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Feb. 8, 2024
Choosing The Right Path: Questions To Ask About Inpatient Programs with Guest Alex Menas
When first responders seek healing from the trauma and stress of their critical roles, finding the right support system is paramount. This is why we invited Alex Menas of FHE Health and the Shatterproof Program to share invaluable insights on the specialized care necessary for these heroes. With a focus on therapies like EMDR, CBT, and DBT, Alex discusses the unique needs of first responders, the incredible bonds formed in group therapy, and how a specialized staff, including former first responders, can make all the difference in recovery. The conversation also sheds light on the essential role of family involvement and the creation of a robust aftercare plan, laying the groundwork for lasting healing.
Navigating the often-turbulent waters of mental health support and aftercare can be daunting for first responders, but the right guidance can chart a course to safer shores. The episode takes you through the meticulous intake process at FHE Health, from verifying insurance to clinical assessments and the arrangement of travel for care. Aftercare plans aren't simply a post-treatment thought—they're a lifeline to maintaining recovery, encompassing everything from AA meetings to faith communities and intensive outpatient programs. This discussion is a testament to the unwavering commitment needed and the peer support that ensures these brave individuals never walk their recovery path alone.
Confronting the stigma and obstacles first responders face in seeking mental health assistance is not a battle to be undertaken lightly. The episode emphasizes the importance of resilience and preventative maintenance in mental health, drawing parallels with the routine care professional athletes invest in their physical well-being. Success stories serve as beacons of hope, illustrating the profound positive impact that seeking and receiving the right help can have. From transformative programs to the ripple effects of healing, our conversation with Alex Menas is a clarion call for the valiant men and women serving on the front lines to prioritize their mental health with the same fervor they bring to saving lives.
About Alex:
Alex Menas is FHE Health’s National Outreach Liaison for the mid-Atlantic region, comprising Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Alex helps individuals and families find affordable treatment solutions for addiction and mental health needs. He also serves as a treatment resource and consultant for various entities and organizations from the public and private sectors, such as first responders, the military, and healthcare providers.
Mr. Menas was inspired to do this work after growing up in a small town in West Virginia, where he lost many friends, neighbors, and acquaintances to the opioid epidemic. He is a commissioned officer in the U.S. Air Force, a graduate of Virginia Military Institute, and lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, with his wife and three kids.
About FHE & Shatterproof:
https://fherehab.com/services/first-responders/
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Transcript
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This week on All Clear, choosing the right pack questions to ask about in-patient programs with guest Alex Menace from FHE Health and the Shatterproof Program.
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This is one of the rare occasions when we were able to all be in the same room at the Midwinter Chiefs Conference in Concord, north Carolina, on February 1st 2024.
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I'm Travis Eric.
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We are in the same room.
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We have a very special guest with us tonight.
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It's one of Eric's associates, so we're going to have a chance to talk to Alex.
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I'm going to hand the mic over to you.
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Let you talk to Alex and explain what our topic is tonight.
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I appreciate that and, more than anything, how I would describe Alex is probably one of my best friends.
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Alex and I have a really good working relationship with what we do on the mental health side of our first responders.
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Alex is a huge part of my team in making sure that we're getting the appropriate care and help for first responders that we come in contact with.
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So what I'm going to do before we get any further is have Alex introduce himself to us.
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Just tell me a little bit about yourself.
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Let our listeners know what your background is and who you work for.
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Yeah, absolutely.
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It's great to be with you guys.
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Like I said, eric, the best relationships built in friendship, under a common bond, a common purpose.
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I know we'll get into some of that, but it's just been like three years now of just knowing each other and really just being passionate about helping other people.
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But yeah, so my name is Alex Minas and I work for a company called FHE Health which has the Shatterproof Program, which is for first responders, exclusively for first responders.
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That means a staff and all that comes with the programming, and so we bring first responders in that have a variety of needs under a mental health care, wellness I really just say more of a wellness program because of all the things that can happen across the spectrum of a first responders life.
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So, fhe Health, shatterproof.
