Josh Cox
Nurse Practitioner and Owner of Lotus Treatment Center
An outpatient treatment center built and operated by a fellow long term recovering addict? No way. This isn’t something the residents of Indiana see very often, if at all. But Josh Cox is here to break the mold on everyone’s vision of what an addiction treatment center should look like. Here’s his story:
13 years ago, Josh’s addiction to drugs and alcohol spiraled down into a deep depression, into an incredibly dark place where he didn’t want to go on with his life. He had to spend 5 days in the hospital to detox before going into treatment. During this time, he had several conversations with a compassionate nurse who was taking care of him. It was then that he made the decision that when he got better, he would go back to school to become a nurse, so that he could pay it forward by helping others who struggle with addiction.
And that’s exactly what he did.
Not only did Josh continue his education to become a Nurse Practitioner, he made the decision to start his own addiction treatment center with the goal to offer more one on one interaction instead of rushing patients in and out of their appointment into a group counseling session to provide them with generic, non personalized information.
This alone, which is the usual addiction treatment center structure, isn’t enough to help people change. His approach is to offer more personalized guidance and to show them what has to be done in order to be happy about being sober, work that he’s done, and is still doing, in his own life with amazing results.
Rick Smith
Certified Recovery Specialist for Lotus Treatment Center
Rick Smith is also a long term recovering addict with an amazing story! From how the addiction began to how he made the choice to quit chasing the high to face his addiction once and for all, here’s Rick’s incredible story:
Rick started his road to recovery close to 24 years ago, on February 10th 1996. His addiction began a lot like most, very innocently drinking alcohol at a young age and taking over the counter sleeping pills. Then, a trusted physician prescribed him 2 medications, Xanax for anxiety and Vicodin for pain. When that doctor stopped prescribing the medications to Rick, he had to find another doctor to prescribe him the medication or else he’d suffer with anxiety, pain, and now, the pains of addiction.
He began to doctor shop, seeking one doctor after another to get his fix, again, like most people who have found themselves addicted to a substance. And also like most, this led him to move on to harder drugs, heroin and Morphine.
He was addicted. Hook, line, and sinker.
After everyone he loved alienated him, Rick spent the next 2 years living in alleys, at bus stops, and behind dumpsters, all in the streets of Indianapolis. He survived on food from soup kitchens and took a shower once a month at a local shelter.
Then, one day while Rick was panhandling his way to a liquor store, a thought suddenly crossed his mind, “I just don't want to live this way anymore ".
That very morning, Rick went to a 12 step meeting and has not taken a drink since.
This is what led him to become a Certified Recovery Specialist. He believes that recovery specialists are uniquely helpful because they’ve been in the throws of addiction, they understand how extremely difficult it is to change something that goes to the core of your existence. A Certified Recovery Specialist can fill in the gap between a provider and the client as an advocate.
Dr. Nicole Tasker
Physician at Lotus Treatment Center
Dr. Nicole Tasker completed her undergrad at Butler University, medical school at IU school of medicine and emergency medicine residency at the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga. She has practiced emergency medicine around the Indianapolis area since returning home in 2018.
She has a passion for helping people no matter their background. She particularly enjoys talking to her patients and helping them in whatever way she can. She has a strong desire to help those who struggle with drug and alcohol addiction. She believes addiction is like any other disease process. Once it is controlled, people can go on to live happy, healthy, and successful lives.
She sees potential in everyone and believes anyone can change, no matter how many times they have failed. She also has a passion for music, fitness, and traveling.
Dr. Tasker’s motto: To be 1% better everyday