Encounter Medical Group

Call us – 24 hours a day – to find out how you can get help for yourself or a loved one.

Our unique therapeutic approach combines the practice of holistic wellness with groundbreaking clinical research, and provides individuals with the tools for achieving both short-term and long-term recovery.

Our individualized staff to client ratio helps clients develop an interpersonal relationship with our staff as they provides guidance, offer support, and give individualized attention clients need as they are on their road to recovery.

In order to help individuals develop the future they deserve, Two Dreams treats the entire person as well as the disease of the addiction. We examine all areas of life to gain insight of the addiction in order to help prevent individuals from relapsing and establish and sustain mental peace, physical well-being, and personal productivity.

Our adult luxury residential addiction treatment center located in the recuperative setting of the Outer Banks, North Carolina. Here we encourage healthy habits by providing focused, ongoing therapy in an intimate, familial setting.

Our adult and adolescent outpatient treatment center near the heart of downtown Chicago. Here we provide clinically intensive group therapy sessions, individual and family therapy sessions, psychiatric assessments, pretreatment readiness assessments, and Suboxone maintenance.

Our adult outpatient treatment center in the historical Garden District of New Orleans, Louisana. Here we provide clinically intensive group therapy sessions, individual and family therapy sessions, and pretreatment readiness assessments.

Our drug rehab program provides individualized, clinically-luxurious care for those seeking recovery from substance use disorders.

We specialize in treating secondary disorders such as trauma, depression, bi-polar disorder, anxiety, and co-dependency.

We include a 12-step component into our seven dimensions of treatment and replace addictive mindsets with healthy, effective rituals based in group processing.

Our clinicians identify the cause of sleep disorders and introduce effective new habits to facilitate natural fatigue and healthy sleep.

We expose clients to unique indoor and outdoor activities, such as yoga, kayaking, and hiking in order to build self-esteem and achieve personal growth throughout treatment.

The aim of our mindfulness program is not relaxation or happiness, but freedom from the tendency to get drawn into automatic reactions, thoughts, feelings, and events.

We believe in helping our clients adopt a nutrition plan that is balanced in both quantity and content, and consists of moderate portions of natural foods.

We work with clients to help them recognize and clarify feelings, traumatic moments, and barriers to recovery by promoting emotional expression and fostering creativity.

Our dedicated admissions staff is here to walk you through the process.Please contact us anytime, day or night.

Andrea Grubb Barthwell, M.D., F.A.S.A.M., is the founder and CEO of Two Dreams. Dr. Barthwell is an internationally renowned physician that has been a pioneer in the field of addiction medicine within the American Addiction Society of Medicine (ASAM) and a contributor to the field of alcoholism and addiction treatment. She is a past president of ASAM, was awarded Fellow status, and is certified by the American Board of Addiction Medicine (ABAM). Dr. Barthwell has been widely regarded by her peers as one of the “Best Doctors in America” in addiction medicine. President George W. Bush nominated and the United States Senate confirmed her to serve as Deputy Director for Demand Reduction in the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) from January 2002- July 2004.

Dr. Barthwell’s career has been as diverse and successful as the patients for whom she advocates. Her career has been comprised of a unique balance of research and practice, and reflects her steadfast commitment to merging scientific inquiry with the human side of addiction: Dr. Barthwell has combined involvement in governmental policy with community-based work in health-care organizations, as well as serving on a number of editorial boards of scientific journals and widely publishing her own research.

During the final IOP sessions before Christmas break, our counselor advised us the festive season was a particularly difficult time for alcoholics. Nobody in the room needed reminding. It’s impossible for anyone, let alone an alcoholic, to navigate the festivities without exposure to adverts portraying the pleasure of drinking or friends enjoying the real thing. I understood the counselor’s point to a certain extent.

Sure, it was around me, but when exactly was it not? As I discovered, people, places and things are a potential barrier to recovery for an alcoholic mind, but Christmas or no Christmas, a liquor store is only a few blocks away. All Santa’s ho, ho, ho’ing was not going to make a difference when that greedy little monster knocked on my mental door.

