Every impactful treatment experience is shaped by a team dedicated to supporting healing, growth, and a renewed sense of possibility. At Wings Recovery, our clinicians, mentors, and staff combine clinical expertise with genuine passion in the work they carry out each day.
Our Meet Our Team series spotlights the people who bring our program to life. Through these conversations, you will gain insight into their roles at Wings, what draws them to the mental health and recovery field, and the experiences that inform how they support clients and families.
In this feature, we are proud to introduce Hanna Glasheen, RADT, Head of Admissions, as she offers perspective on her role, her understanding of the recovery journey, and the purpose that continues to drive her work.
Q: Tell us about your role! What do you do at Wings Recovery and what do you love most about your job? What specialties or therapeutic approaches do you bring to your work?
A: At Wings Recovery, I am the head of the admissions department. I oversee all of our admissions coordinators and help review cases for individuals who reach out to us for help. I love my job at Wings for so many reasons – first and foremost, I love helping people. I feel very passionate about getting people the care they need. I don’t just love working for Wings though, I’m proud to be a part of something that changes lives every day. I have been with Wings since day one and I have yet to hear of a facility I would want to work for more. I believe in what we do here and I am proud to be a part of it. I’m proud to walk people through our doors knowing that they will receive the best trauma therapy / mental health treatment from our clinical team. We have some truly fantastic therapists and providers, and I feel so blessed to be a part of this team of people who genuinely care about the people we treat.
Q: What is your “why?” What motivated or inspired you to be in this field?
A: What inspired me to work in this field is that I went through it myself. I’ve been in recovery for many years and have done a lot of trauma therapy. There were points in my life where I felt helpless and hopeless and like things would never change, but through doing the work to heal myself, I learned how important it is to have a helping hand. I was so lucky to have many supporters and people that were there to help pull me out of my darkest places – some of those people were healthcare providers and admissions coordinators. To this day, years and years later, I still think about the people that gave me back that little bit of hope, that made me see I could recover and helped me get to where I am today. I want to be able to reach out that same hand that was given to me, the hand of hope, the hand of unconditional acceptance and belief that, with hard work and commitment, actual miracles can happen.
Q: In your opinion, what makes Wings Recovery unique?
A: Wings Recovery is unique because, unlike everything else in our world today, we provide more for less. We provide more individual sessions, more high-quality providers, more care and compassion with less focus on the obstacles that block people from getting into treatment. Our goal is to help as many humans as humanly possible. Our goal is to provide the highest quality care and support, while meeting people where they are at. Wings is unique because it is made up of humans that genuinely care about other humans and their suffering and recovery from that suffering. I have never known a larger group of individuals who have more compassion and drive to help others than the staff at Wings.
Q: What makes you excited to be a part of the Wings Recovery Team?
A: What makes me excited to be a part of the Wings Recovery team is everything I have already been saying – I get to be a part of a team of individuals that just love helping others. I get excited when I tell people about our program because I truly feel like it is a client focused facility with the goal of treating every individual as just that, a unique individual. I have worked for Wings since day one and seeing the growth and the passion that has gone into making this treatment center what it is, I feel pride in my work and I am excited to go to work every day knowing I get to be a part of at least one person’s healing journey every day.
Q: What is your hope for the future of Wings Recovery?
A: My hope for the future of Wings Recovery is simple – continue on. Continue growing and supporting people. Continue making improvements and process changes based on new and cutting-edge therapeutic sciences. Continue to show integrity in everything we do. Continue helping as many humans as humanly possible.
Q: Is there a personal philosophy or guiding principle that shapes the way you approach care?
A: “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” Mahatma Gandhi
Outpatient therapy helps many people with mental health or addiction issues. But sometimes it is not enough. You may need residential care if symptoms get severe, home life makes things worse, or you stop getting better. Residential offers more structure and safety to help you heal.
