At The Meadows Malibu, we believe that all people have the capacity for healing and recovery, despite any dysfunctional family systems or behaviors that exist. Humans can process emotions and information in ways that reshape our perspectives and take ownership or our choices and experiences. Once we understand that this power is within us, we can cultivate healthy skills and practices that empower us to move beyond our circumstances.
Perhaps no one understands the uniqueness of the Meadows Behavioral Health recovery model better than Michele LeWinter, executive director at The Meadows Malibu. After all, her own life’s challenges propelled her personally and professionally toward healing and recovery, greatly informing her practice as a mental health therapist and clinician.
We sat down with LeWinter to hear more about resilience, recovery, and her role here at The Meadows Malibu.
Q: Your bio mentions a therapist you saw in adolescence planted seeds that inspired you to become a therapist yourself. How did this experience help shape you into the therapist you became and the role you now have at The Meadows Malibu?
LeWinter: My time in therapy as an adolescent led me to understand that circumstances do not define character. I came to understand that things that were happening in my environment were not about my value and worth as a human being. For the first time in my life, I was freed by the understanding that I could experiment with how I react to what was happening in the environment to take care of my responses.
Q: You’ve experienced big challenges that a lot of people can relate to, both as the mom of a child with autism and more recently as the primary caregiver for your aging parents. What are some key takeaways from those experiences that have informed your approach?
LeWinter: As anyone who goes through big challenges in their life, some of the challenges I have faced have helped inform who I am as a parent, as a partner, and as a therapist. I have learned that there are numerous ways to go through the process of grief that don’t include death of someone you loved. Remaining conscious through a challenging period of life requires that one be in touch with the pain of growing. What may seem like the natural course of events for some people are actually traumatic, difficult, and filled with loss. These awarenesses have helped increase my sensitivity to what some people refer to as “everyday events.”
Q: Tell us a little about why you decided to take the executive director role at The Meadows Malibu?
LeWinter: I decided to take the executive director role at The Meadows Malibu for two main reasons. First, I wanted to create a Meadows program that was unique and individualized that offered flexibilities that our other programs did not. The other reason is because I wanted to help train therapists in the Meadows Model to help inform our care to deliver an excellent clinical product.
Q: What is your vision for The Meadows Malibu, as the executive director?
LeWinter: The vision I have for Malibu is to continue delivering an excellent clinical product informed by our model and to continue to infuse it with the individualized care that our patients have come to expect.
Q: What does your day-to-day look like?
LeWinter: Chaos and mayhem. Just kidding. My day-to-day responsibilities include patient care and caring for those in my charge, meaning my staff, managing staff schedules, clinical issues, and program development.
Q: What makes this place and this role rewarding for you?
LeWinter: What makes this place unique is that we’re able to offer services and amenities that our other campuses cannot accommodate. Some of the most rewarding experiences have been being able to attend to patient needs and having incredible outcomes that have assisted helping people change their lives.
Q: On the surface, The Meadows Malibu looks to be the poshest of posh for a treatment center — equine therapy, yoga, massage, expressive arts and more — in Malibu, no less. But what, in your opinion, are the most important ways TMM is set apart from other treatment centers?
LeWinter: Malibu is set apart from other treatment centers in that we bring the model to the core of everything we do. There are many treatment centers in Malibu that offer similar things like equine, yoga, massage, expressive arts, and surfing, but we do all of those with the experience, strength, and hope of the Meadows Model with a focus on trauma.
There are many treatment centers in Malibu that offer similar things like equine, yoga, massage, expressive arts, and surfing, but we do all of those with the experience, strength, and hope of the Meadows Model with a focus on trauma.
Michele LeWinter
Q: You’ve spent the better part of two decades specializing in couples therapy. What are some of the biggest challenges couples face when addiction is involved?
LeWinter: The biggest challenge couples face when dealing with addiction is understanding that the coupleship that existed prior to treatment and the coupleship that they have after treatment are two different relationships. Different skills, tools, and resources are needed after treatment to ensure that couples can cocreate their relationship based on newly shared values and priorities.
Q: How important is it for families to be involved in the recovery process of their loved one with addiction issues, and why?
LeWinter: It’s important for families to be involved in the recovery process of their loved one. When one person enters addiction recovery in a family system, it’s an opportunity for the family to develop a recovery network as well. New language, skills, and resources are needed to functionally address unresolved issues from the past and create healthier forms of communication for the future.
Q: Why do you think the Meadows Model has been so successful for nearly 50 years?
LeWinter: The Meadows Model has been so successful because of its acknowledgement that childhood issues inform and impact our functioning as adults. The model not only helps delineate what the issues are, but also helps people become more resilient and resourceful in moving towards their functional adult self in day-to-day life.
Q: Lastly, when patients leave The Meadows Malibu, how are they better equipped to function in healthy relationships for having done the hard work of recovery?
LeWinter: When patients leave Malibu, they are better equipped in identifying and creating healthier relationships through doing the work of the issues that brought them into treatment. Patients are going to more quickly notice when they’re defensive, shut down, and engaging in unhealthy patterns of behavior. Patients will also be able to have a toolbox of greater depth and breadth of skills to revisit the healthy goals they have set for themselves.
Pulling Out All the Stops
The Meadows Malibu is a uniquely comfortable, home-away-from-home environment. Here, we make it our mission to get to know each person who walks through our doors — all while providing a recovery program tailored specifically to your needs. Whatever your clinical, health, social, work, and personal needs may be, nothing stands in the way of your path to healing.
If you or someone you love has been delaying mental health treatment, The Meadows Malibu may be the one treatment center that can help take the logistical guesswork out of the decision. We pull out all the stops to make it as seamless and rewarding as recovery can be. Let us show you how.