UPMC Western Behavioral Health at Twin Lakes

Withdrawal management

Our professional medical staff will help you safely detox from a wide range of chemical addictions. They provide around-the-clock care to ensure that your comfort, physical, and emotional needs are being met.

Residential treatment

Twin Lakes provides peaceful surroundings with daily structure to promote a lifestyle free from substance use. Your stay will begin with an orientation to our beautiful grounds. You will notice our large, comfortable common rooms that promote peer interaction and support. 

Throughout your stay, you'll have a range of treatment experiences, including:

• Evidence-based individual and group therapy.
• Family therapy
• Nursing and medication management care to help you manage withdrawal, dependence, and cravings.
• Reading material access.
• Recreational activities, such as fishing, sports, and use of our new state-of-the-art gym.
• Spiritual practice opportunities.
• Support in developing a daily recovery plan.

You’ll also have access to aftercare support and resources, including outpatient treatment options.

How to get ready for your residential stay

At Twin Lakes, we want you to feel comfortable during your stay.

Please bring clothes, appropriate seasonal outerwear, and unopened personal care items.

We will provide:

• All linens, including bedding/pillow, washcloths/towels.
• Hygiene products.
• Three meals a day plus snacks.
• Washer and dryer access at no cost.

For a full list of items we provide, email Twinlakes@UPMC.edu.

We do not allow personal vehicles at Twin Lakes. Please have someone drop you off or contact us about arranging transportation.

Once you arrive, an employee will check your belongings. Any items that aren’t permitted will be held for safekeeping until your discharge.

Planning for life after Twin Lakes

Your care team will encourage you to consider your aftercare plan as soon as you enter treatment.

Twin Lakes offers you many aftercare options, including:

• Certified Recovery Specialists.
• Intensive outpatient programs.
• Medication management.
• Outpatient programs for both substance use and mental health counseling.
• Referrals to halfway and three-quarter-way sober living houses.

We are here to help every step of the way.

Outpatient care programs offer services according to the intensity of treatment needed.

Intensive outpatient addiction treatment programs

Our intensive outpatient programs provide nine to 19 hours of treatment per week.

These programs are recommended for those who benefit from group, individual, and family sessions.

Outpatient substance use programs

Our outpatient programs provide you with up to eight hours of group, individual, and family treatment per week.

Outpatient mental health program

Located in Somerset, our outpatient mental health program will provide individual, group, and family therapy. Psychiatric and medication management services are also available. 

All outpatient services offer:

• An initial assessment so we can learn your clinical needs. Then we'll work with you to tailor a treatment plan that meets those needs.
• Family therapy can help heal the wounds of addiction and support you in your recovery journey. You and your loved ones can make joint recovery goals for the entire family. We also provide you and your family with resources for housing, mental health, jobs, recreation, and medication management.
• Group therapy sessions.
  • Recovery group sessions are 2 to 8 hours per week based on your needs. Clients often attend group therapy in addition to weekly one-on-one sessions.
  • Legal group is for those actively or recently involved with the legal system, have charges pending, or are on probation or parole.
  • Specialty groups. At any time, Twin Lakes counselors can create new groups to meet the changing needs of those we serve.
• Individual sessions with your counselor. Sessions are scheduled regularly and last about an hour. You'll work on forming your recovery goals and personalized treatment plan.

Our expert staff at Twin Lakes will provide you with a wide range of treatment options.

All staff have training in evidence-based care, mental health, and in prescribing medicines to assist in the treatment of addiction.

The following treatment interventions are options, but not guaranteed at every stage of treatment.

Motivational enhancement therapy (MET) and engagement

MET and engagement strategies are designed to:

• Help you get past your ambivalence and engage in treatment to stop your drug or alcohol use.
• Evoke fast and internal change to achieve your recovery goals.
• Help you play a more active and engaged role in your treatment.

Motivational interviewing (MI)

MI is a counseling approach designed to empower you to take responsibility for your recovery.

During MI, your counselor will:

Explore the reasons why you want to change and encourage you that you have the strength to change.

Help you strengthen your desire and commitment for change.

Use change theory to guide treatment and assertive engagement techniques to help you with continued treatment.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)

CBT is a solutions-based form of talk therapy.

It focuses on restructuring your self-defeating thoughts into healthier ones, which then leads to prosocial behaviors, including:

• Emotions.
• Thoughts.
• Actions.

Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT)

DBT is an interactive type of therapy that teaches you:

• Healthy ways to cope with stress.
• Mindfulness
• Skills to manage emotions.
• Techniques to improve relationships with others.

Trauma-informed care (TIC)

TIC helps you work to recognize symptoms of trauma and how it impacts your life. TIC promotes healing and recovery to prevent re-traumatization.

