There are over 12,500 rehabilitation facilities in the United States, receiving treatment for your addiction should be fairly easy and leave you with several options. Weather or not the addict is successful depends on the tools they use or obtain in rehabilitation and if they are all in. The facilities have the resources to assist them from doctors, nurses, counselors and therapists.
Step 1. To maintain the right treatment
The brain of an addict goes through great changes when they are using and the function that it has for an addict is to get more of what it is craving when they stop using. The withdrawal process is extremely hard and it requires great discipline and courage. The withdrawal from marijuana will not be as difficult as it will be from pain killers or opiates. To have a successful withdrawal, it is very important that they take part in the right detox program.
Step 2. Commitment to Recovery
How an addict gets involved in their recovery is up to them. Whether or not they are committed to the process, listening in meetings, finding new habits or activities, changing their social environment and taking advantage of all the resources in their community. People who are there because of loved ones or if they are court ordered they need to be in the moment and not go through the motions. They need to understand they are there for a reason and accept they have a problem. Be honest with counselors, therapists, meetings and share how you feel because others will help because they know what they are going through.
Step 3. Take Part in Community Resources
The addict uses for many reasons. The addict needs to take a deep look inside and find out why they are using and find out the valuable resources made available to him in the community. Whether they are unemployed, dealing with domestic violence, the surrounding community has programs that can help and are easy to access. By dealing with your addiction and finding the reason you use, this can help you work toward dealing with the problem and you know where to work.
Step 4. Be Willing to Learn
When someone is in a treatment program, there is a lot to be learned. Many of the programs can be from 30 to 180 days, the time that they are in treatment, they need to learn as much as they can about their addiction and what tools they will need for the future. The more receptive the individual can be and take in all information to put to use for their recovery.
Step 5. Completing the Process
The key to success for your recovery is to complete the treatment process and follow the suggestions of the professionals. The recovery process is for the rest of your life and the goal of your recovery is to take it “one day at a time”. Do not get overwhelmed and cherish the small goals that you achieve. Finishing a residential treatment program and moving on to an IOP program is reason to celebrate and move on to the next goal. Depending on how much the addict used, the support system they will have outside of treatment and if the therapists and counselors feel they are ready to move on. The length of treatment will depend on each individual, the factors are length of using, types of substance and how much they dive in.
Step 6. The Strength of your Support System
What you have surrounding you is extremely key to your success outside of treatment and in your everyday life. Your communication in how you are feeling, being able to be honest without judgement, and they need to understand what you are going through. If your family can get involved in programs to help like alanon meetings and participating in other outside meetings with you. The more they understand what you are going through, how you are feeling, the more they can help you with the problem.
Step 7. Abstinence
If you can commit to abstaining from drugs and alcohol, this can help prevent you from falling back to old behaviors. No matter how much time has gone by, once you use again, the old behaviors will surface and then there is not turning back. Listen to others who have failed in meetings and take it to heart. You are no different and once you realize that, you can be comfortable in your own skin.
