How do I Find the Right Drug Rehab?

Important things to consider when finding the right drug rehab.

How do I find the right drug rehab? When you are ready to stop your drug or alcohol abuse finding the right drug rehab program is the first step in the process. While the idea of ending your addiction is motivating, without the right help and support from an effective and highly successful drug rehab program you may find yourself spinning your wheels. The process of researching and finding the right program to help you overcome your drug addiction or alcoholism problem can feel like you’re looking for a needle in a haystack.

To help you narrow your search, let’s go over a few questions. How severe is your addiction problem? For individuals with long-term histories of alcoholism or drug addiction a long-term inpatient or residential program will be your best choice. Remaining in a program for an adequate length of time is going to get you the results you are looking for. Research shows that 90 days in treatment is considered the gold standard when recovering from long-term drug and alcohol addiction.

Do you have any special needs or requirements to ensure your comfort and safety during your recovery? This is an important point for those who have health issues in addition to their addiction problem. Additionally, individuals who struggle with mental illness in combination with their addiction problem will need to address this issue concurrently during their recovery process. Be sure to inquire if the programs you are looking into address mental illness if this is a concern for you personally.

If you are looking at programs close to home find out if you are able to take a tour of the facility. This may help to put you at ease when making a decision about which program will provide the right resources and accommodations to meet your needs. If you’re unable to see the program before enrolling, ask if they can send you any brochures or electronic literature to help you to visualize their facility and the property where the program is located.

Last of all consider how much you are able to invest in a drug rehab program. If you have insurance it is important to contact them to find out what your coverage is for addiction treatment and ask for a list of referrals. While insurance may not cover the entire cost of drug rehab, they may be able to pay part or a significant portion of the enrollment costs. This is a crucial point that many people do not even consider when looking into their drug rehab options; but one that can significantly narrow down your search for a program.

While each program ranges in price based on their services offered, length of stay and location look for the best value for your dollar. As with many things in life, you get what you pay for. Choosing to attend a lower cost rehab might mean cutting corners on your sobriety. A program that provides all the rehabilitation services you are looking for and the amenities you like is going to be worth spending the extra money on. In the end, this is one of the most important investments you will ever make in yourself.

 

Happy New Year!

Narconon Fresh Start would like to wish you a Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! We hope that 2015 has started out well for you. This is often a time in one’s life where they reflect on their past year and make decisions to change the areas of their life that are not working for them. If you or a loved one is struggling with drug or alcohol addiction it can be a time that inspires change and taking positive steps to create the life you truly want to be living. Addiction to drugs or alcohol can feel as though you are left with few choices and that your substance use controls your life. And, in a very real way it does. An addicted person often no longer puts their health, personal relationships, education, career or finances as their first priorities. It is their drug of choice that takes center stage each and everyday; controlling their decisions, their actions, their behavior and ultimately their life. We would like to extend to you the possibility of attending the Narconon Fresh Start drug and alcohol rehab program. When you choose to enroll in the Narconon Fresh Start drug rehab program you will be putting into motion the process of truly ending your addiction. Through our unique and entirely drug-free rehabilitation program you will handle the physical aspect of your addiction to drugs or alcohol while also identifying, confronting and handling the specific causes of your addiction and changing the behaviors associated with it.

The Narconon Fresh Start drug and alcohol rehab program is different from other treatment methods because we do not treat addiction as a disease. Clients are not labeled as lifelong addicts or alcoholics, but rather as students enrolled in a drug rehab program where they are addressing their addiction issues and resolving them. At Narconon Fresh Start, program participants truly recover from their addiction because they are handling their physical and mental problem of addiction by addressing the underlying issues that they were trying to resolve with their substance abuse.

There are several key steps of the Narconon Fresh Start drug rehab program that build one upon another. Drug-free withdrawal is a critical part of the program as the recovering individual segues from their previous lifestyle of using drugs or alcohol to one of existing in a drug-free state. Program participants who require medical detox prior to enrollment in the Narconon Fresh Start program will still undergo the drug-free withdrawal process when they arrive because it is an essential part of the transition into the Narconon Fresh Start program.

After drug-free withdrawal, the program participant is ready to begin the initial part of the Narconon Fresh Start program and the New Life Detoxification program. The New Life Detoxification Program is exclusive to Narconon drug rehabilitation programs and delivers exceptional withdrawal techniques and nutritional therapies to help the recovering individual rid their body of the remaining drug toxins stored in their fatty tissue. Through this process, program participants reduce their physical drug cravings, and in many cases eliminate them altogether. They also benefit from improved health, emotional balance, and quality of sleep during and after they have completed the process.

To treat addiction as a physical and mental problem that can be overcome means addressing the underlying issues that drove the individual to choose substance abuse to solve their life problems. During the individual’s time in treatment, they will receive Narconon Fresh Start’s Life Skills course to help them identify and work through the underlying issues they struggle with while working on modifying their behavior. We use a method known as manualized cognitive behavioral modification; program participant’s benefit from Narconon Fresh Start’s uniform and standardized treatment plan. The program is very structured and set up in a step by step sequence of Life Skills training manuals that provide the best results for our clients. While Narconon Fresh Start is not the easiest or quickest means to ending drug or alcohol addiction, it has proven itself as the most effective treatment method to achieving lasting sobriety. The investment the individual makes in their rehabilitation and recovery during their time enrolled in the Narconon Fresh Start drug rehab program benefits them for the rest of their life. The life skills and personal growth they come away with when they graduate from Narconon Fresh Start effectively helps them build the sober and productive lifestyle they are seeking to achieve.

