Frequent Asked Questions
1) What is alcohol and drug treatment?
2) Why can’t alcoholics and addicts quit on their own?
3) How effective is alcohol and drug treatment?
4) How long does treatment usually last?
5) What helps people stay in treatment?
6) How does alcohol and drug treatment reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS?
7) Where do the 12-Steps fit into the alcohol and drug treatment program?
10) What do I bring and not bring to rehab?
1) What is alcohol and drug treatment?
Alcohol and addictive drugs, and treatments for alcohol and specific drugs can differ. Treatment also varies depending on the characteristics of the client, their resources and need for privacy and access to their treatment providers.
Problems associated with an individual's alcohol and drug addiction can vary significantly. People who are addicted come from all walks of life. Many suffer from mental health, occupational, health, or social problems that make their addictive disorders much more difficult to treat. Even if there are few associated problems, the severity of addiction itself ranges widely among people.
A variety of evidence-based approaches to addiction treatment exists. Addiction treatment can include behavioral therapy (such as counseling, cognitive therapy, or psychotherapy), medications, or their combination. Behavioral therapies offer people strategies for coping with their drug cravings, teach them ways to avoid alcohol and drugs and prevent relapse, and help them deal with relapse if it occurs. When a person's addictive behavior places him or her at higher risk for AIDS or other infectious diseases, behavioral therapies can help to reduce the risk of disease transmission. A true combination of therapies and other services to meet the needs of the individual client, which are shaped by such issues as age, race, culture, sexual identity, gender, pregnancy, parenting, housing, and employment, as well as physical and sexual abuse.
At Affirmations you will be introduced to a variety of medical, psychological, nutritional, spiritual and fitness options to improve a client’s chances of having a sustained recovery.
2) Why can’t alcoholics and addicts quit on their own?
Nearly all addicted individuals believe in the beginning that they can stop using alcohol and drugs on their own, and most try to stop without treatment. However, most of these attempts result in failure to achieve long-term abstinence and recovery. Research has shown that long-term drug use results in significant changes in brain function that persist long after the individual stops using drugs. These substance-induced changes in brain function may have many behavioral consequences, including the compulsion to use alcohol and drugs despite adverse consequences, the defining characteristic of addiction.
Understanding that addiction has such an important biological component may help explain an individual's difficulty in achieving and maintaining abstinence without treatment. Psychological stress from work or family problems, social cues (such as meeting individuals from one's active addiction past), or the environment (such as encountering streets, objects, or even smells associated with alcohol and drug use) can interact with biological factors to hinder attainment of sustained abstinence and make relapse more likely. Research studies indicate that even the most severely addicted individuals can participate actively in treatment and that active participation is essential to good outcomes.
3) How effective is alcohol and drug treatment?
In addition to stopping alcohol and drug use, the goal of treatment is to return the individual to productive functioning in the family, workplace, and community. The individual will see recovery as a means to live a life that is thriving! Measures of effectiveness typically include levels of criminal behavior, family functioning, employability, and medical condition, healthy relationships, emotional stability and spiritual connectedness. Overall, treatment of addiction is as successful as treatment of other chronic diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension, and asthma.
According to several studies, drug treatment reduces drug use by 40 to 60 percent and significantly decreases criminal activity during and after treatment. For example, a study of therapeutic community treatment for drug offenders demonstrated that arrests for violent and nonviolent criminal acts were reduced by 40 percent or more. Methadone treatment has been shown to decrease criminal behavior by as much as 50 percent. Research shows that alcohol and drug addiction treatment reduces the risk of HIV infection and that interventions to prevent HIV are much less costly than treating HIV-related illnesses. Treatment can improve the prospects for employment, with gains of up to 40 percent after treatment.
Although these effectiveness rates hold in general, individual treatment outcomes depend on the extent and nature of the patient's presenting problems, the appropriateness of the treatment components and related services used to address those problems, and the degree of active engagement of the patient in the treatment process.
4) How long does treatment usually last?
Individuals progress through alcohol and drug addiction treatment at various speeds, so there is no predetermined length of treatment. However, research has shown unequivocally that good outcomes are contingent on full participation, motivation to work with treatment team recommendations and at least a 90-day commitment to primary treatment and extended aftercare. Generally, for residential or outpatient treatment, participation for less than 90 days is of limited or no effectiveness, and treatments lasting significantly longer often are indicated. For methadone maintenance, 12 months of treatment is the minimum, and some opiate-addicted individuals will continue to benefit from methadone maintenance treatment over a period of years.
