Drug Treatment Programs
Drug treatment programs or drug rehab refers to the process of psycho-therapeutic and medical treatment to a person who is dependent on psychoactive substances like hard drugs, prescription drugs or alcohol. Rehabilitation aims at enabling the affected person to stop abusing the substance of interest, thereby avoiding the negative effects: i.e. financial, social, psychological, physical and even legal effects.
Psychological Dependency
Rehabilitation centers help in teaching addicted people how to live in a drug-free environment. In these programs, patients are discouraged from associating with individuals who any addictive substances they wish to stop using. The program aims at guiding patients in examining their habits and changing them for the better. Legal drugs like alcohol call for a complete abstention rather than moderation which is mostly unsustainable for people with a history of abusing alcohol.
Types of Treatment Available
Drug rehabilitation is addressed through various programs which include; use of local support groups, addiction counseling, medical care, residential treatment, extended care givers, mental health, recovery houses and orthomolecular medicine. A number of rehab centers have specific programs depending on the patient’s age and gender. The treatment programs not only help to address the patient’s addiction problem, but also help to address any other problem among the patients. Medical detoxification alone is not enough to treat addiction.
Different organizations use different styles in rehabilitating addicts with some recommending detoxification of the patient first, then medical therapy, behavior therapy and then relapse prevention.
Drug rehabilitation involves the following types of behavioral therapy;
- Cognitive behavioral therapy: helps patients know, avoid and bear with situations which may make them return to their addiction habits.
- Multi-dimensional family therapy: is specially meant to help addicts recover through the support of their families.
- Motivational interviewing: helps in motivating the patient to stop abusing drugs and start the treatment process.
- Motivational incentives: it makes use of positive things meant to encourage the patient to abstain from addictive substances.
- Counseling: Most traditional treatment programs for drug addiction are based on counseling. Through counseling, addicts are able to know the behaviors and problems which come with their state of mind. This is done at an individual or a group level, and may cover crisis counseling and daily/weekly counseling support. This counseling process helps to instill good behaviors and help patients cope with any situation. Counseling results to intervention which involves seeking professional help by the concerned parties to give the patient the necessary treatment.
- Residential treatment: This rehabilitation program involves staying in the rehabilitation center while being treated for drug addiction during the day. This treatment program usually lasts for a period of 30-90 days.
- Sober house living: Just like residential treatment, this treatment program involves intensive treatment while the patient is still among other recovering addicts living in a good supportive environment. This patient treatment program is most suitable in cases where the patient has no where to go to or in situations where going home will mean returning to the old drug abuse problem.
- Brief intervention: This drug rehab program is most suited to individuals who are at a risk of drug abuse or face the threat of drug addiction, but it is not helpful to individuals who are addicts already. Treatment through this program involves conducting visits to a healthcare facility to talk about the negative effects of abusing drugs and how to reduce their use.
- Partial hospitalization: This treatment program best applies to patients who require a continuous medical monitoring, but who are not very affected by the drug abuse problem. This treatment program is offered for 3-5 days a week and between 4-6 hours per day.
Locating Drug Rehab Centers
While seeking substance abuse treatment programs near your home, it’s important that you talk to your doctor for good advice and recommendations on the appropriate program. Health insurance companies also can help you locate a good rehab center. Local mental health clinics, hospitals and community health centers are also good sources of information on the different rehab programs available depending on what treatment is best for their current addiction and budget.
Article source: recentlyheard.com
