Hello, and welcome home!

I hope you’ll decide to come live with us! If so, we will see a lot of each other, and I think you’ll discover that LeMont Michel is a great place to live, a great place to build recovery, and a great place to find the kind of fellowship that keeps men sober.

LeMont Michel is more than a sober living house. We’re a family. And we treat the recovering men who come to live in our home like they’re family. This is not just a place to crash at night. This is our home … and your home, too! You will be a big part of what makes life at LeMont Michel work so well.

Our living surroundings often drive our mood and our attitudes, and the feeling a home provides a person in recovery and the people they live with can make a big difference in their willingness and their ability to perform the tasks – the hard tasks – it takes to stay sober. We’ve built LeMont Michel and designed the program here to give our residents the best possible chance of success in sobriety. And a lot of that comes down to how we speak to, relate to, and think about the men who come to live in our house.

So the minute you walk in our door, you’ll be able to see that life at LeMont Michel is different. For one thing, you won’t be told right off the bat all the ways you can get kicked right back out the door again! We don’t socially dominate our residents. There is some research to indicate that aggressive confrontation and bullying can increase relapse risk. We will speak to you the same way we would like people to speak to us if we were coming to live in a strange, new place.

There are many pathways to recovery, and every recovering person has to find their own. We hope we can help you find yours. So it isn’t “our way or the highway” here at LeMont Michel. Sure, we have rules - in some ways you might find life here even more structured than inpatient treatment. But those rules have sound reasons and research behind them - and we will take the time to explain the rationale behind every thing we do here. Our program works for you, not the other way around.

I think if you come to visit LeMont Michel, you’ll find our appreciation for the person in recovery in everything we do – from the cleanliness of the house, to its fit and finish, to the great food we serve, to the skiing and hiking and basketball games and outside sporting events we enjoy, right down to the way we do drug and alcohol testing. Research shows that time spent in treatment correlates with success in sobriety. So life here is designed to make sure you enjoy your time here, want to stay, and want to come back – whether to celebrate a recovery milestone, or just visit if you need a sobriety tune-up! We want you to look upon the time you spend at LeMont Michel as one of the most prosperous and rewarding phase of your recovery.

So what’s life like here at LeMont Michel?

First of all, the house …

Our home is situated in the community of Sandy, Utah, right smack up against the Wasatch Mountains. If you look out our window, that’s what you’ll see: mountains jutting straight up into the sky! They are gorgeous year round – covered with snow in winter, glistening in the spring, green in the summer, and coated with colors in the fall. The house is around 9,500 square feet in size … grand, yes, but comfortable. There are six bedrooms. Four of the bedrooms are shared. Two are single. There are five bathrooms. The LeMont Michel property is set on four acres, right on the bank of Little Cottonwood Creek. We have aspen, cottonwood and pine trees throughout the property, and we keep the grounds meticulously landscaped. The property is set apart from the other houses in the neighborhood and has a private, gated entrance.

LeMont Michel can accommodate up to ten men, two to four bedrooms and two rooms which are single. Our average daily census is expected to be eight men. The beds are comfortable, the house is clean and in good repair, the food is great, the scenery is spectacular, the neighborhood is safe and well kept.

LeMont Michel is staffed twenty-four-hours a day to provide immediate support as residents face challenges in early sobriety. The Program Manager is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the home. In addition to the Program Manager, there are four Resident Managers employed at LeMont Michel who are at the house at key times during the day – especially mornings and evenings when there are always two staff members on duty. A key element of Applied Recovery is to provide immediate access, twenty-four hours a day, to a supportive social environment or sober individuals to help the resident meet the challenges of early recovery without relapse.

Meals provided are breakfast and dinner. They are professionally prepared by a chef from a menu developed by a registered dietician with the nutritional needs of recovering people in mind. Lunch is food is provided, but residents prepare their own lunch. Residents are also provided space to store personal food for their own preparation.

The house, with the exception of the staff/record keeping office, is completely open to residents for their use and enjoyment. Amenities of the home include a fully equipped kitchen, entertainment areas including a home theater, business office with high-speed wireless internet, fax, computers and copier, fitness equipment consisting of treadmill, elliptical machine, and stationary bicycle, laundry facilities, and garden.