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But a little bit about me.
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Why is this important to Alex and why are we passionate about doing what we're doing?
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I grew up in a small town where we knew the cops in our town.
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We knew public servants.
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We knew from a military standpoint, left, a small town in rural West Virginia, blue collar and went to a military college.
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I spent my four years on active duty, but my brother also same military college and active duty still in the army and on my wife's side we've got three other, that's a sister-in-law and brother-in-law.
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Is it all in the military?
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So probably a little heavier on the military side than the first responder.
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But culturally we're passionate about helping and of course we get a lot of crossover from military into the first responder world man.
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That's the fly by of my life and I did military, then I did medical sales and then a good friend brought me into the treatment side of things.
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Our first introduction was through another mutual friend in the first responder mental health spectrum of things, and it really took off from there and the last three years, the relationship that we have been able to cultivate and build it stronger every year has been amazing and with the same goal in mind, and that is making sure that our first responders are taken care of when they get in a bad situation.
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So you mentioned FHE.
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I've been down there, I've been fortunate enough to tour FHE.
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Could you tell us a little bit about FHE, the Shatterproof Program, some of the treatments that are provided for the first responders when they go?
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Yeah, absolutely.
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And he said, depending on what the need is on the front end, we've got a great way to basically onboard everyone and so, from a medical standpoint, everything's in house.
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I think that's what kind of makes FHE special, is that you've got the coverage from psych and medical and then your staff.
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So from that standpoint, whether it's a medical detox or it's a primary mental health need, that we can onboard and then, as fast as possible, get into the Shatterproof Program.
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So what that means is all the first responders are together, the staff is built for them.
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It's a staff comprising of former first responders.
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There are now licensed clinicians as well as some other clinical staff that has expertise crossed again, a variety of needs I think most of us, most folks it seems they're more familiar with.
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When we say terms like neuro, emdr, cbt, dbt, yoga, a fitness center, you're trying to cover the pillars of health, right?
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So sleeping, getting first responders into a normal sleeping pattern, so sleeping, eating, exercise, establishing a routine for the pillars of health.
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So I should make a big emphasis on group.
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So I think when first responders realize that they walk into a community of 30 or 40 other first responders, you're almost instantly making lifetime friends because of the shared bond and most probably walk into the program going I know I'm going to be the only one there and when the door opens and you realize that from across the country, from across the United States of America, you've got first responders from 12 to 15 different states and doing different things, that it's hey, oh, wow.
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This is, I think it's eye-opening from there.
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But again, yes, you're doing group therapy and then you get some individualized things.
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You're getting your primary therapist work done there?
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I think it would be.
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We've got to mention the family component we've talked about through some of that.
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You've got a.
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All the spouses have access to a family therapist where they're getting education every single week.
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They can tap into that.
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So, really, the wraparound services that we're offering and available to the first responders in a fairly short amount of time We've talked a lot about this, that window of opportunity that we have in the Shatterproof program.
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And then the Continuing Care.
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Yeah, we're trying to man, we're going to hit reset with the first responders, build a foundation and then work really hard to figure out an aftercare plan that serves again, serves the first responders to the best of our ability.
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Alex, I've known Eric quite a while now and I met you last year for the first time.
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And one thing I appreciate about Eric and I've learned this from talking with you is the fact that he's not going to recommend a program, he's not going to sign off on anything until it's well vetted.
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And I know you're the same way because we've had conversations where you're not the only game in town, so to speak.
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There are other programs around the country.
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Some are great, some not so great.
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So I appreciate the fact that you realize that your organization has limitations at times and you try to help everybody you can.
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So what I was hoping we could do is maybe discuss some ways how a person can vet on their own or program if they know that they or somebody in their department may need services of an inpatient nature.
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What are some questions, what are some things we should look for, and I'm sure Eric can probably lead that a little bit more, because I know you've vetted quite a few programs in your time.
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Yeah, for instance, alex and I have a really good working relationship, so I know the ins and outs of how to get a client down there to FHE if need be.