Many people who enter treatment drop out before receiving all the benefits that treatment can provide. Successful outcomes may require more than one treatment experience. Many addicted individuals have multiple episodes of treatment, often with a cumulative impact.
5) What helps people stay in treatment?
Since successful outcomes often depend upon retaining the person long enough to gain the full benefits of treatment, strategies for keeping an individual in the program are critical. Whether a client stays in treatment depends on factors associated with both the individual and the program. Individual factors related to engagement and retention include motivation to change drug-using behavior, degree of support from family and friends, and whether there is pressure to stay in treatment from the criminal justice system, child protection services, employers, or the family. Within the program, successful counselors and staff are able to establish a positive, therapeutic relationship with the patient. The counselor should ensure that a treatment plan is established and followed so that the individual knows what to expect during treatment and extending treatment beyond 30 days is recommended for most alcoholics and addicts . Medical, psychiatric, and social services should be available.
Since some individual problems (such as serious mental illness, physical illness, severe cocaine, crystal methamphetamine or crack use, and criminal involvement) increase the likelihood of a patient dropping out, intensive treatment with a range of components may be required to retain patients who have these problems. The provider then should ensure a transition to continuing care or "aftercare" following the patient's completion of formal treatment.
6) How does alcohol and drug treatment reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS?
Many drug addicts, such as heroin or cocaine addicts and particularly injection drug users, are at increased risk for HIV/AIDS as well as other infectious diseases like hepatitis, tuberculosis, and sexually transmitted infections. For these individuals and the community at large, drug addiction treatment is disease prevention.
Drug injectors who do not enter treatment are up to six times more likely to become infected with HIV than injectors who enter and remain in treatment. Drug users who enter and continue in treatment reduce activities that can spread disease, such as sharing injection equipment and engaging in unprotected sexual activity. Participation in treatment also presents opportunities for screening, counseling, and referral for additional services. The best drug abuse treatment programs provide HIV counseling and offer HIV testing to their patients.
7) Where do the 12-Steps fit into the alcohol and drug treatment program?
Self-help groups can complement and extend the effects of professional treatment. The most prominent self-help groups are those affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), Narcotics Anonymous (NA), and Cocaine Anonymous (CA), all of which are based on the 12-step model. Most drug addiction treatment programs encourage patients to participate in a self-help group during and after formal treatment.
8) How can family members receive help and how can they make a difference in the treatment of an alcoholic or drug addict?
Family and friends can play critical roles in motivating individuals with alcohol and drug problems to enter and stay in treatment. Family therapy is important, especially for adolescents in treatment. Including a family member in an individual's treatment program can strengthen and extend the benefits of the program.
Partners, loved ones, parents are often tremendously affected by the individual’s alcohol and drug abuse and benefit from the therapies offered to them in treatment. The relationship with the alcoholic and addict are usually severed badly and require a great deal of healing interventions. They often benefit from attending Alanon, a community-based self-self program
9) How do I pay for treatment?
Alcohol and drug addiction treatment is cost-effective in reducing drug use and its associated health and social costs. Treatment is less expensive than the alternatives, such as further medical hospitalizations, prison terms, psychiatric hospitalizations and death. The average daily rate at Affirmations is cheaper than a medical and psychiatric hospitalization stay, the cost of a prison stay and of course, it is priceless to save your life! The fee includes continuous care, access to some of the best addiction specialists in the country and room and board in a very comfortable, serene setting.
According to several conservative estimates, every $1 invested in addiction treatment programs yields a return of between $4 and $7 in reduced drug-related crime, criminal justice costs, and theft alone. When savings related to health care are included, total savings can exceed costs by a ratio of 12 to 1. Major savings to the individual and society also come from significant drops in interpersonal conflicts, improvements in workplace productivity, and reductions in alcohol and drug-related accidents.
10) What do I bring and not bring to rehab?
The most important thing to bring to treatment is YOU! Beyond that, a few
casual outfits, dress shoes, athletic shoes, gym wear, socks and underwear lasting a week. A laundry room available for your use at Affirmations. A family photo, photo of a loving, supportive family member, partner or loved one.
Do NOT bring: alcohol, drugs, any drug paraphernalia, any clothes with alcohol or drug slogans, expensive jewelry, large amount of cash, unhealthy contacts and pornography (in any form).
(Excerpts from The National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), March, 2008)