How Does Drug and Alcohol Rehab Work?

Drug and alcohol rehab has come more to the forefront with the increasing number of television shows that are doing interventions. Interventions are not a new thing. You are just hearing more about them. Interventions are a way of getting loved ones that need substance abuse treatment to go to an inpatient facility to get the help that they need. But what really happens in rehab? Detox is the first step. Many substances have a physical withdrawal and will require medical monitoring and medication to go through the process of relieving your body of that dependency. This process will usually be complete within a week. Education is a big part of becoming clean and sober. You are educated and what specific substances do to your body. You are also taught to deal with the feelings that brought you to the point you were at when you entered the program. Learning how to develop and use a support system as well as what you can do to avoid relapse are a very big part of the educational aspect of a rehab program. You will meet with individual counselors and also attend group therapy. The group therapy sessions and the 12 steps meeting, that you will be introduced to, will be an important part of your support system. Developing and using a support system is crucial, especially in the early years of recovery. These will be the people that can help you stay clean and sober when you are faced with trying situations in your life. Family therapy is an essential part of rehab. There is no family in existence that can be emotionally healthy if one of its members has a substance abuse problem. It is important that family members learn to deal with feelings that they had during the active addiction of their loved one as well as how they are feeling when that person becomes sober. Al-Anon is a support group for family members of addicts. The final step is the aftercare program. This consists of what you are going to do to stay clean and sober after the inpatient program has been completed. This can be anything to moving into a sober living facility, meeting with counselors and therapists and attending 12 step meeting. Rehab is by no means a walk in the park. It is physically and emotionally painful. But your first day clean and sober will be the first day of the rest of your life. As long as your take your life one day at a time and use what you learned, you will continue to live a life free from the use of drugs and alcohol.