By Lucy Schulz

Special to The Eagle

Celebrating its fifth anniversary in 2017, Oxford Treatment Center is preparing to open a new outpatient campus and to launch a new series of free workshops for the local community.

Its new 12,000-square-foot outpatient office off Highway 7 South will open this spring, alongside four new adjacent sober living homes. There, people who have completed residential treatment for drug or alcohol addiction can practice a new sober lifestyle in a structured, supportive community. Accountability measures include therapist supervision, daily meetings and drug screenings.

“Having these new facilities will enhance the continuum-of-care we provide to those who come to us for help overcoming addiction,” said Billy Young, CEO. “There is no quick fix. Recovery is something you work for over time, day by day. But we can give people the best chance for long-term recovery by offering the right amount of structure and support through each phase of their early recovery. That’s what the continuum-of-care is all about.”

Step-by-step

At Oxford Treatment Center, that continuum begins at a 110-acre campus in northeastern Lafayette County, where on-site medical detox and residential treatment programs are based. People can then transition into an Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP), which includes group meetings three times a week for an average of 10 weeks. Oxford Treatment Center offers IOP at outpatient offices in Oxford, Tupelo and Olive Branch.

Currently, the Oxford Outpatient Office is located at 1916 University Avenue, next to Fred’s in the Oxford East shopping center. Oxford Treatment Center also maintains sober living homes at off-site locations in Lafayette County.

The new outpatient campus will bring all of those pieces together in one setting, near Coleman Funeral Home on Commerce Parkway off Highway 7 South.

“We’re looking forward to what this move will mean for our staff and for the recovery community,” said Barbara Cox, MS, LSW, MAC, interim manager of outpatient services. “This space will also give us new opportunities to engage the community in helping people understand addiction. It’s our goal to continue bringing the conversation out into the open, so that more and more people can get help and support — instead of suffering in silence and shame.”

Community events

Toward that end, Oxford Treatment Center is launching a new, free quarterly Community Workshop Series at all three of its outpatient office locations.

The series will give the public direct access to clinical therapists who have years of experience in treating addiction.

In Oxford, the first workshop is set for Tuesday, Feb. 28, from 6-7:30 p.m. at the current outpatient office on University Avenue. “Addiction & Family Dynamics” will be led by Dee Meux, ICADC, family program coordinator for Oxford Treatment Center.

Other upcoming topics in Oxford Treatment Center’s 2017 Community Workshop Series include Addiction & Relapse, Addiction as a Brain Disease, and Addiction & College Students.