HANCOCK – Great Lakes Recovery Centers, Inc. in Hancock helps people overcome substance abuse, including treatment of any coexisting mental health problems.

“How do we approach treatment?” asked Outpatient Therapist Dawn L. Reagor, from Great Lakes Hancock Outpatient Services office, located in Suite 6, on the third floor at 920 W. Water Street in Hancock.

Great Lakes believes each person faces a unique pathway to recovery, and embracing their life experiences is critical in achieving lasting recovery,” the office brochure says.

Working with substance users, Reagor often confronts underlying mental issues, from which 43.6 percent of American adults suffer according to government statistics. About one-quarter of those are serious mental illnesses like schizophrenia, and disorders such as bipolar and major depression.

And there’s a complex interaction between the two issues. People suffering with mental issues can turn to alcohol and/or drugs to feel better, and different chemicals in the brain affected by substance use can complicate mental health issues when continued use changes naturally occurring brain chemicals.

Ideally, she’d start with early intervention to minimize collateral damage that comes along when people slip through the stages of addiction: experimentation, recreational use, abuse and dependence.

Problems arise due to poor decisions, such as impaired driving, theft and other risky behaviors that can lead to legal, health, work and relationship problems.

As a therapist, Reagor comes from “a very heavy cognitive behavioral” perspective by necessity to address the distorted thinking common to those living with mental health and substance abuse issues.

“Try to challenge those beliefs,” said Reagor, a Michigan Offender Success resource specialist, and encourage people to get out and find a new circle of friends to bond with who support your personal development. “We want to catch them early, before (their behavior) becomes a bigger problem. People are ashamed. I try to tell my clients, ‘Don’t beat yourself up for this. As long as you learn something from it, you become a better person. Eventually families do forgive. Things will shake out.'”

People come in on their own or are referred by others, or the court if they violated the law.

For more information about local meetings or recovery services, contact the outpatient office at 482-7710, or stop in later this month. The public is welcome to attend an open house at the Great Lakes Recovery Center in Hancock from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 22.