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But if an organization was looking to maybe have their own in-house program, things like that maybe specifically, hey, we want to work with FHE.
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How do we go about it?
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One of the first things what insurance do you have?
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I think that would be primary.
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Is the insurance going to cover what this client, what your employee, truly needs for care, not just, oh, we have this and this facility is going to accept the insurance, but is that truly what this person needs for a recovery process?
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Do they have the right treatment modalities?
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That is absolutely humongous.
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Alex mentioned a couple of them neuro stimulation group, cbt, emdr, some of the other things that I know.
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Not ashamed to say it, not afraid to say it.
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My wife and I talk about it and we share the experience all the time that.
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My wife spent almost two months down at Shatterproof with you guys a little over a year ago and she said some of the coolest things were massage therapy You're not going to find that everywhere Acupuncture, ketamine you guys are on the forefront of ketamine treatment for psychological injuries associated with first responders, and those are game-changing things.
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So it's like buying a car If you want to use that analogy of what are you going to do, you can buy what you can afford or you're going to buy what is truly going to be worthwhile for you later on down the road.
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Have the longevity and know that you are getting your money's worth out of this visit down to FHE.
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The family component and I know this because my wife was there that's humongous.
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It really is that I'm worried about my wife all the time when she's down there every single day.
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I know she's perfectly good because I know the program.
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But what was really cool once a week her assigned therapist would give me a phone call.
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I had her phone number If I had any questions or anything else.
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More than free to call to check in.
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Hey, can you give me an update or whatever else, but a minimum once a week I was getting that phone call from her therapist keeping me up to speed, and that was huge.
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That put me at comfort, being in North Carolina, knowing that my wife is sitting in Deerfield Beach, florida.
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It was truly amazing.
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The vetting process I pretty much vetted FHE into our program through an invitation, through Alex.
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Hey, this is what I do.
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Why don't you come down and take a look at it and see it for yourself?
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Alex is a good friend of mine.
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We work great together, but by far the best first responder based treatment program I have seen, and it speaks for itself.
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And I think we talked about some of this.
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Eric, right, there are certainly nuances to some different programs, some advantages there's been.
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Some folks do it really on a boutique level, right.
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So the number of people, sometimes it might be the setting right.
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Sometimes you talk to people in Florida and it's I want to go to the mountains.
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So you have right.
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So we're always working within the framework of what somebody's giving us.
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Hey, we're not going to force you to do anything, but certainly want to get you help in just figuring those components out.
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I think it's always what are we going to look at?
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And part of the going and visiting is to one make sure it's like hey, is this a program or is this a track?
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If a cop shows up at a treatment center or a firefighter shows up at a treatment center, is it like oh, okay, now we have this person and maybe once a week there's, we do something for them, versus every bit of life is done in the first responder setting with other first responders.
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You're grouping together.
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That means you're again, your clinical staff are all very competent in working with first responders.
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Again, most of them have the lived experience and then all the wraparound services, as you mentioned.
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All that is.
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Most of these things are very specifically designed to do different things.
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Right, we switch off a neuro EMDR, the bio bed, just all those components that then wrap around.
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But that's probably one of your most important is trust, but verify that, okay, if a first responder steps into this environment, what are we really saying?
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What you mentioned of the different treatments and things like that.
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One thing that I really liked about your program was that it was client specific and doing the brain scanning and are you dealing with a depression issue?
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Are you dealing with anxiety, whatever else they tailor, make your treatment while you're at your facility for you.
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There might be group inclusive things that are all inclusive, but they are truly focusing on you as an individual and it's not just a track of where, okay, we have 15 clients, 20 clients, whatever else, and they are all going through the exact same thing every single day and, boom, this is tailored for you specifically.
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I got to see Debs reports.
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I got to see her brain scans when she came home and from start to the middle to her discharge, and got to see that progression.
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And I think that's what your staff sees at and they make those adjustments for that client specific, which is humongous.
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And what kind of program again, and how do we vet them in?
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You mentioned getting there.
