In the majority of cases, people seeking drug and alcohol treatment of their own volition. Some enter as a result of health problems and others by referral through the legal system, their employers or family members. For this reason, they often enter facilities with strong feelings of anger about being forced to seek treatment and can be grappling with emotions like such as guilt, shame, depression, and anxiety.
It is not always because people are unwilling to get healthy that they enter into rehab reluctantly. Many are in denial that there’s a problem at all.
And some have masked their illness from those close to them with such success that they are able to continue using without guilt. Often people who have become heavily addicted to substances will be afraid of the detox and rehab process although more often than not, their fears are based on urban myths rather than factual knowledge.
Despite the fact that most people entering rehab have been guided there by third parties, a large number of people decide independently to seek help for a wealth of different reasons. Some may have experienced a reality check that affected them on a personal level very deeply and others might have become aware of the effects of their destructive behaviors on their loved ones, career or education.
The fact remains; when patients have made the decision to check-in to a drug and alcohol treatment center, they have taken the first and most significant step towards a new life in sobriety.
What Is Early Stage Rehabilitation Like?
In the very early stages of a rehab program at a drug and alcohol treatment center, patients may be going through a period of contemplation and preparation for change. Irrespective of their motivation for entering the center, people tend to have ambivalent feelings about abstinence. Even those with a commitment to giving up drugs can have a tenuous commitment to recovery because they simply can’t imagine coping with life without using.
It is at this stage of treatment that patients can be at their most resistant to changing the way they think and feel which is why a treatment program will focus initial efforts on assessment and counseling. People who have abused substances for a long time will also have developed an attachment to the surroundings they used in, which can prevent them from fully participating in a treatment program in the first few days.
Research has shown that an addicted brain is abnormally conditioned as a result of substance abuse and for many addicts, environmental cues surrounding drug use are part of their addiction.
What Does Early Stage Addiction Treatment Consist Of?
The main objective in the early days of addiction treatment is to defeat denial and resistance, which is almost invariably present in patients when they are first admitted. Individual and group therapy is an integral part of the treatment for people at the start of a program and is used alongside counseling and assessment to get a complete picture of each individual patient’s medical, physical, psychological and emotional needs.
The next step is to create a personalized program for each patient that addresses the issues underlying addiction as well as any physical issues once detox has been completed.
A treatment program represents a journey from cessation through to recovery and beyond, during which time patients accumulate an arsenal of weapons to combat their issues.
There is a wealth of medical and complementary therapies available for treatment of addiction including mindfulness practices such as yoga and experiential treatments like equine-assisted therapy to suit all preferences and requirements. In essence, specialist rehabilitation from alcohol and drug addiction is the gateway to a more effective, healthier lifestyle in which close personal relationships are happier, careers are more successful, studies more productive and the future looks a whole lot brighter.