HAVRE DE GRACE, MD -- (Marketwire) -- 02/06/13 -- Father Martin's Ashley today announced the official introduction of its Pain Recovery Program, an approach uniquely designed for individuals who are dependent on pain medications and/or sedatives due to an injury, disease or condition and who desire to change their dependence on addictive drugs and improve their quality of life.

Ashley, which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary, created the Pain Recovery Program in response to a growing incidence of patients with addiction to prescription pain medications, including opiates and other addictive drugs. Many of these patients present the special challenge of needing to manage their chronic pain, while gaining freedom from the dependence they've developed to their pain medications. It began treating patients in this new program in October 2012.

Ashley has long recognized the need to help chemically dependent, chronic pain patients gain independence from addictive drugs while managing their pain and therefore, spent years developing its Pain Recovery Program to address the biological, psychological, social and spiritual needs of such patients. As concern continues to mount regarding abuse of prescription pain medications -- including the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) recent recommendation to tighten controls over popular pain relievers containing the opioid hydrocodone -- Ashley is uniquely positioned to treat those who are dependent on these drugs.

"There's a misperception that someone who has pain needs to be maintained on opiates and other addictive drugs. That's not necessarily true," said Carol Bowman, M.D., a physician board-certified in internal medicine who heads the program. "Ashley is changing the paradigm. There are alternatives, and our Pain Recovery Program offers patients those options right now."

Ashley's program utilizes its current strong medical and clinical care combined with comprehensive pain and addiction education, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and pain counseling groups, and holistic and physical therapies.

Patients in Ashley's Pain Recovery Program attend educational workshops led by staff physicians and/or licensed counselors/nurses where they learn the physiological basis of pain, techniques for minimizing pain and the role that pain has played in their emotional and physical health, and that of their loved ones. They also attend daily group therapy and weekly one-on-one counseling.

Dependence on prescription pain medications is the new face of addiction and a growing public health problem, with 13 million Americans reporting non-medical use of such drugs and 9 million addicted to them (more than half to opiates). The fastest growth is among young people (some as young as 12) and members of the military. In addition to lives destroyed or lost, the epidemic costs $365 million in medical treatment and productivity annually.

"The federal government, through agencies such as the FDA and DEA, is working to change regulations to slow the trend, but there is help for people who are addicted today," said Dr. Bowman. "Some legal drugs are as lethal as illegal street drugs. But addiction to them requires a unique approach to treatment."

Ashley's Pain Recovery Program team includes full-time staff physicians, Dr. Carol Bowman, M.D., a physician board-certified in internal medicine and certified in integrative holistic medicine; Dr. Bernadette Solounias, M.D., ASAM, SVP of Treatment Services, Medical Director and board-certified Addiction psychiatrist; Dr. Carol Hooper M.D., board-certified acupuncture physician; Dr. Peter Musser, Ph.D., a licensed, clinical psychologist; and Scott Dehorty LCSW, M.S.W., formerly of the Johns Hopkins Pain Center and the clinician who will lead the Pain Recovery Program counseling groups. The experienced team also includes Charlotte Meck, RN, CARN, director of nursing; Jill Ruroede, RN, BSN, lead pain recovery nurse; and Brandon Kessler, certified personal trainer and pain program fitness coach.

The program's therapies and services include one-on-one and group counseling, physical therapy, massage, acupuncture, yoga and meditation, family services, and a host of other specialized services.

The goal of the program is to help pain patients gain freedom from addictive substances, improve their functionality, their quality of life, and learn techniques and lifestyle changes to reduce, eliminate and/or better manage their pain.

Visit www.fathermartinsashley.org/pain for more information.

ABOUT FATHER MARTIN'S ASHLEY: Father Martin's Ashley is a nationally-recognized leader in the treatment of alcoholism and chemical dependence. Accredited by The Joint Commission and located on a 147-acre campus in Havre de Grace, Maryland, Father Martin's Ashley has, since being co-founded by Father Joseph C. Martin, S.S. -- a priest in recovery from alcoholism -- in 1983, worked to heal addicts and help their families with the science of medicine, the art of therapy and the support of 12 Step practices. Father Martin's Ashley is a division of Ashley, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, that has treated more than 35,000 patients, offering inpatient addiction and alcoholism treatment as well as sobriety enrichment, DWI, and family and children's educational programs.