What Happens at an Addiction Treatment Center in Texas?
A person addicted to heroin calls an emergency helpline looking for advice. After speaking with a counselor for 30 minutes or so, the individual is convinced to get in touch with a local addiction treatment center to inquire about residential treatment. Assuming the addict is successful, what will he or she encounter in treatment? More importantly, is that treatment likely to be successful?
With more than 14,000 specialized drug and alcohol treatment centers located throughout the country, it should be obvious there are a lot of different facilities doing a lot of different things to help drug and alcohol addicts. Some of these facilities do not seem to help much at all while others achieve stellar results. Much of the difference boils down to what actually happens at the alcohol treatment center.
A stunning 2013 exposé published by TIME magazine revealed that some addiction rehab clinics are accomplishing very little. The operative word here is 'some'. Those that don't achieve any real results tend to be outpatient clinics that spend most of their time talking about addiction rather than doing something about it. As important as talking therapies can be, the TIME piece demonstrated that simply putting addicts in groups and having them talk for eight hours, three days a week is not really effective.
Texas
Treatment Center in Texas
Addiction Recovery in Texas
Houston
Dallas
San Antonio
On the other hand, evidence-based treatments do get results when employed properly. Furthermore, the most likely place to find these kinds of treatments is at the private, specialized addiction treatment center. What goes on at one of these centers? If they are successful in treating addiction, the following will be found:
Different Approaches to Recovery
The successful addiction treatment center operates on the assumption that just about everyone with an alcohol or drug problem can be helped. There are different approaches to providing that help, but no one is beyond treatment. The most common approach to addiction is the 12-step approach developed by Alcoholics Anonymous in the 1930s. This method treats addiction as an ongoing problem that can be overcome with counseling, support, and personal commitment.
The other primary approach views addiction as a personal problem that can be solved by making the right kinds of choices, the same way financial problems can be solved. The SMART recovery program is an example of one that utilizes this approach. Members of local SMART support groups come together to help one another find solutions.
Regardless of the approach taken, the successful addiction treatment center does not merely talk about addiction; it offers proven treatments that actually work. Some excellent clinics are achieving real, lasting results in an arena of treatment that is very complex and individualized. Treatment for drug and alcohol addiction can work; successful treatment centers are proving it every day.
Sources:
1.TIME magazine – http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/15/qa-what-really-goes-on-in-drug-rehabs/
With more than 14,000 specialized drug and alcohol treatment centers located throughout the country, it should be obvious there are a lot of different facilities doing a lot of different things to help drug and alcohol addicts. Some of these facilities do not seem to help much at all while others achieve stellar results. Much of the difference boils down to what actually happens at the alcohol treatment center.
A stunning 2013 exposé published by TIME magazine revealed that some addiction rehab clinics are accomplishing very little. The operative word here is 'some'. Those that don't achieve any real results tend to be outpatient clinics that spend most of their time talking about addiction rather than doing something about it. As important as talking therapies can be, the TIME piece demonstrated that simply putting addicts in groups and having them talk for eight hours, three days a week is not really effective.
Texas
Treatment Center in Texas
Addiction Recovery in Texas
Houston
Dallas
San Antonio
On the other hand, evidence-based treatments do get results when employed properly. Furthermore, the most likely place to find these kinds of treatments is at the private, specialized addiction treatment center. What goes on at one of these centers? If they are successful in treating addiction, the following will be found:
- Medically Supervised Detox – In all cases of alcohol and drug addiction, complete detox is necessary to solve the problem. Whether that means a quick 7-to-10-day detox period or a more gradual detox that takes several weeks to complete, the addict can never fully recover until he or she stops using.
- Maintenance Therapies – Many of today's addiction treatment centers use maintenance drugs in the treatment of certain kinds of addictions. For example, methadone is often used as a replacement for heroin during residential treatment. It must be noted that maintenance drugs are not used as permanent replacements at treatment facilities committed to genuine recovery.
- Counseling – Even when maintenance drugs are used, they are most successful when combined with counseling therapies. Counseling is offered at the addiction treatment center in both group and one-on-one settings. It is used to help recovering addicts understand their tendencies toward addictive behavior and how to avoid it in the future.
- Exercise Therapy – Recovering addicts tend to respond very well to physical exercise in a number of ways. First, exercise can be a substitute for addictive behavior in recovery and beyond. Second, exercise helps to restore health just as it would in a person suffering from any other prolonged health issue.
- Diet and Nutrition – Recovering alcoholics and drug addicts are often nutritionally deficient upon entering an addiction treatment center. Therapists combat that by immediately developing an appropriate nutrition plan. They then follow up by teaching their patient the basics of proper nutrition and diet, in hopes of helping them lead a healthier lifestyle once they leave.
Different Approaches to Recovery
The successful addiction treatment center operates on the assumption that just about everyone with an alcohol or drug problem can be helped. There are different approaches to providing that help, but no one is beyond treatment. The most common approach to addiction is the 12-step approach developed by Alcoholics Anonymous in the 1930s. This method treats addiction as an ongoing problem that can be overcome with counseling, support, and personal commitment.
The other primary approach views addiction as a personal problem that can be solved by making the right kinds of choices, the same way financial problems can be solved. The SMART recovery program is an example of one that utilizes this approach. Members of local SMART support groups come together to help one another find solutions.
Regardless of the approach taken, the successful addiction treatment center does not merely talk about addiction; it offers proven treatments that actually work. Some excellent clinics are achieving real, lasting results in an arena of treatment that is very complex and individualized. Treatment for drug and alcohol addiction can work; successful treatment centers are proving it every day.
Sources:
1.TIME magazine – http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/15/qa-what-really-goes-on-in-drug-rehabs/