Making the decision to attend a drug and alcohol treatment center is an empowering step towards liberation and self-betterment. Safe and patient-based solutions are provided at rehab centers that are helpful in supporting recovering individuals achieve and uphold their goals of sobriety, indefinitely.
However, achieving sobriety after drug and alcohol treatment is not that easy, since every individual requires self-dedication and personalized care. And because of this, recovery from addiction relies heavily on the drug and alcohol treatment program’s process you have chosen to enter. As you work your way toward recovery, you should expect to progress through the treatment process and phases, outlined below.
Drug and Alcohol Treatment Center Admissions
This involves the identification of a suitable rehabilitation center that will meet patient’s individual needs. This can be done by the patient or their loved ones. The first decision involves choosing a service setting with consideration made of the level of care needed, intensity of the program and the associated costs. These will inform decisions on whether to choose:
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- Residential treatment/inpatient rehab for the provision of round-the-clock care and treatment. The patient will reside at the treatment center where he/ she will undergo the necessary treatment and therapy.
- Outpatient treatment programs in which the patient will live at home, with requisite daily visits to the rehabilitation center for therapy. Most outpatient programs tend to run for 3-5 days in a week.
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You will also need to make a decision on the desired duration of rehabilitation treatment that is most suitable for your needs. One option is short-term rehabilitation depending on your access to finances and which in most cases tend to be 30-day programs in inpatient programs or through partial hospitalization. The other is long-term rehabilitation that ranges anywhere between 60 to more than 120 days subject to the severity of addiction.
In this stage you could also take into account your needs for specialized rehabilitation treatment if necessary. This could inform your choice between:
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- Holistic rehabs that provide alternative rehabilitation treatment on aspects the individual (mind, body and spirit).
- Alcohol and substance abuse rehab centers for specific treatment services.
- Dual-diagnosis centers that are modeled to address co-occurring substance abuse and mental health disorders.
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Other considerations include luxury standards, gender and age specific preferences among others.
Intake Assessment
Medical and clinical staff interview the patient to determine their specific needs on the basis of type, duration, severity of addiction and any other associated challenges such as co-occurring mental disorders or risk factors for substance abuse. Assessments also facilitate the conveyance of treatment costs to insurers to help them evaluate whether or not the costs are acceptable.
The process of assessment involves:
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- Provision of personal information, medical history that includes your mental health history to determine the factors that influence factors your addiction and plausible chances of relapse.
- Drug and alcohol test to identify the substances present in the body.
- Interview to determine individual history of addiction.
- Making arrangements for payments either through insurance or consideration of alternative plans befitting the right assistance. The path to overcoming addiction is in most cases constrained by the huge costs of treating substance abuse, especially when a patient cannot access the right guidance.
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Medically-Supervised Detox
This is the process through which harmful substances are purged from the body to sober you up for treatment. In this phase the patent is monitored for symptoms of withdrawal, which are managed as soon as they are detected. On average detoxification takes about 3-7 days, though more severe cases may take longer. The process is usually conducted by professionals to enhance the efficacy how the withdrawal symptoms are managed considering that their intensity may vary with the severity of your substance and drug abuse.
It is advisable to detoxify in full-service treatment center is to smoothen the transition from detoxification to treatment. When making the decision to detoxify, you should also consider incorporating medically administered medication. These will help ease the transition of the body from dependence from the abused drugs.
Therapy – Individual, Group & Family
In this stage the underlying causative elements of an individual’s addiction are uncovered and treated. This is accomplished through equipping the patient with sufficient tools to help them overcome their addiction.
Patients’ experiences in therapy could be heavily influenced by the settings in which they receive their inpatient or outpatient treatment services. In this regard, residential treatment programs give you the opportunity to fully focus on your recovery in terms of eating habits and sleeping patterns among other factors. Fully adhering to the full-time residential rehabilitation treatment requirements also minimizes the probability of relapse.
You could also opt for outpatient care that involves attending 4-6 hour sessions for 3-6 days every week. The associated costs of outpatient treatment are relatively lower and you will get to spend adequate time with your family and friends. Despite this, outpatient treatment programs tend to have a higher chances of relapse considering that you might still be exposed to the risk factors of your drug and substance abuse problem. This could trigger another cycle of abuse.
Therapy is important since it addresses the reasons for abuse such as mental health problems or toxic family environments among others. It involves treatment such as psychotherapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET), and Family Behavioral Therapy (FBT). Therapy also provides a platform for dual –diagnosis to identify and treat other co-occurring conditions. For instance, it is estimated that 39% of people with substance abuse disorders also have underlying mental health disorders. This necessitates further personalized therapy to address both conditions.
Ongoing Recovery & Aftercare
The objective of this stage is to facilitate the patient’s transition to programs that provide a continuous recovery process throughout their life. This is made possible by building on the foundations of the previous steps that emphasize on sobriety, and that also ensure future risks of relapses are prevented.
Sober Living, Meetings & Support Groups
This is an ongoing process similar to aftercare. It involves patients’ engagement long after leaving the rehabilitation facilities for the purpose of keeping up with others who successfully completed rehabilitation. The activities involved in alumni participation include 12-Step meetings, ongoing support and education, and social gatherings.
