The majority of substance abuse treatment facilities cater to both men and women. However, The Ho Tai Way is unique in that we are a female-only facility. There are a lot of reasons why we cater to only women. We believe that women deserve a place where they can recover while feeling completely comfortable and secure. Part of this includes providing women with an environment with trauma-informed care.
We also believe that women can benefit from going through the recovery journey alongside other women. It’s essential for a woman to be in a position where she can feel comfortable being vulnerable and sharing her life experiences with other women.
Safety and a Women-Only Environment
One of the primary reasons that we offer a female-only treatment environment is out of concern for the safety of our patients. The women that enter our facility come from many backgrounds and walks of life. Some women may be coming out of toxic or unhealthy relationships and may be victims of domestic violence. Others may have suffered emotional, physical, or sexual abuse that they are trying to heal from.
The last thing these individuals need when seeking help for substance use disorder (SUD) is to be in an environment where they feel triggered or unsafe. By ensuring they are surrounded only by women, we can lower their chances of feeling uncomfortable in their environment.
Another thing we try to do by maintaining a women-only environment is to limit distractions. When men and women are treated in the same environment, there is always the chance that a romantic connection can be formed. We want to keep our patients entirely focused on their recovery. In addition, some women turn to relationships or sex to deal with emotional pain or numb their true feelings. We want to ensure that those who enter our facility don’t repeat these habits from their past.
The Value of Women Empowering Women
There is a special bond that occurs when women allow themselves to be vulnerable with other women. When women have gone through similar challenges and life circumstances, they can understand and empathize with one another in a unique way. Many women who struggle with substance misuse come from environments where they had no support system. They may have been silenced or never given a platform where they were permitted to share their own thoughts and opinions.
At our facility, our patients have the opportunity to not only speak their minds and share how they’re feeling, but they can rest assured that they will be received with nothing but support and compassion. They’ll also be able to hear from other women who understand what they’re going through. Through opportunities like trauma-informed 12-Step meetings just for women, our patients will come to know that they are not alone. They will also learn that they have a voice that deserves to be heard.
Finding Strength and Balance Through Our Women-Only Environment
Many women turn to substance use as a way of coping with the pain associated with trauma. This could be recent trauma that they experienced or trauma from many years ago that they have tried to push away instead of addressing it directly.
On many occasions, this trauma was caused by some sort of abuse from a partner or even a family member. Other times it could be due to the grief of losing a loved one. Sometimes, women feel that they have a responsibility to be strong for the sake of their families. They may think that in order to do this, they have to ignore their pain instead of facing it head-on. This only leads to more pain down the road.
Asking for help doesn’t mean that you’re weak. In fact, it shows that you’re strong because you were willing to do the right thing for yourself. At The Ho Tai Way, we aim to help the women who enter our facility recognize the strength that they have within themselves. This is the strength to be their authentic selves without turning to substance use as a crutch.
At The Ho Tai Way, we also help our patients find balance. Many women who come to our facility are very busy due to things such as their careers, family, or other responsibilities. They may be rushing from one thing to the next without taking the time to care for their own well-being. At our Orange County, California, facility, we help them take a step back and consider where they are in their life currently and where they want to be moving forward. We will help them consider their hopes and dreams and determine what concrete steps they need to take to accomplish them.
While many treatment facilities cater to both men and women, The Ho Tai Way is unique in that we are a women-only facility. This is due to multiple reasons. We believe that all women deserve an environment where they can recover from SUD while feeling safe and comfortable. Some women may be leaving toxic or abusive environments. They may have experienced abuse in the past at the hands of a man in their life. At The Ho Tai Way, they won’t have to worry about feeling triggered. Our patients also have the ability to bond with and empower other women who understand what they are going through. To learn more about our women-only program, call us today at (714) 581-3974.
