Types Of Drug and Alcohol Treatment

There are many different types of rehabilitation but the below treatment flow is common for persons who chronically abuse physically addictive drugs, such as Alcohol or Opiates. Other types of drug may not require inpatient detoxification and depending on your level of abuse you may or may not need inpatient rehab. There are many options to consider to build you a custom treatment plan.

Inpatient Detoxification:

the goal of inpatient detoxification is to provide a safe and clean environment while removed from all drugs and alcohol. Detoxification is medically managed and has medical staff watching patients 24 hours a day to ensure safety. This is important because withdrawals from certain drugs, such as alcohol and benzodiazepines, can often times cause seizures or delirium tremors.

Inpatient Rehabilitation

After the detoxification process, continued inpatient treatment is necessary to address the issues that may put you in the position to relapse. Detoxification only helps you physically, but without help with your thinking and behaviors, an addict is likely to use again. The patient is assessed by a multidisciplinary treatment team and then specific goals are set for that particular patient. Each program's components are individualized because everyone that enters drug treatment comes from different situations. The ultimate goal is to transition the patient to a lesser level of care such as a halfway house or partial hospitalization program.
Drug treatment consists of group counseling, individual therapy sessions, and educational sessions such as relapse prevention, anger management, conflict resolution, and stress management. There are also family educational and counseling sessions for the loved ones of the addict in drug treatment. Patients will always be in contact with medical doctors and psychiatrists for medication management.

After Care

After a patient completes an inpatient program, they are usually expected to attend either outpatient counseling or get involved in the program of Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous.
Outpatient is a less intense drug treatment which transitions patients from living in the intense inpatient setting to living on their own again. This type of drug treatment is voluntary. Patients attend counseling sessions and meetings that are designed to help them learn new coping mechanisms to deal with stress, so that they no longer turn to drugs. Drug treatment of this kind could be casual, in a community setting, or official, with a trained counselor present during group therapy.
AA and NA are anonymous programs that addicts and alcoholics use to stay clean. There are meetings daily where addicts come together and share their experience, strength, and hope. They bond with one another because they share many of the same feelings about drugs and alcohol. Sponsors and support groups are used to help the addict learn a new way of life, free of drugs and alcohol.