TREATMENT

ALCOHOL TREATMENT and DRUG TREATMENT programs include educational and therapeutic components to initiate one’s recovery from drug and or alcohol abuse. The first step in either the alcohol treatment or drug treatment process begins with detox, or detoxification. As the drug or alcohol is eliminated from the body, the goal is to emotionally and psychically stabilize the individual. Once a person is detoxified, they’re ready to begin the necessary alcohol treatment or drug treatment program that they require to get better and healthy again.

Alcohol Treatment and Drug Treatment Methods

It is important to remember that addictions are treatable disorders. Through treatment at any of our recommended treatment facilities, programs are tailored to meet each individual’s needs. Patients will learn to control their condition and live normal, productive lives. For example, like people with diabetes or heart disease, people in drug treatment learn behavioral changes and often take medications as part of their treatment regimen.

Types of Alcohol Treatment and Drug Treatment Programs

The ultimate goal of all alcohol treatment and drug treatment is to enable the patient to achieve lasting abstinence from the substance. However, the immediate goals are to reduce alcohol or drug use, improve the patient's ability to function, and minimize the medical and social complications of the alcohol or drug abuse. The alcohol treatment and drug treatment programs that we recommend represent various levels of intensity based on each individual's needs. These alcohol treatment and drug treatment programs range in intensity. The treatment may be short-term lasting last less than 6 months and include residential therapy, medication therapy, and drug-free outpatient therapy. Or the treatment may be long- term alcohol treatment or drug treatment which may include, for example, methadone maintenance outpatient treatment for opiate addicts and residential therapeutic community treatment. Outpatient drug-free treatment does not include medications and encompasses a wide variety of programs for patients who visit a clinic at regular intervals. Many of the alcohol treatment and drug treatment programs that we recommend involve individual or group counseling. Examples of patients entering these type of drug treatment programs are abusers of drugs other than opiates or are opiate abusers for whom maintenance therapy is not recommended, such as those who have stable, well-integrated lives and only brief histories of drug dependence. Short-term residential alcohol treatment and drug treatment programs, often referred to as chemical dependency units, are often based on the "Minnesota Model" of treatment for alcoholism and drug abuse treatment. These programs involve a 3- to 6-week inpatient treatment phase followed by extended outpatient therapy or participation in 12-step self-help groups, such as Narcotics Anonymous or Cocaine Anonymous. Chemical dependency programs for drug abuse arose in the private sector in the mid-1980s with insured alcohol/cocaine abusers as their primary patients. Today, as private provider benefits decline, more alcohol treatment and drug treatment programs are extending their services to publicly funded patients. While alcohol treatment is fairly self explanatory there are many types of drug addictions for which we have specialized programs that we can recommend from our nationwide database including:

Crystal meth treatment, oxycodone treatment (or oxy treatment), cocaine treatment, heroin treatment, methadone treatment, PCP treatment, and prescription drugs treatment just to name a few.

How Alcohol Treatment and Drug Treatment Work

For most alcoholics and drug dependent individuals, residential alcohol treatment and drug treatment is recommended as the right, first step. Residential treatment (aka inpatient) is where the individual resides full time in a facility. Alcohol treatment and drug treatment is a combination of education and behavioral therapy. A person needs to learn the facts about alcohol and drug abuse dependency and how the program works to have the best chance at a complete and lasting recovery. Therapy generally consists of both group and individual one-on-one counseling sessions. These sessions emphasize personal interaction, addressing a variety of personal and developmental issues. The length of stay in residential alcohol treatment and drug treatment programs depends on a variety of factors.

Therapy as a part of the Alcohol Treatment and Drug Treatment Process

Behavioral therapies can include counseling, psychotherapy, support groups, or family therapy. Treatment medications offer help in suppressing the withdrawal syndrome associated with alcohol or drug cravings and in blocking the abused drug’s effects. In general, the more treatment a person receives, the better the results. Patients who stay in treatment longer than 1 month have better outcomes than those who stay less time. Patients, who go through medically assisted withdrawal (detox) to minimize discomfort but do not receive any further treatment, perform about the same in terms of their drug use as those who were never treated. Over the last 25 years, studies have shown that alcohol treatment or drug treatment works to reduce drug intake and crimes committed by drug-dependent people. Researchers also have found that drug abusers who have been through drug treatment programs are more likely to have jobs.