Alcohol Treatment Centers
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The long-established alcohol treatment programs have historically been based on the 12-step method that
started with Alcoholics Anonymous.
Other less traditional alcohol treatment methodologies, nevertheless, have been taking place in alcohol
treatment centers or in rehab hospitals and have been providing alcohol treatment that is not based on the 12-step
rehabilitation protocol.
Alcohol Treatment Centers: Counseling and Medications
Most
of the non-12-step alcohol treatment approaches take place in rehab hospitals or in alcohol treatment centers
that feature treatment methodologies that are rooted in the administration of doctor-prescribed medications
along with extensive counseling, education, training, and support.
In addition, numerous non-12-step methodologies treat alcohol addiction and alcohol abuse from both a
psychological and a physiological perspective.
In a similar manner, some of the more productive alcohol treatment methods are more inclusive than others and
therefore concentrate on how problem drinkers will respond to relationship issues, financial difficulties, and
employment problems after they complete treatment, get sober, and return home.
Moreover, more than a few of the more successful alcohol treatment centers adhere to a holistic viewpoint that
helps alcohol abusers and alcoholics identify and manage some of the fundamental issues that probably lead to the
person's alcohol abuse or addiction in the first place.
Examples of these fundamental issues include the following: a sense of loss, poor anger management skills,
pain, poor coping skills, grief, unemployment, poor interpersonal relationship skills, spirituality issues, poor
financial management skills, and career indecision.
| In some situations, even social or moderate drinking can be hazardous.
Examples include the following: drinking during pregnancy, when taking various medications,
or when driving. |
Follow-Up Treatment: A Necessity
When a
person undergoes alcohol rehab, it is particularly critical to address what he or she will be doing after he
or she has concluded the treatment protocol.
Stated differently, getting through detox and overcoming one's alcohol withdrawal symptoms are vital to the
recovery process, but so is the “follow-up” counseling, education, and training that successful alcohol treatment
centers regularly begin as soon as the residential part of the rehabilitation process ends.
Some of the better known and more successful alcohol treatment centers, for example, implement follow-up
outpatient education, training, and counseling for one year after the inpatient part of treatment has been
completed.
To be brief, the more comprehensive and quality-oriented alcohol treatment centers focus on treatment methods
that are built and put into action for long-lasting success rather than employing quick fix, short-term therapeutic
approaches.
The Significance of the Treatment Environment
The
treatment environment in which an alcoholic or alcohol abuser finds himself or herself is an essential
rehabilitation consideration.
Some of the more proficient alcohol treatment centers, for example, cultivate a supportive, motivating,
positive, and safe environment that usually results in long-term treatment success.
Whereas the majority of alcohol treatment centers provide rehab that can be relatively expensive, specifically
those that offer residential, in-patient therapy, many of the more competent and success-oriented alcohol treatment
centers put financial gain on the back burner and limit the number of alcohol abusers and alcoholics they accept
for treatment.
This is more of a "rehabilitation" decision and less of a "profit and loss" calculation that enables staff to
focus on the effort, resources, time, and compassion that first-rate, professional alcohol rehab
requires.
| In the third stage of alcoholism, the loss of control becomes common, meaning that
the person is unable to drink according to his or her intentions. For example, once the
person takes the first drink, he or she can no longer control what will happen, even though the
intention might have been to have one or two drinks. |
Characteristics of Effective Alcohol Treatment Centers
The following represents some of the more significant features of successful alcohol treatment centers:
- Hotel or rehab facility suites for out-of-town patients or guests
- Doctor prescribed medications to help control and manage alcohol withdrawal symptoms
- Extensive day and night counseling and educational programs
- Treatment options with different time frames and length of treatment options that are tailored to the needs
of each client
- A caring, professional, and results-oriented staff
- Success rates well beyond the national averages
- Hospital and non-hospital treatment options
- Outpatient methods that are individualized to “fit” the personality, financial resources, and the needs of
each client
- Private detoxification services
- Competitive pricing
- The employment of medications to help clients refrain from alcohol relapse
| To most people, binge drinking brings to mind a self-destructive and unrestrained
drinking bout lasting for at least a couple of days during which time the heavily intoxicated
drinker "drops out" by not working, ignoring responsibilities, squandering money, and engaging in
other harmful behaviors such as fighting or risky sex. |
Alcohol Treatment Centers: Conclusion
Many of the
"time-honored" alcohol recovery methods are modeled after the 12-step approach started by Alcoholics
Anonymous. Other, less well-known, non-12-step alcohol rehab methods, nonetheless, have surfaced and have
proliferated.
These non-12-step treatment approaches are usually undertaken in rehab hospitals, alcohol treatment
centers, or in rebab clinics and focus less on considerations such as group support, the number of
meetings a problem drinker attends, and a "higher power," and more on scientific, empirically validated results
that utilize doctor-prescribed medications in combination with staff support, comprehensive counseling, training,
and education, and an effective and practical follow-up treatment protocol.
| Alcohol is by far the most used and abused drug among America’s teenagers. According
to a national survey, nearly one third (31.5%) of all high school students reported hazardous
drinking (5+ drinks in one setting) during the 30 days preceding the survey. |
Some of the more thorough "non-traditional" alcohol rehab methods take place in rehab hospitals, alcohol
treatment centers, or in drug and alcohol treatment clinics.
These non-12-step rehabilitation facilities are usually staffed with considerate, helpful, and first-rate
healthcare professionals who do everything in their power to help their clients learn more effective coping,
relationship, decision-making, and "life" skills; help them recover from their abusive and excessive drinking; and
help them learn how to restore their lives and attain long term alcohol recovery.
| Every year in the United States, more than 40,000 babies are born with some degree
of alcohol-related impairment. Although many, if not most, women understand that excessive
drinking during pregnancy can lead to birth defects, many woman, apparently, are unaware or do not
understand that moderate or even light drinking can seriously impair or harm the unborn fetus
too. |
| The decision to stop using alcohol or other drugs is very important to your health.
If your doctor knows that your have made this decision, he or she can give you emotional support
and treat any medical problems that may occur during your recovery. For instance, mood changes,
such as anger, irritability, anxiety and depression, problems with sexual functioning, and insomnia
(problems sleeping) and are common in the first few months of recovery. If you have any of these
problems and discuss them honestly with your doctor, he or she can help you deal with them. |
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