Engage, Educate and Empower
SouthLight’s former Chief Medical Officer, Mike Lancaster, M.D., explains how SouthLight approaches substance use treatment and mental health recovery through the three E’s.
Beginning Dec. 1, 2023, more people can get health coverage through Medicaid. Learn More.
At SouthLight, we believe in the idea of shared humanity.
We as helpers are no different from those we serve. As humans, we understand that we are all learning as we go and doing the best we can along the way.
It’s as if we are all climbers, each navigating our own mountain. You’ve been on your mountain for your whole life so YOU are the expert of it, not anyone else. We recognize that there are some parts of the journey where it’s easy to navigate and other parts that are much more difficult.
Our role as helpers is not to tell you how to climb your mountain but to give you skills, tools, and support to help you learn to walk your path with more ease.
We strive to be Person-Centered in our approach. We recognize that each person is whole, complex, and unique and we celebrate those differences. Each person who walks through our doors (virtually or in person) has their own wants, needs, values, preferences and goals.
We work with each person to identify and set goals that are important to them. We help them learn the skills and receive the support they need in order to achieve their goals and build a life of fulfillment, meaning, and purpose. We use Evidence-Based Practices to meet folks where they are and to help them get where they want to go.
An evidence-based practice (EBP) is a method, approach, or clinical intervention that has been scientifically researched and tested over a span of time and has consistently proven that it is effective and brings about positive outcomes.
We strive to train ourselves in evidence-based practices and integrate those into our daily practices. The evidence-based practices we use include, but are not limited to, the following:
Harm reduction is an evidence-based philosophy and a set of strategies focused on providing skills, resources, and information to folks who use substances without requiring them to be fully abstinent in order to access those supports. Harm reduction strategies are designed to improve well-being while decreasing the likelihood of overdose as well as other negative consequences. As an added benefit, harm reduction approaches often help folks get into treatment sooner or stay in treatment longer than they would without those supports.
Another form of both harm reduction and evidence-based practice that we use at SouthLight is called Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT). MAT uses medications paired with counseling to provide treatment to those using substances. While MAT is commonly associated with the Opioid Treatment Program, MAT can also be used to help folks who are using other substances.
The practices, strategies, and interventions by which we collaborate are rooted in the central theme that we are more alike than we are different.
We engage, we educate, and we empower. We’re here to help you move toward stability, independence, and freedom.
To learn more or to make an appointment, call (919) 787-6131 or contact us.
If you are a provider and would like to refer someone for treatment, click here.
SouthLight is a CARF Accredited Agency. CARF accreditation signals our commitment to continually improving services, encouraging feedback, and serving the community.
SouthLight is a National Board for Certified Counselors Approved Continuing Education Provider™, NBCC ACEP No. 7214. As an ACEP, SouthLight is authorized to offer NBCC continuing education credit for programs that satisfy NBCC requirements.