I share 9 signs in this article that indicate residential care may be the most helpful next step for healing. You can prevent crises and achieve better recovery outcomes by recognizing these signs early.
What Are the Levels of Care?
There are multiple levels of care for mental health and addiction. Here is a summary for two of these: outpatient care and residential treatment [1].
Outpatient Care
Outpatient treatment enables you to live at home while attending scheduled therapy sessions with a therapist weekly or biweekly. You can keep working, going to school, or caring for your family. This works best for people with mild to moderate symptoms and a safe, supportive home. The program often includes medication help, one-on-one or group counseling, and learning new skills.
Residential Care
In residential treatment, you live at a home-like facility and get 24/7 support. This takes you away from daily stress so you can focus on getting better. With daily therapy, medical care, and wellness activities, this works best for people with severe symptoms, those who have stopped improving, or those whose home life makes recovery harder.
9 Signs That Suggest Residential Care Is Best Suited
The following is a comprehensive list of signs indicating residential treatment is best suited for recovery [2] [3] [4].
Your Safety or Stability Is at Risk
This is the most urgent indicator. Outpatient care cannot provide the constant supervision and emotional support required if you are experiencing active suicidal thoughts, self-harm, or an inability to care for basic needs (e.g., eating, bathing).
Round-the-clock medical supervision is also required if you are experiencing severe withdrawal symptoms. Residential programs offer 24/7 medical support in a safe, contained environment while stabilizing severe symptoms.
Your Symptoms Are Severely Impacting Daily Functioning
Your condition has moved beyond “mild to moderate” if depression makes getting out of bed impossible, panic attacks prevent you from working or leaving the house, or emotional dysregulation damages relationships.
Residential care allows you to focus entirely on healing by removing the pressure of daily responsibilities.
Repeated Relapse
Missing therapy sessions or inability to follow through confirms a higher level of accountability is required. As well, ongoing substance use, or relapse despite consistent outpatient efforts, shows that triggers or the home environment overwhelm outpatient-level support.
You’ve Hit a Wall with Outpatient Treatment
You’ve been seeing a therapist or taking medication, but you aren’t getting better. You might be experiencing relapses, repeated crashes, or “treatment resistance.” Intensive daily therapy in a residential setting can help overcome barriers that weekly outpatient sessions cannot.
Lack of Progress
If you have had no improvement in anxiety, depression, PTSD, or disordered eating after prolonged outpatient therapy, it’s time for residential care. Residential care is necessary when hopelessness or panic attacks cause disruptions in daily life.
Daily Functioning Collapse
If you are struggling with basic tasks such as eating, sleeping, work, or hygiene, despite treatment, it means structure is lacking. This can be worsened if there is abuse, conflict, or enabling dynamics in an unstable home environment. It can be beneficial to temporarily remove yourself to residential care.
Your Home Environment Is Working Against You
Sometimes the home itself is a trigger if there are high levels of conflict, an unsupportive family, or an environment that enables substance use. This can make recovery nearly impossible. Residential treatment offers a “neutral ground,” providing a break from toxic stress to practice new skills in a safe space before returning home.
Impact on Family
As loved ones try to cope, they may face exhaustion, hypervigilance, or loss of boundaries. Residential care offers space for both the family and you to heal.
You Have Co-Occurring Conditions That Complicate Recovery
If mental health struggles occur together with substance abuse or an eating disorder, the conditions often interact and reinforce each other.
Integrated residential programs are designed to treat these complex cases simultaneously with coordinated medical and psychiatric care, which is difficult to achieve in separate outpatient appointments.
Key Takeaways
Needing residential care is not a personal failure; it is a recognition that you need a different, more powerful level of support to get well.
It’s a proactive step toward stability. Recovery often involves multiple levels of care. Residential treatment can be the turning point that makes long-term outpatient care possible again.
If these signs resonate, the next step is a confidential assessment with a licensed professional to discuss which path is right for you. Our compassionate, experienced therapists at Wings Recovery Center are able to conduct this and guide you to the best solution for you.
