Inpatient Treatment

This is a program of recovery that requires the patient to remain in a treatment center for a certain period of time (usually 30 to 90 days). During this time, the patient participates in individual and group therapy, education about the nature of addiction and workshops or lectures that teach coping skills and strategies to avoid drug use after discharge. Medications may be dispensed, if necessary. The patient will also be introduced to the 12 Step model of recovery.

The benefits of inpatient treatment include having the support of counselors and others who are working to achieve the same objective 24 hours a day. The disciplined nature of a treatment center (where patients are expected to adhere to schedules and participate in the operation of the facility, by taking responsibility for some light cleaning or yard work tasks) can also help addicts address the proverbial “egomaniac with low self-esteem” attitude that causes many drug users to exhibit totally self-centered behavior.

Outpatient Treatment

There are many similarities between Inpatient and Outpatient treatment programs. Outpatient programs generally offer a narrower range of services than are provided through Inpatient programs, with less structure and oversight.

Outpatient programs usually involve the patient attending the treatment facility on a regular schedule, for approximately two to six hours each week. During these sessions, the patient participates in therapy groups, drug education and relapse avoidance workshops, and other activities similar to those offered in Inpatient treatment.

Outpatient programs allow patients to receive treatment while living at home and continuing their work or school schedules. This approach is less expensive than Inpatient treatment, which may make it a better choice for individuals without insurance, or with limited incomes.

The main drawback to Outpatient treatment is that the participant remains in the same surroundings, facing the same situations that were associated with his or her drug using. They get no “reprieve” from these circumstances during the length of their treatment, as Inpatient participants do.

Sober Living

Many people who find themselves in treatment programs have lost everything as a result of their drug using—including the roofs over their heads. These individuals need a place to stay following their discharge from the treatment center, while they get “back on their feet.”

Other people in recovery previously lived in environments that fostered their using behavior. Perhaps other family members or roommates were also using (or even dealing) drugs. Needless to say, abstaining from drug use in this living situation would be extremely difficult. These individuals need a place to stay where their decision to stop using will be supported and encouraged.

A third category of people may feel “on shaky ground” upon release from treatment. They are concerned that the trials and tests of day-to-day life in their previous living arrangements would be detrimental to their recovery. These people need a place to stay as they transition through the first—and most critical—few months of abstinence from drug use.

Sober living can be the answer to all three needs. This is a housing situation, usually managed by a former addict, or operated as an extension of a treatment facility. The setting might be a large home or small apartment complex, where residents are expected to follow strict house rules (which may include attending 12 Step meetings at the house or in the community, zero tolerance for drug use or possession, and taking responsibility for household chores).

Since all the residents are in recovery, the level of support and accountability offered in sober living situations can be extremely beneficial to those in the early stages of recovery.

Support Groups

In virtually every city in the country, in a church basement or a storefront or a library meeting room, you’ll find people attending a 12 Step support group.

The 12 Step program was originally developed in the 1930s by the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous. Since then, it has been responsible for helping millions of alcoholics—many considered “hopeless” cases—to achieve life-long sobriety.

At the core of the Steps is a simple-to-follow plan to change behaviors that feed the addictive personality, developed by collecting the wisdom and experience of the earliest sober members of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Because the Steps have been so successful in helping alcoholics stop drinking, other groups have adapted the Steps to address drug addiction (and other addictive behaviors). Narcotics Anonymous is a well established and respected program, with chapters in cities across the U.S. Additional information on this organization can be obtained from the Narcotics Anonymous website, at www.na.org.

Support groups may also be found through churches, organizations like the Salvation Army, or missions that serve the “Skid Rows” of most major cities. Regardless of where you look, or what kind of group you find, we encourage everyone who has wrestled with drug addiction to get—and stay—involved in a local support group. In your worst moments of temptation to relapse, it is vitally important to realize you can rely on the experience, strength and hope of others who know exactly what you’re going through.