In April the Gaiser Addiction Center will open a new outpatient location at 315 Liberty St. in downtown Butler.

The center will continue to operate its inpatient facility on Old Plank Road. The new building will consolidate two existing outpatient locations, one on the Butler Veterans Affairs Medical Center campus and the other at the Butler Salvation Army. The center’s criminal justice counselors also will be housed at the new location.

Linda Franiewski, the center’s executive director, said the reason for the move is to better serve Gaiser clients and the community.

“We recognize the very serious substance abuse problems facing the Butler community and we are committed to meeting those needs to the best of our ability. We are very, very excited about our new location and look forward to having more space in which to offer additional badly needed drug and alcohol treatment and education programs in Butler.”

Dr. Jeff Geibel, Ph.D., the clinical director of Gaiser center, has more than 20 years’ experience working with alcoholics and addicts in Butler. Over the years, the disease concept of addiction has remained the same, but the face of addiction is constantly changing.

“We see different types of users and different substances in response to trends and substance availability,” he said.

Dr. Geibel notes the biggest challenge facing treatment providers is a younger, more aggressive client using multiple substances and often times having a mental health diagnosis coupled with substance dependence. Complicating this fact is limited funding for these individuals. Many times these clients do not receive the treatment they need initially and are relapsers.

Founded in 1971 in Butler, the Gaiser Addiction Center provides high-quality drug and alcohol treatment and education services to chemically dependent individuals, including those with co-occurring disease, and their families. We empower those we treat to become recovering persons living clean, sober and responsible lives one day at a time. It’s become a legacy we’ve continued to carry on for 38 years.

If drugs and/or alcohol are a problem for you, give the Gaiser center a call. They are here to help at 724-287-8205.

This article was submitted by the Gaiser Addiction Center.