Gender-Specific Trauma-Informed Care in San Diego County
There’s no wrong time to get started with your journey of recovery. With our gender-specific treatment paths, our team understands your unique story and concerns. We believe in working with you so you’ll be an active participant in planning your journey alongside your dedicated medical team.
We don’t just focus on the specific aspects of your mental health. We address every area that needs improvement. This includes nutrition programs and other components of self-care. We see you for the person you are. You’re more than your mental health conditions, and your treatment reflects that.
If you want to know more about our programs at Wings Recovery, give us a call anytime at 760-359-9950.
Sources
[1] Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. A Guide to Substance Abuse Services for Primary Care Clinicians. Rockville (MD): Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (US); 1997. (Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series, No. 24.) Chapter 5—Specialized Substance Abuse Treatment Programs.
Between 10% and 20% of those who have lived through a traumatic event experience Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Although commonly associated with combat veterans and first responders, PTSD affects millions of people across diverse populations.
But, compared to men, women are twice as likely to develop PTSD [1].
In terms of both symptoms and treatment outcomes, PTSD affects men and women differently, influenced by differences in types of trauma, biological factors, and coping styles.
Effective treatment for PTSD is best defined based on an understanding of these differences. This is not just in how symptoms present but also in how individuals respond to specific therapies and medications.
In this article, I highlight the importance of gender-sensitive care as I explore these issues
Different Symptoms and Comorbidities
At roughly twice the rate of men, women develop PTSD, with a lifetime occurrence around 8-12% versus 4-6% in men. This gap reflects higher exposure by women to traumas such as sexual assault [1].
The type of trauma experienced often differs. Women are more frequently exposed to sexual violence. Men are exposed to accidents or physical assault. This should influence the focus of therapy.
Women tend to exhibit more internalizing symptoms, such as:
Hyperarousal
Emotional distress
Emotional numbness
Avoidance
Anxiety
Depression
Shame
Self-blame
Intense re-experiencing of the trauma
Higher rates of comorbid anxiety and depression
Men more commonly display externalizing symptoms, such as:
Irritability
Anger
Impulsivity
Paranoia
Substance use
Men are also more likely to suffer from co-occurring substance abuse issues.
The key differences between women and men are summarized in this table.
Irritability, impulsivity, substance use, and anger
Cognitive Effects
Less memory loss/cognitive impairment
More pronounced memory loss, hyperarousal
Key Differences
Women more often present with hyperarousal, intrusive re-experiencing, and interpersonal violence-related trauma.
Men commonly show dissociation and delayed help-seeking.
Treatment Approaches
Evidence-based therapies such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), among others, are proven helpful for both genders; however, there is still little research on this topic. A 2024 study of EMDR versus other therapies found no significant differences in PTSD symptom reduction, response rates, or remission between genders, but males had higher dropout rates from EMDR [2].
In general, men may need greater focus on anger management and substance abuse. Women may benefit from processing shame and working with women-only trauma-specific groups. Each may benefit from a supportive space in therapy to share experiences and foster healing from trauma.
Overall, women are prescribed more medications, possibly due to co-occurring mood disorders. And these include more benzodiazepines, despite guidelines against using them, due to the increased risks of dependency and adverse effects, particularly in women with trauma histories, which can complicate their recovery and therapeutic progress.
Response to Psychotherapy
A 2026 study on active-duty service members found that women with PTSD and major depressive disorder had a much bigger improvement in their symptoms with standard Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) than men [3].
The same study found that a combination of behavioral activation and cognitive processing therapy (CPT) made the differences in outcomes less clear. This suggests that men and women may need different types of therapy or different focuses.
Men are generally less likely to seek psychotherapeutic help than women, which can delay treatment and impact outcomes.
