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. |
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| 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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