All Drug Treatment Centers Are Not The Same

First the good news is that there are literally thousands of drug treatment centers in the United States. But the bad news is that the quality of care and the overall success rates differ dramatically between drug treatment centers. When you are looking for the right drug treatment center, the choices are overwhelming and the average person has no idea which one to choose. Never make your decision by who is the cheapest.

BE VERY SUSPICIOUS OF DRUG TREATMENT CENTERS WHO PUT IN BOLD PRINT THEIR PRICES OR CLAIMED SUCCESS RATES (BETWEEN 70% TO 100%)

Because it means their primary focus and concern is the price of your treatment rather than the quality of their treatment. Which also means they are probably cutting corners somewhere in their treatment care too. Either in whom they hire to treat you or what the level of treatment quality they are able to afford to provide to you for your treatment.

Because of our instant everything society many questionable treatment centers have preyed on people's desire to find a instant cure (quick fix) for drug addiction too. As a result if you search on the Internet for drug treatment centers you will be besieged by ads promising a wide range of cures (mostly instant cures) or other questionable methods of treating drug addiction.

Expect to see everything under the sun being advertised as a possible treatment method and cure for addiction!

You will see online ads for treatment centers advertising instant drug treatments (called rapid or ultra-rapid treatment), or treatment centers promising you that their free book has all the answers to your drug addiction problem, or L. Ron Hubbard scientology based Narconon treatment centers, or treatment centers claiming that they have created a new non-treatment type of treatment (think of "The Emperor's New Clothes" story).

The worst of all are advertisements with promises of magic pills or herbal supplements that will cure you or your loved one of their drug addiction.

The Lucky Few Who Actually Know Somebody They Can Trust

Some people may actually be lucky enough to know someone who can provide them with a personal recommendation for a drug treatment center. They can do this because they have already successfully completed their drug treatment and have continued to remain clean after their drug treatment. But most people probably don't know someone who fits the above description because government statistics show the majority of people who have already received drug treatment are still using drugs. How can this be true? Because in most cases people simply choose the drug treatment center that was geographically closest or most convenient to them!

Why is it so easy to choose the wrong treatment center?

Often people will say they never realized how hard it really is to successfully treat drug addiction or they assumed all treatment centers use the proven 12 step model for treatment. When specifically asked why someone choose the closest drug treatment center, the most common response was for convenience. The second most common response was the assumption that their local treatment center's quality of treatment would be the same as any other treatment center.

If you asked someone who just had heart surgery (or some other type of serious surgery), what criteria they used to select their surgeon, very few people would ever say, "I choose the closest surgeon to where I live" or "I choose the cheapest surgeon I could find".

But this is how most people wind up choosing where to go for drug treatment for themselves or their loved ones! This also helps to explain why the rate of drug relapse is so high in our country. 

Of course if you have no other choice but to attend whatever drug treatment center is closest to you because of personal or financial reasons, it is important to remember that going to any drug treatment center is always better than not going to a drug treatment center at all. But, if you can choose, it always makes sense to choose carefully, because drug treatment centers vary widely in quality and effectiveness.

Drug Treatment: Inpatient vs. Outpatient 

There are two types of drug treatment programs:

Inpatient- This is the preferred, proven, and most recommended form of drug rehab treatment. Unfortunately, instead of a first course of treatment, it is often not tried until someone has failed to stop abusing drugs after attending outpatient treatment. Inpatient drug treatment is also commonly referred to as residential drug treatment.

Outpatient- These programs are usually recommended by well-meaning local help services in a person's neighborhood or religious community. Outpatient drug treatment is also sometimes chosen by someone who simply doesn’t have the free time to allocate to an inpatient program or has no insurance or money to pay for treatment. The most recommended use of outpatient drug treatment is after someone has completed a inpatient drug treatment program and has experienced a temporary relapse.

We recommend the Right Drug Treatment Program for You or Your Loved One

The National Alcohol and Substance Abuse Information Center (NASAIC) was created to take the guesswork out of the decision process for you so you know who are the best drug treatment centers, and not simply whichever one is closest to you!  If for whatever reason you cannot attend one of the leading drug treatment centers, we can also recommend the next best choice for you or your loved one from our national database of drug treatment centers in your local area.