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If you can get boots on the ground and you can get eyes on it, you get to shake hands with the people that are gonna be doing the treatment for the people that we're gonna be sending there is huge, and I bring that back to an example of somebody that I knew that was in a bad spot, didn't have a resource like what you and I have.
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They found a place off of a recommendation.
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Yes, this is a great place.
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It's out in the Midwest and first responder based.
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This dude jumps on an airplane, goes out there and absolutely not no first responder program.
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He was lied to about that nothing to do with PTSD, anxiety, depression and he was thrown in a room with a roommate that was coming down off of methamphetamine a guy off the street and what do you think that does to the first responder?
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Now Very reluctant, very hesitant in wanting to go to a treatment center, even if we say, hey, this is the best thing since sliced bread.
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I can guarantee you what's already been put in their head.
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Yeah, and I think, like I said to your point, eric, I think there's probably less of that going on.
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It still happens.
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I would say we're probably getting better there because, as you and I know right, it's like, hey, we can't take everyone right as much as we all.
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Man, we love first responders and anybody that needs help.
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Again, I think having the expertise it's like, hey, find someone that does know what they're talking about and then it even may be able to guide, they can guide someone through what the options look like, what's available, what do they need?
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Where have they started?
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How many conversations have we started with someone and go, hey, have you ever talked to a peer?
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And they're like, what's that man?
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What's a peer?
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And you're like, okay, maybe we can try.
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Maybe it's not so much that we need to jump right into treatment yet, but just understanding, hey, man, give me a little background, what's going on?
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Because there are, certainly there are resources that we can tap into initially and then figure out whether it's a peer route, whether it's hey, I've never seen a therapist's office, I don't even know what a therapist is.
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Okay, we can identify those things and start there.
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What?
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we're doing with that crawl, walk, run.
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Start with the peer level.
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Oh, you've never talked to a peer, guess what.
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Let me get you in touch with someone.
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Would you like to talk with someone that has?
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late to you 100% and what you're going through Lived experience, exactly Explain, if you would, what the process is like with somebody that goes down to FHE what is it?
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Gonna look like for them.
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Yeah, absolutely so.
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From the time that we know we have someone's information, we're gonna verify the insurance, we're gonna have a phone assessment done with the admissions team.
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That way, 20 or 30 minutes again, we're discovering what's exactly going on and what the needs are, identifying the clinical need for treatment.
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Once that's done, then it comes down to the logistics where's someone coming from?
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What flights are available?
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How quickly do we need to get them to South Florida?
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Luckily we have three major airports.
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So typically, as we know, we try to find the need for a nonstop flight that'll coming from where they are to us, pick them up at the airport, bring them to the medical building, get them in process and, depending on time of day, some of those things.
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What's the initial need, our staff again if for everyone to get their opportunity to work with the patient.
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So your psych team, medical team, the neuro team, all that initial workup and then from there, as you mentioned, some of their unique protocol and then getting started into the program.
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But that's all built to it that, hey, sometimes it's like like we have to get someone on a plane and get them somewhere immediately.
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We're gonna have someone fly with them.
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So, alex, we know all that goes into getting folks there, the programs that you've got, the resources you have there in Florida.
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At some point I've gotta come home.
00:17:16.638 --> 00:17:28.237
So my question is, when someone leaves your place down at FHE, are they done or are they still remembered at the FHE family for a while to come?
00:17:28.349 --> 00:17:36.758
Yeah, you know that man, it's such a great question and that is, I would almost say, he could make the argument for, hey, what's the most important part of this process?
00:17:36.758 --> 00:17:47.491
And I would say again, even though it may seem like a good bit of time to be at the program that you're aftercare, that's again you're going back to life.
00:17:47.491 --> 00:18:01.352
We could talk through so many different things, right, where, hey, a firefighter is getting better and they are improving, sometimes they're all the things that have happened and bridges have been burned back home, and so those things.
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Maybe we're not moving in parallel at the same time.
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Spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend, loved ones all those dynamics have happened, which come back to the discharge question of how important all those things are.
