We also have all of the resources of Stanford available. In a worst case scenario, Stanford can do a liver transplant here if necessary. Some patients require very close integration with other disciplines. For example, the physical symptoms of withdrawal from acute alcoholism and anxiety disorders are similar. Therapists need to monitor patients with both diagnoses in mind.
Personality disorders make the recovery process difficult.
However, that's something I think that we're particularly experienced to handle. We've focused on this area in our research. About a third of our patients go through inpatient detox, the rest start as outpatients. What happens in the groups is really a microcosm of the patient's life. We use the sessions as a laboratory, then we start to work with that over time.