LeMont Michel has parking accommodations for fourteen vehicles, eight of which are available to residents. Residents will be allowed to keep and operate one personal vehicle during their stay at LeMont Michel provided they follow the rules of safety pertaining to personal driving.

When available, transportation may be provided to residents to gain access to public transportation stations, mutual-aid meetings (such as AA), appointments with their therapist or doctors, or other important activities of their recovery plan. This transportation can only be provided if one staff member is available to remain behind at the LeMont Michel facility.

Next, the location ….

The LeMont Michel property is less than thirty minutes away from downtown Salt Lake City, several colleges and universities including the University of Utah, and Salt Lake City International Airport. The Salt Lake City metropolitan area provides sporting and entertainment events and facilities such as professional basketball, soccer, and hockey games, college athletic events, museums, libraries, and parks. The area is one of the most active spiritual and religious communities in the nation, with a wide-range of churches, temples, synagogues and other faith-based services and events. The average daily temperature in the city of Sandy during the month of July is 78 degrees Fahrenheit, and the city receives fifty-eight inches of snowfall per year.

LeMont Michel is situated in one of the most breathtakingly beautiful locations in the nation, with an astounding range of recreational activities. To name just a few, we have hiking, mountain biking, rock-climbing, rafting, fishing, snowshoeing LeMont Michel is situated right at the base of Little Cottonwood Canyon, only minutes away from the Snowbird ski resort and only slightly farther from three other ski resorts all of which provide arguably the best skiing in the world. LeMont Michel is also only forty minute drive from Park City, Utah, home of five more world-class alpine and cross-country ski resorts, shopping, a wide range of winter and summer recreational activities, and the famous Sundance Film Festival each January. We are also only a half-day drive from the spectacular red rock country of Southern Utah including Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park, and Arches National Park near Moab, Utah, which is also one of the most challenging mountain biking areas in the world. Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, and Jackson, Wyoming are also only a six-hour drive from our front door.

You and your fellow residents …

LeMont Michel is open for residency to men at least twenty-one years of age who have completed inpatient treatment or inpatient detoxification and are motivated to continue their sobriety to include abstinence from alcohol and mood-altering drugs and participate in activities that build recovery skills. LeMont Michel residents must be employable or able to attend school or hold a volunteer position. Residents must be physically able to participate in recreational activities that include a moderate to high level of exertion. No resident can have a prior history of predatory or violent criminal behavior.

Expectations of the applied recovery Program …

LeMont Michel is just a house. What makes it special is the Applied Recovery Program going on inside the house that helps residents practice, develop and document their recovery plan during their stay and in an on-going manner after their departure.

As part of the Applied Recovery Program, residents sit down with the Program Manager and Resident Managers and participate in an evaluation of their strengths and obstacles to sobriety on arrival. They will then use this information to jointly formulate a recovery plan, and then carry out that plan while in residence. Every day measurements taken and data collected will provide indications as to how each resident is carrying out their recovery plan and how it is helping or hindering their recovery.

Each resident’s plan is likely to include:

• • Evaluation and follow-up by a local addictionologist (a primary care physician trained to meet the special needs of recovering people) or an addiction psychiatrist (a physician trained in the diagnosis, management and psychopharmacological treatment of addictive disorders)

• Compliance with a medication regimen as decided upon by the resident and his physician

• Participation in regular (at least weekly) intensive outpatient recovery support at a local aftercare center

• Individual and/or group counseling facilitated by a counselor or therapist knowledgeable in recovery management

• Attendance at mutual-aid support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Al-Anon, SMART Recovery, Rational Recovery or faith-based recovery support meetings such as Celebrate Recovery or LDS Family Services

LeMont Michel does not provide treatment at its facility. It is a recovery support service only. Cost for all clinical services obtained off the LeMont Michel property are incurred by the resident.

Data collection and electronic medical record keeping …

As part of the admission process, the Program Manager sits down with the new resident and together they gather information about the history of their resident’s addiction disorder, previous treatments, and the resident’s present circumstances and recovery needs. Together they formulate a recovery plan for the resident’s first year of sobriety. During his stay at LeMont Michel, the resident, the staff, the fellow residents, and the resources available in the community create a Recovery-oriented System of Care to assist the resident in realizing their recovery plan.

