra Tucson:

• Addiction or alcoholism
• Eating disorders
• Compulsive gambling
• Sexual addiction
• Dual disorders
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Obsessive compulsive disorder
• Chronic pain
• Compulsive spending
• Steroid abuse/addiction
• Sexual addiction

Therapeutic Program Elements

Professionals at Sierra Tucson use a wide array of therapeutics to envelop the mind, body, soul and emotional being; pulling our whole being into a process of change. The particular therapies offered to any one client will vary depending on need, but can include:

• Individual therapy
• Group therapy
• EMDR
• Hypnotherapy
• 12 steps participation
• Educational seminars
• Family therapy
• Expressive arts therapy, such as psychodrama
• Acupuncture
• Chiropractic services
• Massage
• Reiki
• Yoga
• Shiatsu
• Qi Gong
• Zero balancing
• Talking circles
• Pharmacotherapy (medication management)
• Nutritional therapy
• Relapse prevention therapy
• Many more

Professional staff who administer the therapeutic program include:

• Psychiatrists
• Doctors
• Psychologists
• Addiction therapists
• Equine therapists
• Nurses
• Nutritionists
• Spiritual therapist
• Others

The Pain Management Program

The Sierra Tucson pain management program strives to create improvement in 4 areas of pain perception

• The sensation of pain
• The automatic thoughts during a pain experience
• The negative emotional reactions to pain
• The negative thoughts and behaviors (self defeating) that arise as a response to continuing pain

Our holistic therapy program combines an array of physical, emotional and psychological therapies, designed to reduce the sensation of pain, but also to improve an acceptance of pain that does occur. Patients are taught to separate pain from emotional and thought reactions, thereby reducing the stress and anxiety associated with pain.

Some pain specific therapies offered include:

• Aquatic therapy
• Pain nursing
• Musculoskeletal and neurological evaluation and assessment
• Physical therapy sessions
• Treatment for medication dependencies
• Exercise and movement therapies
• Sleep assistance therapy
• Meditation
• Many more

The Eating Disorders Program

A program for men and women who suffer from anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and overeating; most patients in the eating disorder program face a dual diagnosis to either another mental health issue, to chemical dependency or to another addiction, and so treatment is integrated, and holistic.

Whole person healing involves bettering the mind, body, spirit and emotions, and within our eating disorder program, patients are encouraged to confront the deeper causes of their problematic behaviors.

Eating disorder patients will:

• Evaluate their relationship with eating and food
• Work towards a realistic and healthy body self image
• Work to improve the medical and physiological legacy-effects of an eating disorder
• Work to reduce feelings of shame and guilt
• Get educated about the disease model and about the nature of their condition
• Learn and work a self help 12 steps program
• Engage in a healthy fitness routine
• Receive nutritional counseling
• Engage in individual and group therapy
• Learn new social, communicative and relationship skills
• Enjoy cooking classes
• Go on therapist supervised restaurant outings
• Participate in alternative and complementary therapies

Length of Stay (The Progressions Program)

Lengths of stay vary based on individual need, but a typical duration of stay in primary care ranges from 30 to 45 days. Sierra Tucson offers an innovative Progressions Program, which extends the primary care stay from 2 to 4 additional weeks, for those that would benefit from extended primary care treatment to consolidate early therapeutic gains.

Clients are eligible for the Progressions Program after completing a full primary care cycle of treatment, either at Sierra Tucson or at another primary care facility.

The therapeutics emphasized during this extended phase are based on relapse prevention and discharge planning, recreational and free time therapy and continuing emotional growth therapeutics.

Accreditation

Sierra Tucson has achieved the prestigious JCAHO certification as a hospital and as a behavioral health care center, a dual certification that underscores our commitment to the highest standards of care and our ability to manage patients needing a wide range of services along our continuum of care.

We are also the only program in Arizona licensed by The American Academy of Pain management for inpatient care.