00:18:12.432 --> 00:18:19.094
So some of that is being discussed in the family group sessions that are going on in the evening.
00:18:19.094 --> 00:18:31.153
So again, you have one particular to first responder spouses, and then there's another one that just any family member can be a part of while the person is with us at FHE, so there can be education and asking questions.
00:18:31.153 --> 00:18:40.211
Some people would ask a basic question, right, if my husband or wife is a first responder and they've had an alcohol problem, do I need to clean every bit of alcohol out of the house.
00:18:40.211 --> 00:18:46.751
If we're going to an Italian dinner tonight I want to have a glass of wine, can I have a glass of wine?
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Those are just really real practical questions that a lot of people want to be able to ask.
00:18:51.113 --> 00:18:53.792
So we have that avenue going on while they're with us.
00:18:53.792 --> 00:19:01.111
So, again, because you're trying to bridge the gap that once somebody is returning home and all these practical things are going to start coming into their life.
00:19:01.884 --> 00:19:07.813
So, again, depending on the exact need, you have everything from something and most people know AA groups, those types of things.
00:19:07.813 --> 00:19:09.510
You may have celebrate recovery.
00:19:09.510 --> 00:19:11.251
You may want to do it through your faith community.
00:19:11.251 --> 00:19:14.734
You may have pastoral care, chaplain care.
00:19:14.734 --> 00:19:16.431
It can be a part of the discharge.
00:19:16.431 --> 00:19:22.413
I would say certainly a competent first responder therapist, a primary therapist, is going to be in that.
00:19:22.413 --> 00:19:41.891
If we have some type of group environment like an intensive outpatient program available in the area, that may make sense for a patient, really as much as comprehensive as an aftercare plan, and then shout out to the first responders that you have to continue on right, you have to follow up, you have to follow through with that plan.
00:19:42.085 --> 00:19:46.673
So, peer support if you have peer support through your agency or through an outside agency.
00:19:46.673 --> 00:19:49.012
You have someone like Eric available to you.
00:19:49.012 --> 00:19:51.613
I know the amount of work that he puts in, right.
00:19:51.613 --> 00:19:56.211
So I think all those avenues is hey, what is going on?
00:19:56.211 --> 00:19:57.651
What are the identified needs?
00:19:57.651 --> 00:20:02.271
What do we have access to back home and then we're going to walk through.
00:20:02.271 --> 00:20:04.092
Hey, all these things are available.
00:20:04.625 --> 00:20:08.894
Then you have every Friday, there is a Shatterproof Alumni Group, right.
00:20:08.894 --> 00:20:10.992
So you have that's a Zoom call every single Friday.
00:20:10.992 --> 00:20:12.028
That's available to them.
00:20:12.028 --> 00:20:26.111
In some of our states now they almost have their own chapters of Shatterproof Alums, so they have group text going, they have their own Zoom calls, they have meetups and, I think, the organic stuff I say I mean, every now and then I'll get someone to call me and say, hey, did you know this was going on?
00:20:26.111 --> 00:20:26.546
And I don't?
00:20:26.546 --> 00:20:27.971
No, I don't, but that's great.
00:20:27.971 --> 00:20:31.093
So I think you have pieces of that that are going on.
00:20:31.093 --> 00:20:41.794
However, you can stay plugged into accountability, maybe deciding to join your own agency's peer team and be plugged in that way and doing those things.
00:20:41.794 --> 00:20:43.750
That's a fairly comprehensive list.
00:20:44.204 --> 00:20:47.835
I know firsthand from being away two separate times.
00:20:47.835 --> 00:20:55.512
A lot of people get a misconception that I'm going to go to FHE or I'm going to go somewhere else, whatever.
00:20:55.512 --> 00:20:57.750
And it's a one and done.
00:20:57.750 --> 00:21:00.188
This is going to fix me, I'm going to be okay.
00:21:00.188 --> 00:21:02.066
Guess what that's just.