Drug Rehab Length is a Determining Factor in Long-Term Sobriety

Many mislead addicts believe that if they work hard enough and are truly motivated they should be able to successfully finish drug abuse treatment in just a couple of weeks. For drug rehabilitation to be truly effective research has shown that 90 days in treatment is the minimum length needed to make a lasting recovery. In addition to remaining in drug rehab for an adequate amount of time, it is essential that the recovering individual take into consideration follow-up care and support. In a recent study, clients who were treated for at least a year or more were twice as likely to remain clean.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has published their findings on drug treatment program lengths. In it they state that individuals who want to have the best chance at a successful recovery should enter a drug rehab program that is at least 90 days long. They also note that through their research a program’s length is one of the most important indicators of whether or not a drug rehab program will be able to help their client achieve a successful recovery.

In addition to the length of the program, the CDC indicates that there are a few other areas that should be reviewed before choosing a program:

• The drug rehab program should treat recovery as a long-term process that involves a variety of approaches.
• The drug and alcohol treatment center needs to take into account any physical or mental health issues that may be occurring in conjunction with the addiction.
• The drug rehab staff should tailor their drug treatment program to the individual client’s needs.
• Lastly, the program must reassess treatment procedures on a regular basis to ensure they are productive.

In the end, while stating that 90 days is the minimum for achieving sobriety, there are programs that run much longer (18 months plus) and are able to help their clients make the difficult changes necessary to remain clean and sober. Because addiction changes the way a person’s brain functions there are many recovering addicts who require long-term drug rehab programs to “retrain” their brains and truly handle their addiction issues. The process of recovery is typically long and takes a great deal of effort on the recovering person’s part. Remaining in treatment for an extended length of time not only helps the person get off the addictive substances they are dependent on, it helps them learn to embrace a drug-free lifestyle and practice living day to day life as a sober individual.

Drug Rehab Treatment is Not “One Size Fits All”

There is no drug rehab treatment that comes in a “one size fits all” method of recovery. While the idea that one day there will be a “magic bullet” to end addiction problems is a novel thought, it is one that will never happen. This is because each addicted person has different drug abuse related problems and in turn will respond to the similar forms of treatment very differently; even when they are addicted to the same substance.

Because each person has their own set of issues pertaining to their addiction, the best type of drug rehab program will be one that provides an array of treatments and services tailored to address each individual’s needs. For some recovering addicts this may mean trying out several different treatment methods before a “match” is found between client and drug rehab center.

Fortunately, Narconon Fresh Start is a network of highly successful drug rehab programs that understands how unique each individual’s addiction problem is and addresses each client’s recovery on an individual basis. Their rehab philosophy is not based on the disease model of addiction, but rather on locating and confronting the specific causes of one’s addiction as well as addressing the behaviors associated with it. Clients enter their drug rehab programs as addicts, but soon become students learning educational life skills. Former addicts are fully rehabilitated and no longer think of themselves or refer to themselves as “addicts” or “alcoholics” because truly recovered.

Addiction is NOT a Character Flaw

While a great deal of people still believe that becoming an addict is a choice, a sign of weak morals or a character flaw – it is not. Developing an addiction to drugs or alcohol is an unintentional process that happens over time, very gradually. The individual initially starts out choosing to abuse the drugs for whatever reason: boredom, stress, relationship issues, problems at work or school, etc. but overtime they begin to rely on the substance more and more.

Every substance: alcohol, marijuana, heroin, prescription pills… changes the way the user’s brain functions in its own way. While each substance acts differently on the user, they all create similar effects in the user’s brain. These effects range from changes in the molecules and cells that make up the brain to mood and memory processes to the user’s motor skills such as walking and talking. In time, the substance becomes the single most important aspect of the user’s life. Their brain is now wired to continue substance use at all costs to ensure that it feels “normal”.

Sunshine Summit Lodge in Southern California has been helping addicted individuals get off drugs and alcohol for many years. Their program has a long history of success and is rooted in one of the most effective treatment models for achieving true and lasting recovery. Based on the Narconon Fresh Start drug rehab program, Sunshine Summit Lodge has a very high success rate at real addiction rehabilitation. As a long-term residential drug rehab program, they provide their clients with all the amenities necessary to completely withdraw, detox and rehabilitate at the treatment center.

Graduates of Sunshine Summit Lodge do not have any follow-up meetings to attend, no “homework” to work on when they return home. They have applied themselves during their time in treatment and have learned all the necessary life skills and lessons to maintain their sobriety on their own. Additionally, Narconon Fresh Start programs are entirely drug-free and holistically based. This means that when a client completes their time in treatment they do not take any prescription medications or drug replacement therapy to maintain their sobriety. They are free of all addictions and no longer controlled by any outside substances.