The Medication Puzzle
Veteran studies show that women are significantly more likely than men to be prescribed “guideline-discordant” medications—drugs like benzodiazepines or antipsychotics that are not recommended as first-line treatments for PTSD. [4]
While factors such as elevated rates of bipolar disorder in women explain part of this discrepancy, a substantial portion remains unexplained. This suggests potential gender bias or unrecognized symptom complexities in the presentation of women to clinicians.
Female-specific life stages (e.g., pregnancy, breastfeeding, meno
pause) and differences in drug behaviors complicate medication management and require a more tailored approach.
The Need for Gender-Sensitive Care
Women face a two- to threefold higher PTSD incidence than men. The setting and manner of care matter. In emergency departments and initial intake, women benefit from “micro practices” such as explicit consent before contact and privacy protection to prevent re-traumatization. These are elements of trauma-informed care best practices [5].
Clinical guidelines suggest offering patients a choice of therapist based on their trauma experience—for example, a preference for a specific gender—to improve engagement and safety.
While we know gender matters, research often fails to include diverse groups (like gender-minoritized individuals) or fully differentiate between biological “sex” and social “gender,” limiting the ability to tailor care for everyone [6] [7].
Key Takeaways
Gender influences the effectiveness of therapy.
Women are more likely to seek and respond to psychotherapy.
Approaches that recognize this, such as male providers for men or female-led groups for women, improve engagement.
Infographic comparing PTSD in men vs. women, detailing differences in lifetime occurrence, trauma exposure (sexual violence vs. physical assaults), cognitive effects, and gender-sensitive treatment pathways.
Gender-Specific Trauma-Informed Care in San Diego County
There’s no wrong time to get started with your journey of recovery. With our gender-specific treatment paths, our team understands your unique story and concerns. We believe in working with you so you’ll be an active participant in planning your journey alongside your dedicated medical team.
We don’t just focus on the specific aspects of your mental health. We address every area that needs improvement. This includes nutrition programs and other components of self-care. We see you for the person you are. You’re more than your mental health conditions, and your treatment reflects that.
If you want to know more about our programs at Wings Recovery, give us a call anytime at 760-359-9950.
Do you remember the movie “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind?” This guy wants to forget about his ex-girlfriend by going through a very unsanctioned medical procedure to erase his memory. It’s a story about what it means to forget your memories and how they serve us in certain ways.
Trauma therapy isn’t like this movie. There’s no way to safely erase the painful memories that continue to play out in a person’s mind, sometimes long after it’s happened. Trauma therapy is meant to desensitize the emotional reactions when, not if, those memories resurface. Let’s start with the reasons Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) occurs.
When we are exposed to a time of extreme stress or consistent stress, this can cause symptoms of PTSD, including hypervigilance, panic, hypersensitivity to certain stimuli, flashbacks, even disassociations. Our brains are trying to protect us from going through another emotionally and/or physically painful experience like that again. It works to warn us of similar sights and sounds to keep us safe. Unfortunately, this system in our brains can go into overdrive. It becomes conditioned to avoid the unavoidable. It could be loud sounds, somatic feelings, and triggers that set off emotional alarm bells in our nervous system and our bodies. These signals can help protect us, yet they can also be detrimental to the functioning of a person’s everyday life.
The sympathetic nervous system, (Fight, flight, freeze or fawn) is this protector. It sets off the alarm bells of our brains. Sometimes, the alarm threshold becomes very sensitive. Most clients talk about how they spend so much energy trying to distract themselves or “stuff it down” until it becomes impossible. Not to worry. There is hope. If you spent half the energy in trauma therapy with a qualified therapist, you’ll be in a much better place.
Most trauma therapy techniques are based on this clinical phrase called systematic desensitization. When, not if, the memory returns, we work to reduce distress. EMDR and Brainspotting use the Subjective Units of Distress Scale (SUDS). EMDR has a long and extensive history for helping clients with their subjective units of distress. Brainspotting is the newer kid on the block, however it remains popular and quite effective in practice. It feels like straight sorcery! Somatic Experiencing is also a great method to reduce distress from PTSD symptoms.
