CleanSlate Blog

Marvin McCloe is an exemplary member of the CleanSlate team, admired by his peers because of his authenticity and ability to connect with patients. He has been a certified recovery specialist at CleanSlate in Scranton, Pennsylvania, for more than four years and has helped many patients remain committed to their recovery journey because of his unwavering optimism and hope. To Marvin, his job at CleanSlate goes beyond a typical employment opportunity. “It’s a lifestyle,” he says. “Helping people is a part of who I am.”

People in recovery for substance use disorder often feel isolated and shameful about their addiction. They may also feel uncertain about how to interact in social settings without using substances. Strong support and acceptance from loved ones is an important piece of maintaining recovery. Read our tips for how you can support your loved one during social interactions as they navigate recovery.

September is National Recovery Month. Every year at this time, we recognize the importance of spreading awareness of substance use disorders and working to end the opioid epidemic. While the nation’s focus largely shifted to the COVID-19 pandemic last year, the opioid crisis continued to worsen in the background. It is important to understand how the disease of addiction affects people in different ways and that every recovery journey is different. By becoming more informed, we can help raise awareness of addiction and combat it. 

Behavioral health conditions and substance use disorders often exist together, making them co-occurring disorders. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, nearly nine million people who struggle with addiction have co-occurring mental health or behavioral health disorder. While neither issue definitively causes the other, one condition can exacerbate the other’s symptoms.

Let’s face it – when you call a company and you get their call center, it’s easy to feel frustrated. Many call centers are third parties hired by companies to handle customer service issues. While this works fine for some organizations, when it comes to getting answers about your health, it’s important to know you’re actually getting answers from the people you’re trying to reach. That’s why at CleanSlate, our calls and chats are answered by our in-house patient support agents who work extended hours to ensure current and potential patients have access to the help they need when they need it.

In 2018, Google instituted a certification process for online advertisers of addiction treatment providers powered by LegitScript, a third-party online verification and monitoring organization, in an attempt to curtail fraudulent advertising and patient brokering schemes. Soon, Bing and Facebook followed suit and implemented the certification requirement. The companies claim LegitScript certification protects consumers by cutting down on suspicious advertisers and removing them from online search results.

As a Patient Support Agent, you have to be prepared to help people at all times. Often, you are the first person that someone struggling with opioid or alcohol use disorder speaks to once they decide to get help for their addiction. Being a support agent requires you to think quickly and offer solutions to help patients, family members, loved ones, community partners and referrers make the best care decisions.

The recovery journey from addiction is hard. It takes time, dedication, and commitment, but the reward is worth it. As someone who has been in recovery since 1985, I know the journey well. It’s a big part of why I decided to go into addiction medicine and help other people who struggle with substance use disorder.

June is Men’s Health Month and an opportunity to take a closer look at the role mental health and stigma play in addiction treatment for men. Certain factors can make men more vulnerable to addiction and mental or behavioral health issues, and often a stigma against seeking treatment can exacerbate the problem.