Author: James Anderson

Choosing an Alcohol Rehab Treatment Program

The challenge comes in identifying which level of treatment is best for you. Once you decide on the level of treatment, you’ll then need to find a local rehab center or treatment program that works for you. Psychologists specialize in the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of mental health conditions, SUD, and addiction. They’re trained in a variety of evidence-based treatment methods designed to improve emotional and interpersonal well-being. Intensive outpatient treatment involves a scheduled series of visits that are longer and more in-depth than a traditional outpatient program. You may do this after partial hospitalization, detox, or residential rehab.

With that said, inpatient programs tend to be more expensive and aren’t necessarily for everyone. Call your local mental health or addiction medicine department or reach out to your personal doctor. If your doctor brings up concerns, it doesn’t mean you have a problem. It’s just another way they’re looking after your health — no different than taking your blood pressure and sharing the results with you. The goal is to help you understand the risks, empower you to make informed choices about your health, and help you take whatever steps you’re ready to take. If you need alcohol for your body to feel normal, then you likely need help.

Setting Healthy Boundaries in Relationships

In some cases, our care teams prescribe medication to treat an underlying mental health condition, like depression or anxiety. In other cases, medication is used to help reduce cravings, ease withdrawal symptoms, and help prevent relapse. This is sometimes referred to as medication-assisted treatment (MAT), and is mostly used to treat addiction to opioids, heroin, prescription pain relievers, and alcohol.

Partial hospitalization or day treatment is where you live at home but you go for treatment at a hospital or clinic at least 5 days a week. Recently, with COVID-19 precautions, many programs offer programs via telehealth. It can be an alternative to inpatient or residential treatment or a step-down from one of those programs.

1. Regardless of a program’s length in weeks or months, support and long-term follow-up are crucial to recovery.
2. A quality treatment program not only addresses unhealthy drinking but also considers the emotional pain and other life problems that contribute to your drinking.
3. People in inpatient programs may also be more likely to complete treatment.
4. Your alcohol use disorder may be a new issue, and you increasingly use drinking to cope with stressful events.
5. Our addiction medicine care teams can help members with severe SUD stop drinking or using drugs safely and comfortably.

Intensive inpatient care in a hospital setting is often short-term, lasting a few days or weeks. Some studies indicate that inpatient treatment leads to better short-term abstinence rates than outpatient, but that advantage may reduce over time. People in inpatient programs may also be more likely to complete treatment.

Types of Programs

Getting through detox isn’t just a matter of willpower, and stopping “cold turkey” without at least medical help is never recommended. Check to see if the program relies on evidence-based treatments, such as CBT, multidimensional family therapy, or acceptance-commitment therapy (ACT). You might receive somewhere between 9 and 19 hours of structured services per week. You get to maintain more of your typical daily routine, whether that involves work or school, but you still benefit from regular, structured support.

For example, if you have a medical or mental health condition, you’ll want services for that. Or if you’ve struggled for years and don’t have a strong support network, an inpatient program might make sense. The cost of alcohol treatment will vary based on the type of program. Inpatient rehab tends to be much more expensive than outpatient care.

Partial hospitalization programs (PHP), or “day treatments,” are for people who need increased structure, support, and counseling or therapy to reduce the likelihood of relapse. These treatment programs usually require you to spend at least 20 hours a week in a controlled clinical facility. In this type of setting, you can readily have access to medical and psychiatric services. Some focus on other evidence-based approaches, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and relapse prevention. Alcohol rehab includes treatment programs that cover a variety of approaches to managing alcohol use disorder and overcoming addiction.

Choosing an Alcohol Rehab Treatment Program

This might be as simple as visiting your health care professional regularly to get meds. Take the assessment and get matched with a professional, licensed therapist. If you have concerns over costs, look into programs that offer sliding scale or reduced payment options. Although used by clinicians, these six factors can help you think about your own needs and treatment options as well. BetterHelp is an online therapy service that matches you to licensed, accredited therapists who can help with depression, anxiety, relationships, and more. Take the assessment and get matched with a therapist in as little as 48 hours.

Whether you’re looking for an inpatient or outpatient alcohol rehab center, finding the right treatment program is an important step on the road to recovery. For example, if you believe you have plenty of social support at home and a safe environment to practice addiction coping strategies, you may decide that an outpatient program is best. If you feel like you’re highly at risk of withdrawal symptoms or struggle with a severe co-occurring disorder, inpatient services might be more beneficial. These advanced practice clinicians support patients through the diagnosis and treatment of a variety of conditions. They work closely with doctors and care teams to provide medical services and counseling for mental health, substance misuse, and addiction issues.

It looks at your specific case and decides the type of treatment you qualify for. Inpatient treatment at a hospital or medical center isn’t as common as it used to be, but these programs make sense if you have serious medical or mental health issues. Rehab programs can include a range of services from medical care and counseling to life skills training and help preventing a relapse.