What is it like using EMDR or Brainspotting to work through their trauma? These are two therapy interventions help the client tap into painful memories and emotions in a supportive and controlled environment. Part of the process is education on emotional regulation, grounding techniques, and building a relationship with your therapist. What is it like when you start clearing trauma targets? Most clients are proud of facing the thoughts and emotions that have been too difficult to bear for a long time. They realize the acute responses that were meant to protect are no longer serving them. You have less C.O.W.S. What the heck are C.O.W.S.!?
C.O.W.S. is an acronym for Crises Of The Week. Why do people have C.O.W.S.? When life gets a little too quiet or calm (or when someone get clean and sober), people are left with their thoughts. Clients with PTSD often live in chaos to distract themselves from their pain. This is often completely beneath their level of awareness.
Trauma therapy with a qualified therapist or program is well worth it. Research shows when clients complete treatment, there is a significant decrease in depressive symptoms, PTSD symptoms, and anxiety. Having less distress when, not if, the memories resurface is what we desire for our clients. We’ve made great strides to lessen the suffering of others through trauma therapy.
Behind every meaningful treatment experience is a team of people deeply committed to helping others heal, grow, and rediscover their sense of possibility. At Wings Recovery, our clinicians, mentors, and staff bring both professional expertise and personal passion to the work they do every day.
In our Meet Our Team series, we highlight the individuals who make our program so special. Through these conversations, you will learn more about their roles at Wings, what inspires their work in the mental health and recovery field, and the experiences that shape their approach to supporting clients and families.
In this edition, we are excited to introduce Sherry Hoeckendorf, Director of Housing Operations, who shares insights into her role, her perspective on the recovery journey, and what continues to motivate her in this field.
What Is Sherry Hoeckendorf’s Role at Wings Recovery?
Q: Tell us about your role! What do you do at Wings Recovery and what do you love most about your job? What specialties or therapeutic approaches do you bring to your work?
A:I genuinely love the sense of gratification that comes from making positive changes at our locations. Even the smallest improvements can shape how people feel about where they are, and those details play an important role in day-to-day operations.
Q: What is your “why?” What motivated or inspired you to be in this field?
A:My “why” is client-driven. I understand what it feels like to be overwhelmed by emotion and anxiety, and that perspective guides my work. My goal is to create environments where clients feel safe, supported, and comfortable so they can fully engage in and benefit from the treatment we provide.
Q: In your opinion, what does Wings Recovery do better than others in this field? What makes them unique?
A:Our strength lies in compassion and flexibility. We meet clients where they are, financially and emotionally, without compromising care.
Q: What makes you excited to be a part of the Wings Recovery Team?
A: I am excited about the upcoming changes and the opportunity to implement them in ways that directly enhance the experience and care of our clients.
Q: What is your hope for the future of Wings Recovery?
A:I would love to see Wings grow into a flagship facility that delivers the same exceptional level of care our current locations provide, expanding our ability to serve more clients effectively.
Q: What do you wish more people knew about your profession?
A: I want people to understand how challenging it can be to balance compassion with boundaries. It’s not always easy to show clients that you genuinely care while also holding them accountable to our guidelines, which are essential for their success.
Q: Is there a personal philosophy or guiding principle that shapes the way you approach care?
A:One thing I emphasize with clients constantly is the importance of punctuality: being early is on time, being on time is late, and being late is unacceptable. This principle applies to everyone and serves as a fundamental building block for success.
Q: Do you have any professional publications, honors, awards or other highlights that we can feature? If so, please share details and any relevant links below.
A: I previously worked in a California school district, where I was recognized in CSEA Focus magazine in 2019 for my compassionate care of students. In addition, I served as Secretary/Treasurer of the Chapter 12 board.