Twin Lakes provides a full range of driving under the influence (DUI) programs.

Court reporting network (CRN)

CRN assesses and provides a summary of drug and alcohol highway safety history for those convicted of DUI.

Pennsylvania state law requires CRN for every DUI.

Alcohol highway safety school (AHSS)

All people convicted of DUI in Pennsylvania must attend AHSS.

The 12.5 hour course aims to:

• Highlight the relationship between drug and alcohol use and traffic safety.
• Educate you about the state's DUI laws.
• Stress the dangers of impaired driving.

Twin Lakes offers AHSS classes on select weeknights and weekends.

Victim impact panel (VIP)

VIP is an educational program offered on select Saturdays throughout the year for people charged with DUI. The panel invites people who have felt the impact of impaired driving to speak.

The goals of VIP are to:

• Change people's attitudes about impaired driving.
• Promote healing by providing the opportunity for people who have been found guilty of DUI to hear from victims about the personal impact on their lives.

Twin Lakes provides thorough, evidence-based substance use disorder prevention programs and services at various locations, including:

• At schools.
• In the community.
• One on one.
• With families.

Our goal is to help prevent and reduce substance use by promoting healthy lifestyles and neighborhoods.

Prevention and education services are either self-pay or funded through grants and government sources.

Our evidence-based prevention and education programs

Botvin LifeSkills® Training

Botvin LifeSkills Training is a program geared toward preventing substance use and violence. It targets students at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.

There are eight elementary sessions, each lasting 45-minutes. The middle and high school program has up to 18 sessions, each lasting 45-minutes.

Botvin LifeSkills Training:

• Improves knowledge of life skills, self-esteem, and healthy life choices.
• Includes talks on smoking, drug use, and alcohol.
• Promotes positive outcomes by teaching social skills, ways to deal with stress, communication, and decision-making.
• Teaches skills to help students handle peer pressure and make healthy, lasting lifestyle choices.

Healthy Alternatives for Little Ones (HALO)

HALO is an age-appropriate program for children ages 3 to 6.

There are 12 HALO sessions, each lasting 30 minutes. HALO uses songs, games, and demonstrations to teach children how to tell the difference between healthy and harmful choices.

This program encourages kids to:

• Build awareness of how the body works and how drugs and alcohol can harm it.
• Form social skills.
• Learn about their emotions.

Project Towards No Drug Abuse (PTND)

PTND is a 12-unit, 45-minute drug prevention program for high school students to help them:

• Become better decision-makers.
• Learn effective refusal and communication skills.
• Not use substances.

EVERFI Programs

EVERFI offers self-paced online modules where students can learn:

• Drinking Decisions and Basics – AlcoholEDU® explores influences involved in deciding to drink. Other topics include how alcohol affects the brain and body and how to make smart decisions in the future.
• Mental Wellness Basics – Topics include mental health disorders, healthy coping skills, and how to get help for themselves or a friend.
• Prescription Drug Safety Basics – Topics include safe use, storage, and disposal of prescription medicine. It also covers the science of addiction, refusal skills, and how to support friends in need.

The Pennsylvania Youth Survey (PAYS)

Somerset County school students in grades 6, 8, 10, and 12 take the survey every 2 years.

This anonymous survey explores student behavior, attitudes, and knowledge about alcohol, tobacco, other drugs, and violence.

PAYS uses the data to:

• Update schools, state agency directors, legislators, and others on changes in harmful substance use and behaviors.
• Assess risk factors for harmful behaviors and the protective factors that help guard against them. Community leaders can use this data to direct prevention resources where they will have the greatest impact.

Project Sticker Shock

Each spring, you'll see stickers on cases of alcohol at Somerset County beer distributors to increase awareness of state underage drinking laws.

The goal is to educate the public and change attitudes about selling and serving alcohol to anyone under the age of 21.

Twin Lakes works with local Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) chapters and beer distributors on this campaign.

Red Ribbon Week

Red Ribbon Week happens the last full week in October to honor Enrique 'Kiki' Camarena. Kiki was an undercover agent for the Drug Enforcement Agency who was murdered by a drug cartel.

During Red Ribbon Week, students in Somerset County:

• Are challenged to be mindful of drug use and provide positive messages in their school and neighborhoods.
• Get a red ribbon to wear.
• Participate in contests.

Twin Lakes partners with the Drug-Free Communities Coalition and other groups in the county to spread the drug-free message. They give the red ribbons at no cost to schools and share ideas on drug-free activities.

The week also includes a Red Ribbon Rally at the Somerset County Courthouse to award contest winners. Community members join in with displays of red bows and posters at local businesses.

Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD)

This program provides liaison support to school-based SADD chapters.

It also allows students to work on their skills at regional and local conferences and training.