What to expect from your drug abuse treatment program

Use of drugs, both illegal and those normally prescribed by doctors, continues to rise unabated and the delivery of treatment regimes by a drug abuse treatment program continues to be developed across the country. You can expect a very high standard of treatment and support from any drug abuse treatment program that you select for your own use. A drug abuse treatment program will offer not only medical intervention services but also a wide range of counseling, therapy and continuing support long after initial treatment has been completed. So, what can you expect from a drug abuse treatment program?

Approach to Healing by a Drug Abuse Treatment Program

A drug abuse treatment program will typically start with a detailed and in-depth assessment of the patient and their circumstances. Treating drug dependency requires a unique and highly personalized approach in order to maximize the possibility of a successful treatment outcome. Individuals will present differing levels of addiction, differing reactions to treatment regimes, personal circumstances and the reasons for seeking treatment will differ as well as the patients own motivational desire to become “clean”.

A drug abuse treatment program will seek to deliver treatment regimes that will deal with underlying causes of drug dependency, regaining the physical health of the patient and learning or relearning basic life skills in order to continue with a constructive approach to life that does not include drug use. It is very rare for only one treatment or therapy to be employed in a drug abuse treatment program, combinations of both medical intervention and therapeutic treatments are used to holistically heal the patient.

The goal of any drug abuse treatment program is to equip the patient both physically and mentally with the tools and strategies to lead a productive life without drugs, and in those instances where the urge to return to drug use becomes so great that a relapse is threatened, or in fact does happen, contingency plans can be readily effected to deal with the situation and restore health.

Drug Abuse Treatment Program in Practice

Once the initial assessment has been completed, the first practical stage in delivering treatment is a process known as detoxification, more commonly known as “detox” especially among patients.

Detoxification is the purification of the patients’ body of drugs in the system, particularly to remove the drug that is interacting with receptors in the brain. Many medical treatments seek to bind a benign drug to the receptors in the brain that are responsive to whatever substance the patient is dependent upon. In order for these medications to do their job, these brain receptors must first be unblocked and the addictive substance removed.

Detoxification is a serious process that requires close medical supervision and a drug abuse treatment program should always offer detoxification by medical personnel. The effects of withdrawal from the addictive substance can, and frequently are traumatic for the patient and unless properly supervised, serious risk to health and in extreme cases, to life may result.

A key point to remember with detoxification is that it does not treat the underlying addiction. After detoxification which may take a few hours to a couple of weeks, the next phase of the drug abuse treatment program will take place and this generally leads us to a lengthier therapeutic stage of treatment therapy.

Therapeutic Treatments in a Drug Abuse Treatment Program

A drug abuse treatment program draw on a wide range of therapies to treat a patient, in many cases this will require medications administered and supervised by medical professionals. The use of medication generally serves to curtail and block the cravings caused by the addictive compulsions to use an addictive substance and do not actually tackle the underlying social and environmental causes that led to drug use in the first instance, not the obsessive compulsive pattern of behaviors that comprise part of the addiction cycle.

Therapy and psychotherapy form a major component in a modern drug abuse treatment program. Individual therapy tends to center around leading the patient to a level of self-awareness of the nature of their dependency and to understanding the cues that may trigger a desire to return to drug use. Rebuilding levels of self-esteem and sense of worth and place in community and family also are vital in the rehabilitation of a patients psyche. The aim of individual therapy is to allow the patient to recognize the destructive behaviors that cause their addiction cycle and to develop life strategies to deal with handling living a life free of drug use and in a constructive and productive fashion.

Family therapy is extensively used, as the behavioral issues caused by a patients drug use will have damaged or broken family bonds such is the destructive nature of drug addiction. Further, family members and loved ones may also need counseling and help as they too are victims of drug dependency indirectly. The aim of family therapy is to help heal family bonds and educate loved ones on the nature of the addiction as it is effecting the patient. Frequently, family members are unable to understand why a patient simply cannot quit and do not understand the compulsion that drug dependency creates. Developing a support network that understands what the patient is dealing with and how they will have to handle their addictive urges after discharge from the drug abuse treatment program is essential to avoid a relapse or to deliver care quickly if it does occur.

Group therapy is used to help patients understand that they are not isolated in what they are experiencing. Patients gain from the support and encouragement of those who are further along the healing road than they are. In turn, there is a therapeutic benefit to patients helping others who may be struggling with their addictions and handling treatment, or indeed life beyond discharge. It is usual, that very close bonds are formed between patients as they mutually support each other that last long after treatment has concluded.

Finally, a drug abuse treatment program will ensure that contingency plans are put outlined for use after discharge to help support the patient on the road to reintegration into family, employment and the community. Outpatient monitoring and follow up treatment sessions will form a large part in this, and provide a safety net should the initial treatment regime’s results be shaken or broken by a patients compulsion to return to drug use.