A key element of the Applied Recovery program in place at LeMont Michel is daily testing for drug and alcohol use. Every morning, staff will collect urine, breath, and saliva samples from each resident for this purpose. A careful, painstaking procedure is used to determine the recovery status of each resident on a day-by-day basis, with a strong emphasis on safety (not punishment) and preserving each resident’s dignity during the process.

** Along with residents, LeMont Michel staff submit to regular testing for drug and alcohol use, too. We would never ask anything of a resident that we would not be willing to do ourselves. **

The information gathered during each resident’s stay at LeMont Michel, as well as all past medical records and information provided from previous treatments, are compiled into electronic medical record format. This record is open to each resident for inspection at any time, and a CD-ROM copy is provided to each resident upon their departure. The LeMont Michel staff assist each resident in preparing reports of recovery plan performance to employers, courts and attorneys, professional oversight organizations and licensing bodies, or any other authority that may request such information as consented by the resident for release. Upon departure from residence at LeMont Michel, each resident is provided with a summary report of their activities and performance during their stay.

As part of the program of Applied Recovery, residents have the opportunity to participate in data and personal information submission for research purposes. This participation is strictly on a volunteer basis and requires prior Institutional Review Board approval and written consent. Any resident at LeMont Michel can refuse to participate in such research projects without fear of any deleterious change in their status or care.

And finally, something we call “Hedonic Rehabilitation” …

Addiction is fundamentally a disorder of the brain’s hedonic system – its reward, or pleasure system. Genes, stress and environmental factors combine to create changes in the brain that give extraordinary importance to drugs and alcohol, overwhelming all other natural rewards. A key proposition of Applied Recovery is that recovery involves removing drugs and alcohol and replacing them with normal, natural rewards such as food, recreation and good fellowship. Addiction is a disorder of pleasure. Recovery is about practicing normal pleasures. Applied Recovery calls this process Hedonic Rehabilitation.

Each week, the residents and staff of LeMont Michel participate in one of the hundreds of unique recreational activities available to people living in Utah. This is a concerted, deliberate effort to practice pleasure in order to promote brain healing.

But don’t assume that these recreational activities are a “non-therapeutic” component of life at LeMont Michel. They are not just about playing. They are as important as any other of the support elements of applied recovery.

Men’s Night Out …

Men’s Night Out (MNO) is a weekly exercise in hedonic rehabilitation, fellowship building, and recovery education. MNO is integral to the program of applied recovery. MNO is what sets applied recovery homes like LeMont Michel apart from simple sober living houses. MNO is not just a social night out. It is a carefully constructed programmatic element consisting of a didactic presentation with discussion, a prepared evening meal that includes ALL staff and residents, and a pre-planned, off-site activity designed to provide a feeling of family togetherness while in the real world.

Each MNO activity:

• Reinforces recovery concepts, introduces problem solving sobriety skills, and recommends community recovery resources available;
• Provides the opportunity for each resident to ask questions and share opinions;
• Aggressively counters the trend of isolation common in early recovery, increasing the likelihood that residents and staff will bond with and reach out to one another as a healthy coping tool;
• Models first-hand the concept of recovering people facing the world and all of its challenges as a cohesive, mutually-supportive group;
• Demonstrates that recovery can be a rich and rewarding experience.

During MNO activities, residents come to know one another, recognize each other’s unique personal strengths and personality traits, find a place of acceptance in their temporary “recovery family,” and see how to make their own personally contributions to that family.

In addition, MNO serves to replace drug and alcohol-associated social events with recovery-based social events, and demonstrates to each resident that such events can be enjoyable. MNO also provides residents the ability to displace a risky, non-recovering peer group with a stable, recovering peer group.

MNO activities are mandatory. The concept and function of MNO is made clear to each prospective resident of an AR home prior to admission. A requirement for admission and for continued residence in the AR home is the resident’s agreement to participate in every MNO during their stay. The resident’s weekly schedule needs to be planned around MNO activities, not the other way around.

The Right Place …

If these ideas and concepts appeal to you then you are in exactly the right place. We are a group of men dedicated to helping men discover new practices and ideas that lead to a fulfilling, limitless, and meaningful new sober life. This is a place where you can get your feet back under you, where you can wake up in the morning and know you’re in a safe place. When we practice sobriety every day, our recovery habits develop. They become part of us. This is the right place to do that.

Again, welcome to Le Mont Michel … Welcome Home!