PDFDrug and Alcohol Rehab
If drugs and alcohol are an every day part of your child’s life, then your child is addicted, either on a physical or an emotional level. Any kind of addiction is a lifelong condition.
The greatest chance of recovery and continued sobriety can be found in drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs.
There are many types of rehab programs to choose from, but one of the most effective for young adults are residential facilities that offer programs that examine every element of a young person’s life. This requires specialized staff who can help teens understand the emotional, developmental, cultural, physical, psychological, social, and familial elements that advanced them along the path to addiction.
The first step is to understand what drug and alcohol rehabs do and how they can help your child. Drug and alcohol abuse and addiction are diseases that progress through typical stages. The professionals and doctors at rehab facilities are trained specifically in addiction, so they are able to determine the best course of treatment for your individual child.
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Initial Assessment. When first admitted to a rehab program, the patient is given a comprehensive assessment in order to determine the best course of treatment for the particular individual. This assessment includes:
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With this information, doctors and counselors can determine the best course of treatment for your child. The staff will be evaluating the patient’s degree of addiction, their psychological and medical profile, and the family’s financial resources. A good rehab facility will try to work out a program that will be manageable within a family’s budget and even help that family obtain funding from their health insurance carrier.
Detox. Some teens will need to go through a course of Detox. Detoxification is the process of removing drugs and alcohol from the patient’s body, followed by the alleviation of withdrawal symptoms under the supervision of physicians who specialize in addiction medicine. This process includes time for the patient to become comfortable physically and psychologically in order to be ready for the treatment process to commence.
Treatment Programs. To accommodate the vast differences in each individual patient, rehab programs offer a long list of treatment options, and the staff will work with the patient and family to devise the most effective plan. Treatment options include:
Cognitive Therapy. This involves a psychologist and a patient working together to examine and understand how certain negative thought patterns can lead to the drug and alcohol abuse they are trying to stop. Patients are guided to make the connection between thought patterns and addictive behavior, and gain insight and awareness of the power these patterns have over their daily life. Patients are usually able to quickly make connections between their self-defeating thoughts that cloud their thinking and their life choices. Typically, some of these thought patterns include catastrophizing events and arguments, all or none thinking (also called Totalitarian Thinking), and overgeneralizing (if one thing or person is bad, all people are bad).
These thought patterns create extreme emotional distress and self-loathing, which is often the path to self-destructive behavior.
Behavior Therapy
This type of therapy helps the patient identify unhealthy patterns of functioning. The goal then is to teach the patient techniques to eliminate these patterns and habits and replace them with positive, productive thinking and healthier living.
Cognitive Behavior Therapy
This combines the techniques in cognitive and behavior therapy. It teaches the patient how to identify the thought patterns that led to their drug and alcohol abuse. Behavior therapy helps drug users to utilize what they learned in cognitive therapy to weaken the connection between these thought patterns and the resultant drug and alcohol abuse. This therapy aims to provide drug and alcohol users with specific tools that they can utilize to prevent a relapse. It teaches techniques to support a lasting sobriety. Cognitive Behavior Therapy aims to focus on a patient’s present life and their future, rather than examine the past extensively as is typical mainstream psychotherapy.
Other Therapies Offered in Rehab Facilities
Because rehab facilities focus intensely on the individual client, therapy programs are tailored to an individual’s and family’s needs. Other therapies include:
- Group therapy sessions, which help a teen realize they are not alone or unique in terms of their problems. It also helps kids improve their social and communication skills.
- Individual sessions with a Substance Abuse Counselor
- 12-step support groups
- 12-step work aimed at helping a patient with withdrawal symptoms and high-risk situations
- Family sessions
- Health and Nutrition programs
- Experiential Therapies (Art, Drama, Equine Assisted, etc.)
- Relapse Prevention workshops
Each rehab program is different, and research is imperative to locate the right facility for your particular son and daughter. Try to find a program that your teen can accept, one that has some activities your child might enjoy. The most successful programs are those in which patients have been voluntarily admitted. If that is not possible, there are some accredited programs that are specifically geared to involuntary commitments. Both of these programs have the same goal — to send a patient home drug-fee with the skills to maintain sobriety.
Article written by Jillian Blume
