our treatment philosophy

More to Life Recovery is an in-patient, residential detoxification and drug treatment facility focusing on recovery from dependency on prescription opioid medications. A multi-modal therapeutic approach begins with Medically Assisted Therapy (MAT) to bring functional stability and, ultimately, resolution of the physiological dependency. Following a 6-hour, workday-like schedule, clients participate in a number of evidence based complimentary therapies both individually as well as in groups. Therapies include, but may not be limited to, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Life Skills Therapy, Auricular Acupuncture, daily fitness, nutrition, cooking and meal planning, music therapy, art therapy, animal husbandry, gardening and the practice of off-grid living.

We advocate for self-reliance and self-direction within a co-operative, social model with two distinctive features. First, you’ll arrive on the same day as one other person with a similar if not identical problem to yours. You will endure and progress through our 34 day program together, help each other, depend on each other. We call this the buddy system. As you and your buddy finish your first week, you will welcome and guide the next pair who arrive through their first week. Just as you learned from those who came before you, you will guide those who come after you. And they will do the same for those who come after them. We call this mentorship. In this stepwise, inter-related approach, the buddy system combines with mentorship in our co-operative, social model to form a network of support that will endure a lifetime. You will become part of your own corps and it will be your personal   metamorphosis.  

But change is difficult. A life without drugs can be difficult to imagine. Many will have tried to separate from their addictions only to find it a miserable, fail-worthy exercise. Our Medically Assisted Therapy profoundly reduces the physical discomfort of detoxification and delivers the client to the larger task of long term abstinence, although Medically Assisted Therapy continues beyond detoxification. Moreover, we are open-minded about the power of non-USP pharmaceutical alternatives including cannabinoids both for short term and long-term applications. Nicotine dependence is a common co-addiction and we will help you with that as well. Nicotine products are exclusively forbidden at more to life.

On arrival, some will have a life remaining to salvage; a spouse or family, kids, or a job to go back to. But others will not. You’ll take the first week to clear your head and then take the next three weeks to plan your next steps either to return to your old life or to start anew.  A work-day schedule of activities and therapies are held in a peaceful, rural environment where the main house and classroom / activity building share 6 wooded acres with a garden, orchard, and koi pond for diversion and skill-building when the work-day is done.  Rounding out the pack we have dogs, a cat, and a few other beasts around including goats, a few chickens and a donkey named Spike. The 3 bedroom, 2 bath house is absolutely lovely with a great kitchen, and generous decking grounds for frequent hot-tubs, BBQ’s, music, fun and relaxation. Our double garage serves as a nicely appointed fitness / yoga room. We have an Art Studio, Rock band Musical Instruments, and more fun things to do than you can ever get done in 34 days. Additionally the many waterways of Amador county and nearby Lake Tahoe make for plenty of day trips and diversion as do local wooded trails for hiking and horseback riding.

Notably, while we applaud many redeeming features of the 12 step approach we, object to the obligatory sense of powerlessness requisite for progress and success. Indeed we see that the soul power for recovery lays with the individual exclusively. Instead we echo the philosophical principles of existentialism, which is to say that the place you find yourself in life today is the end result of every decision you’ve ever made.  Were it not for Medically Assisted Therapy, we might not enjoy our assertion. The human nervous system and opiates bind tightly so initial separation can be impossible for many. But this is not the largest challenge of it all. Getting of the pills is relatively easy compared to staying off and that is where You come in. We can get you there but it is YOU who must stay there. So yes, there is More to Life. You know that already. But only you are the true power of your own recovery and we’ll help you find your way. 

On completing our 34 day Residential Treatment Program, clients will have the opportunity to graduate to a second phase we call Sober living and then a third phase called community living before matriculating back to the world.

From here, I know it sounds like a long road, and it is. But really it’s a 7 month process that you’ll look back on fondly despite its difficulties. You’ll find and enjoy a new existence, a new sense of being and belonging and purpose. You will become part of a community who all help themselves do the same, and keep doing the same.

If you’ve read to this point then you know it’s time.  Join Us! There is so Much More to Life !