I also realized if I was home in the UK, the scenario could be different. I’m sure my new resolve would be tested after an hour or so of family pleasantries, followed by the inquisition into why I had not yet settled down with a woman. Thinking about it made me thankful for staying in my adopted country for Christmas because I knew in such situations that a can of Strongbow cider would look better by the minute.  

Thus far, I have found that when facing the mental challenges in staying sober, the best way to move forward is to look back. I recalled early Christmas days—the innocence of advent calendars without a chocolate filling, the orange at the bottom of a stocking, the walk to Christmas mass, Top of the Pops on UK TV and being so excited with my presents that dinner couldn’t be over fast enough to play with them.

A sleigh journey onwards of ten years saw the walkie-talkie replaced by whisky, and warm nights indoors playing snakes and ladders substituted for street corners swigging cheap liquor in the freezing cold.

During my drinking career, this time of year developed a repetitive look, feel, touch and taste. It rapidly became an excuse to plough liters of alcohol into my stomach with little or no concern for the consequences. After all, it was the festive season.

Most Christmases during my twenties and early thirties were spent with former partners, following a pattern of visiting family over a number of days. The routine began to destroy any semblance of joy I felt for the season, but I was comforted in the knowledge that a bottle was handy to take the edge off.

Who was I kidding? The drinking on Christmas Day got earlier by the year as I glimpsed the sheer boredom and monotony lurking around the corner. Before, it was 1:00p.m.or 2:00p.m. for the first beer. Now it was 10.00 a.m. and a sly swig of Strongbow while my girlfriend showered.

The single years that followed saw my Christmas seasons spent mixing with good friends and devoting time to volunteering activities. My shifts at the London shelter for homeless were some of the most heart wrenching but uplifting work experiences I have been part of. However, the booze remained in my shadow and emerged to engulf me, leaving any semblance of sobriety behind.

It speaks to my then powerless state over alcohol that during those volunteer sessions, I was not able to see myself—lost as a servant to my addiction—in more disheveled versions. This year I welcomed the gift of hindsight.

Call us at (708) 613-4750

Call or email us - 24 hours a day - to find out how you can get help for yourself or a loved one.

Email us - 24 hours a day - to find out how you can get help for yourself or a loved one.

Call us 24 hours a day with any questions.

Your consult will be confidential, with no obligation. If we cannot speak to you right away, we will call you back ASAP.

Primary Focus of the Provider

• Substance Abuse Treatment Services

---

Type of Care

• Substance abuse treatment
• Buprenorphine used in treatment
• Naltrexone (oral)
• Accepts clients on opioid medication
• Prescribes/administer buprenorphine and/or naltrexone

---

Facility Type

---

Treatment Approaches

• Cognitive/behavioral therapy
• Dialectical behavioral therapy
• Substance abuse counseling approach
• Trauma-related counseling

---

Facility Smoking Policy

• Smoking not permitted

---

Service Setting (e.g., Outpatient, Residential, etc.)

• Outpatient
• Outpatient methadone/buprenorphine or vivitrol
• Intensive outpatient treatment
• Regular outpatient treatment
• Computerized treatment

---

Facility Operation (e.g. Private, Public)

• Private organization
• State department of health
• Commission on Accreditation and Rehabilitation

---

Payment/Insurance Accepted

• Cash or self-payment
• Private health insurance

---

Emergency Mental Health Services

---

Payment Assistance Available

• Sliding fee scale (fee is based on income and other factors)

---

Language Services

---

Special Programs/Groups Offered

• Lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) clients
• Adolescents
• Adult women
• Adult men
• Persons who have experienced trauma

---

Ancillary Services

• Individual counseling offered
• Group counseling offered
• Family counseling offered
• 12-step faciltitation approach
• Brief intervention approach
• Motivational interviewing
• Anger management
• Martix Model
• Relapse prevention

---

Age Groups Accepted

• Children/adolescents
• Adults

---

Gender Accepted

• Female
• Male

---

Exclusive Services

---