00:21:02.066 --> 00:21:05.255
You've said a very specific word earlier.
00:21:05.255 --> 00:21:08.914
That is the foundation that we're building off of.
00:21:09.345 --> 00:21:20.035
You have to put the work in every day to maintain and to live those skills that they're putting in you down there in Florida or any treatment center that you go to.
00:21:20.035 --> 00:21:27.393
You can't complain about the poor results from the lack of effort you put in and we end up seeing that a lot.
00:21:27.393 --> 00:21:33.153
Oh man, it didn't work Well, did the program not work?
00:21:33.153 --> 00:21:38.269
Or are you not working on what you learned at the program when you came home?
00:21:38.269 --> 00:21:41.834
Cool thing about FHE being able to go back if need be.
00:21:41.834 --> 00:21:47.892
Relapse is huge in any type of recovery and it can happen to anybody.
00:21:47.892 --> 00:21:51.453
So let's say that I got a client down to you.
00:21:51.453 --> 00:21:55.446
They go down there, they spend 30 days, 60 days, whatever it is.
00:21:55.446 --> 00:22:01.413
They come home and six months later they're right back and they're in trouble again.
00:22:01.413 --> 00:22:04.191
Can they go back down to Florida?
00:22:04.644 --> 00:22:05.569
Yeah, absolutely.
00:22:05.569 --> 00:22:14.092
And like you said, like you alluded to Eric, I think that there again we would have to evaluate individual circumstances and what leads to these things.
00:22:14.092 --> 00:22:20.529
Sometimes it may be, as you've said, the wheels have fallen off and then we start asking some questions hey, what's been going on?
00:22:20.529 --> 00:22:22.010
I haven't seen my therapist for two months.
00:22:22.010 --> 00:22:24.573
All right, can we get into these therapists tomorrow?
00:22:24.573 --> 00:22:26.250
Can we get back on track?
00:22:26.250 --> 00:22:27.711
Can we have peer support?
00:22:27.711 --> 00:22:33.375
Can we have whatever it is, whatever tools are available, can we get back?
00:22:33.375 --> 00:22:34.690
Can we have some conversations?
00:22:34.690 --> 00:22:36.131
Can we involve peers?
00:22:36.131 --> 00:22:41.991
Can we involve whoever is at support again and get the process restarted that way?
00:22:42.505 --> 00:22:50.451
But in terms of, hey, the wheels have really come off and we've got to get somebody back to the program, yes, those options are always available.
00:22:50.451 --> 00:23:09.715
I would say as much as we probably I think everybody wants to the firefighter, police officer, first responder and FHE shadow proof staff want nothing more than hit the reset button, get the foundation built and continue on right, continue serving your community, doing the job you love and as healthy of a way as possible.
00:23:09.715 --> 00:23:15.471
But again, right, when we open up the hey, the family dynamics, the, how many jobs?
00:23:15.471 --> 00:23:19.179
Right, you have a second job, third job financial things that are going on.
00:23:19.179 --> 00:23:29.134
Hey, I got home in two critical incidences within the first week of being back, and so just all those, it's just all those individual pieces, different dynamics.
00:23:29.289 --> 00:23:53.940
Yeah, yeah, and knowing that they have the opportunity to go back and that we've had clients that have had to go back before and I failed, maybe not, things happen it's okay to stumble again and I think if somebody recognizing that and saying I need to go back, heck, yeah.
00:23:53.940 --> 00:23:57.912
That's probably one of the hardest things that somebody can do First.
00:23:57.912 --> 00:24:14.358
The first would be the first time, saying I need help, but to say that the second time, holy cow swallow that pride and I wanna do better, I wanna be better, and knowing that FHE is there, willing to take these people back, is humongous.
00:24:14.358 --> 00:24:15.642
Yeah, I think you will.
00:24:15.642 --> 00:24:30.259
One piece of advice that you could give a first responder that is unsure of whether or not they truly need help or whether they want help what would you suggest to that individual?
00:24:30.730 --> 00:24:31.815
Yeah, that's a great question.
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