ABOUT A POSITIVE ALTERNATIVE
Located in a historic Seattle community center in Walling, A Positive Alternative provides gender-specific outpatient treatment to adult men and women struggling with substance abuse and addiction. Instead of 12-step concepts, individualized, treatment is based on mindfulness and motivation. The facility began operations in 1990.
TREATMENT & ASSESSMENT
While some clients are referred to A Positive Alternative through the court system, the facility’s website emphasizes its focus on individual choice-making. The evidence-based therapeutic modalities used build on each client’s existing strengths and address each client’s choices about whether to pursue and maintain sobriety.
Among the approaches utilized are cognitive behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, and wellness programming. A staff nutritionist and acupuncturist helps clients work on physical aspects of recovery.
Treatment plans vary in length and include a four-times-a-week intensive program. The facility also hosts alumni groups.
While A Positive Alternative does not incorporate 12-step recovery concepts, the center encourages clients who find that their Alcoholics Anonymous meetings enhance their recovery to continue attending.
STAFF CREDENTIALS
Founded and directed by a long-time advocate of the benefits of gender-specific treatment, the outpatient center employs a treatment team staffed largely by master’s level counselors. Two staff members hold advanced degrees from the Seattle School of Theology and Psychology.
WHAT FRIENDS & FAMILY SAY
Despite the facility’s established history, reviews are scarce. Best-rehabs.com has yet to received feedback from former clients. Nor do secondary review sites such as Yelp and Google have feedback on A Positive Alternative or the facility’s original name, “Women’s Recovery Center.”
The sole individual polled by Best-rehabs.com to date would not recommend the program. S.G., the spouse of a former client, expressed disappointment in the outcome of treatment and gave just one star out of five for most aspects of the facility evaluated. These included the effectiveness of treatment, opportunities for family involvement, and—in contrast with the facility’s presented values—options in counseling approaches and holistic offerings. “The treatment dealt with the symptoms, but not the actual cause of the substance abuse,” they wrote.
FINANCING
There is currently no information provided by the center regarding its treatment costs. In response to a Best-rehabs.com survey, one individual rated pricing just one star.