Can you answer cynthia v’s question about Addiction?:

I want to submit my dad into an alcohol facility because he’s already hurting me and my family. We can’t do anything to stop him. The only way I know is through alcohol rehab. Where can I find one?

How To Detox From Alcohol

Once you have decided to get help for a drinking or drug abuse problem and decided that the you really need inpatient care at a drug or alcohol rehab, you still need to choose a quality drug rehab, and you still have a very tough decision to make when evaluating between the hundreds of drug rehabs likely available in your area alone.

Most drug and alcohol rehabs are run by committed professionals and do offer a wide and comprehensive program designed to offer the most benefit to the recovery process. Unfortunately, some exist for little reason other than to collect your admissions check, and will offer very little therapy of value.

How can you pick a good drug rehab?

Thankfully, there are a few ways to determine if a rehab under consideration does offer quality programming, and one criterion you can use for evaluation is the level of aftercare programming as offered by the facility.

Drug or alcohol treatment at a residential rehab facility should never end with the culmination of a residential stay, and drug rehab treatment should occur over two separate and distinct but equally important phases. The first stage occurs while you are a resident of the facility, and is the more intensive phase; the second or “aftercare” phase of treatment occurs only after you have left the facility, yet return regularly for continuing aftercare therapy and education ( Why you need aftercare).

The importance of aftercare

This aftercare makes an incredible difference, and one of the best indicators of long term success and sobriety is a committed and enthusiastic maintenance of aftercare therapy. Aftercare may include continuing group peer support sessions, will likely involve some form of continuing 12 steps style meetings, and should also include occasional sessions with a therapist or psychologist.

Aftercare therapy assists recovering addicts reentering the community to maintain the lessons and teachings of rehab even in the face of a different daily reality. Aftercare helps those people struggling with sobriety to consolidate relapse prevention plans even when faced with mounting temptation and availability; and when aftercare includes individual sessions with a therapist, a relapse prevention plan can be modified on the recommendations of a professional to meet the demands of temptation as they occur in the initial months of abstinence.

Aftercare is very important, has a big influence over success rates and should be a priority; but of course it also costs a drug rehab money to run aftercare programs. Drug and alcohol rehabs that exist only to collect your admissions check will have little interest in maintaining a long term commitment to your sobriety, while quality facilities do endeavor to treat each patient successfully. One way to differentiate between the two is in the level of aftercare programming available and offered.

Find out what exactly you are entitled to

While all drug and alcohol rehabs will pay lip service to the concept, find out what specific aftercare therapies you will be entitled to, and for how long. If all that is offered are occasional 12 steps meetings, this indicates a low commitment to recovery. If the rehab maintains a more intensive therapeutic involvement with patients after release, the contrary is true, and this likely indicates a more quality facility.

Drug and alcohol rehabs are expensive and demand a significant time and energy commitment, and you don’t want to waste your time at one that offers you a limited chance at sobriety. One way to differentiate between rehabs is the level and intensity of aftercare as offered. Aftercare is not the only thing, but it is important, and how different drug and alcohol rehabs handle aftercare can tell you a lot about the quality of the program in general.



Thanks to Christin Shire for contributing this article to our Addiction blog:

Heroin Addiction Rehab

Can you answer athziri cc’s question about Addiction?:

For the past few months, I noticed that my son always went home late. I would usually wake up in the middle of the night to check on him, only to find out that he was not on his bed yet. Before I’d go to the office, I’d also go to his room to say goodbye but he would still be asleep. Since I was frequently busy, I hardly find time to talk to him. Just recently, I’ve learned that he is has become addicted to alcohol. My son is just 16 years old, I need to bring him to the rehab.

Heroin Addiction Rehab

Can you answer debbie p’s question about Addiction?:

My teenage niece lives with me, since my sister (her mom) travels abroad. My sister doesn’t know about her daughter’s alcohol addiction, and I don’t know how I’m going to tell her. I want my niece to undergo alcohol rehab, but I haven’t tried talking to her yet. What am I to do?

Free Drug Rehab Program

Can you answer alexandrea n’s question about Addiction?:

My best friend lives there. She has already agreed to the prospect of treatment, but she never gets around to finding an alcohol rehab for herself. I figured I might as well help, even though I’m many miles away. Any suggestions on how I can do this?

Drug Addiction Intervention