Submitted by recoveryrob on November 30, 2009 – 11:24pm
One of the many great parts about getting sober is that there are so many ways to go about it. No two addicts are alike and therefore no two alcohol drug treatment plans are alike either. That being said, there are mainly three types: Outpatient, where you would regularly go to either a mental health clinic, counselor’s office, or a hospital clinic for a specified period of time, but spend nights at home; Inpatient, where you would stay at the alcohol drug treatment facility overnight for a period of one to six weeks; or Residential, where you live while you recover.
There are a lot of alcohol drug treatment facilities that exist today, and inpatient and residential treatment do tend to be used when the recovering addicts’ home and history tend to be not cohesive to and outpatient situation. These two types lend an opportunity for you to reside in a different environment where you can be kept under vigilance and extreme care during the detoxification and the rehabilitation period of your recovery. In nearly all cases, you would be taught new means of living; how to adapt to your life while being sober and out on your own.
In a lot of cases an outpatient detoxification and rehabilitation can work effectively, and because of that, it is being increasingly undertaken. It set up mainly for those alcohol or other drug addicted individuals who have no significant withdrawal or home life conditions that threaten their sobriety. If you have a great support system of people vested in your sobriety at home, then you should strongly consider this option.
A good alcohol drug treatment program will also teach you about relapse – the picking up of drugs or alcohol after you’ve left the facility. This is more common than not, but knowing what steps to take to prevent a relapse, and how to learn from relapse, are what make a program good.
Most importantly though, see your physician, doctor, or therapist and give them an honest accounting of what alcohol or other drugs you have been using and how often. The two of you together can make the best decision on what sort of alcohol drug treatment program you should attend.