ST. LOUIS, DECEMBER 2020 - To everyone looking in from the outside, Jimmy looked like he had it all. He came from an affluent family and had the world at his feet. But, behind the scenes, there was a DWI, an assault charge and multiple failed visits to alcohol treatment centers.  

“I’m allergic to alcohol,” Jimmy said. “When I drink, I break out in handcuffs.” 

52-year old Jimmy got his first DWI as a freshman in college, which started the first of what would be five unsuccessful visits to alcohol treatment centers starting back in 1987. 

Along the way, he was also arrested for assault. He lost his home. He lost his possessions and, eventually, his family. 

“Everyone in my life completely separated from me, and pretty much said to me this is your last option,” Jimmy said of his referral to INSynergy. “This is it.” 

 “This disease has three options. Obviously, one is to get sober and live a productive life. Two is incarceration. And, three is death," Jimmy said about his decision to get help. "I knew I wanted to live.” 

Jimmy turned to INSynergy, an outpatient addiction treatment medical practice based in St. Louis. INSynergy specializes in using the best practices in addiction medicine to develop individualized treatment plans that are personalized to each patient.  

INSynergy does not follow a one-size fits all approach to addiction treatment. Instead, the staff at INSynergy use a science-based medical approach when helping each patient. 

Dr. Arturo Taca founded INSynergy in response to the need he saw to provide effective, yet affordable treatment for those struggling with a variety of addictions.  

Today, INSynergy offers an approach to treatment unlike any other program in St. Louis. 

INSynergy’s innovative approach includes using scientific advancements and proven technologies to treat addiction and its related conditions. 

Alcoholism is not a behavior problem. It is a brain problem. 

“If we’re wanting to get predictable results for a medical condition, we have to really respect the biochemistry of the brain and the treatments of the brain,” Dr. Taca said. “Unfortunately, a lot of addiction programs out there may not implement all the tools we have at INSynergy.” 

As part of Jimmy’s therapy, INSynergy introduced Jimmy to Soberlink®, a portable breathalyzer that family and friends monitor that hold the patient accountable. 

“The people in my life that I caused the most damage to, the people closest to me, and I guess the powerfulness of the damage is, I guess, exemplified in my life when my, at the time, my then-13-year-old daughter was pleading with me to stop drinking,” Jimmy said. “Yet, I still continued drinking.” 

Unpacking his past was the next step with INSynergy counselor, Rick Flanagan. Flanagan understood the road Jimmy was on because he himself had walked that same road with own addictions.   

“For me to be a good counselor, the only thing that entails is making the client feel comfortable and able to be honest. That is what makes a good counselor,” Flanagan said. “So, because of my experience and past and I share that with them, they get comfortable and are willing to be honest with me.” 

In time, Jimmy achieved sobriety. Jimmy said it was not easy, but it was made easier by INSynergy’s personalized approach.  

“There was genuine care,” Jimmy said. “I felt like I mattered as a human being. I felt like I belonged.”  

The real work comes after recovery.  

“The real part of recovery is after you stop drinking and drugging, facing emotions and feelings,” Flanagan said. “And that is difficult. I understand. But it is so healthy and it just changes life like you will never believe. Life will get so good when we start working on facing our feelings and emotions in life, clean and sober.” 

“The challenge [of getting sober] is daunting,” Jimmy said. “But the reward is exponentially better.”  

For more information about INSynergy, including a no-obligation, free, individual assessment, visit them at insynergystl.com. 

--Paul Schankman & Angel James (SVN) reporting for INSynergy