Drug Abuse Treatment Center for Alcohol and Drug Abuse

Drug abuse treatment, also known as rehab, is the educational, therapeutic process of initiating recovery from drug and or alcohol abuse. The first step in the treatment process is detox or detoxification of the body while emotionally stabilizing the individual. Once a person is detoxified, they’re ready to begin treatment and rehab.
Alcoholism and drug addiction are treatable disorders. Through treatment that is tailored to individual needs, patients can learn to control their condition and live normal, productive lives. Like people with diabetes or heart disease, people in treatment for drug addiction learn behavioral changes and often take medications as part of their treatment regimen.

The ultimate goal of a drug abuse and alcohol treatment center is to enable the patient to achieve lasting abstinence, but the immediate goals are to reduce drug use, improve the patient's ability to function, and minimize the medical and social complications of drug abuse. Alcohol and drug abuse treatment is done at various levels of intensity. There are several types of alcohol and drug abuse treatment programs. Short-term methods last less than 6 months and include residential therapy, medication therapy, and drug-free outpatient therapy. Longer term treatment may include, for example, methadone maintenance outpatient treatment center 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. Most of the drug and alcohol treatment programs involve individual or group counseling. Patients entering these drug and alcohol 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 drug treatments, often referred to a chemical dependency center are often based on the Minnesota Model of treatment for alcoholism and drug abuse treatment. These programs involve a 3- to 6-week inpatient drug and alcohol 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 drug and alcohol treatment programs are extending their services to publicly funded patients.

For most alcoholics and drug dependent individuals, residential alcohol and drug abuse treatment is recommended as the right, first step. Residential alcohol and drug abuse treatment (aka inpatient) is where the individual resides full time in a facility. Alcohol and drug abuse treatment (rehab) is a combination of education and behavioral therapy. A person needs to learn the facts about alcohol and drug abuse dependency and how to work a program of recovery. Therapy generally consists of both group and 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 and drug abuse treatment center will depend on a variety of factors.