A
Few Words About Treatment and Recovery
What is treatment? Treatment
is learning about chemical dependency, how it has affected the addict or
alcoholic and his/her loved ones and how to avoid returning to using alcohol or
drugs. Treatment is going through
the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual changes that occur when the body
is detoxing and the mind is clearing up from alcohol or drugs.
Often the withdrawal is physical — as with alcohol, heroin, and many
prescription drugs. With cocaine and
crack, there may be little physical withdrawal.
Often the patient will become upset or angry during the treatment process
and will not understand or believe that their being upset is really a craving to
use or drink that his disease has disguised as anger, depression, or other
emotions. The addict may also have
dreams about their drug of choice.
The First Step Services has three levels of treatment: Individual,
Outpatient, and Intensive Outpatient. Sometimes
an inpatient treatment is necessary before entering the First Step Services
outpatient program. Inpatient begins with Acute Medical Detox (detox) —
a period of 1 to 4 days of getting the worst of the drugs out of the patient’s
body. With certain drugs, small
amounts may linger in the system much longer than the detox period, but the
patient is usually ready to function after a few days.
Surprising to many people, detoxing from alcohol is the most
dangerous.
Intensive Outpatient Treatment consists of a minimum of 9
hours of treatment per week. Clients generally start off attending three 3-hour
groups per week in the evening or Saturday morning (for one group). The
Intensive Outpatient Treatment program generally lasts for 90-days and then an
aftercare program is recommended consisting of 1 or 2 groups per week.
Drug screens are required at all treatment levels.
When a person comes to First Step Services for help, a counselor will
evaluate the person to determine the level of treatment recommended for that
person. Once the recommendation is
made, the person may be admitted immediately or may be placed on a waiting list
to come in when space is available in the program.
Treatment begins when the patient reports to begin the program.
Outpatient consist of groups and classes generally in the evening.
Counselors talk with patients individually on a regular basis but most of
the work is done in groups. Patients
gain an amazing amount of insight from their peers.
The changes people go through in just a few sessions of outpatient
treatment can be miraculous. When
patients come in they are often physically ill.
Their families have been put through a long nightmare.
Patients and their families are mentally and emotionally injured by
addiction. Often they are in trouble
with their employers or the police. The
drugs and alcohol have taken everything from them.
After treatment, patients often become much healthier physically,
mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. Most
have begun to practice a spiritual life that they never knew existed for them.
They have places to live and Vocational Rehabilitation
counselors help them get jobs so they may learn to be responsible for
their own lives. They learn that
they have skills to live and work in the world — skills they either did not
know they had or that they had forgotten how to use.
In addition, recovering people usually do not commit crimes or need
frequent emergency medical services that cost the taxpayers millions of dollars.
Recovering addicts and alcoholics pay taxes and live responsible lives.
Treatment not only works for the substance abusers and their families, it
saves many times as much money as it costs.
It also gives people new direction and the human value is beyond
measure!
Henry Tarkington
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