What Makes a Successful Drug Rehab Program?

Across the country, you can come across thousands of drug rehab programs, treatments, and centers. I can look up drug rehab near me at the click of a mouse button or a swipe of my smartphone thanks to the Internet.

With that said, not all of these facilities can claim equal amounts of success. With that in mind, is there any way to tell which the more successful drug rehab program is from the other?

Is there any way to predict which drug rehabilitation center the most successful one for you and your drug addiction/substance abuse problems is? You naturally want to find a drug rehab with high success rate. You don’t want to waste your time, or money, with a mediocre or unsuccessful rehab treatment program and facility. Thankfully, there are ways to search for drug rehabs with high success rate.

Certain Features and Hallmarks

So what is a high drug rehab success rate? It’s all about how many addicts the center is able to rehabilitate. They should present stats and get referrals from their “customers” as part of their marketing and promotions program.

These centers also have certain features in common as well, which includes:

• Evidence-based care
• Personalized treatment plans
• A good treatment philosophy
• Recommendation from past patients
• Successful, long-term recovery of patients
• Ability to match clients with appropriate services

You should take time to investigate the services and treatment philosophies of the drug rehab centers you’re planning to shortlist. You can also be given a drug treatment order as required by your job or by the court, resulting in a rehab center being assigned to you.

Rehab Investigation

Ask the admissions staff and counselors for info regarding the program’s history and drug rehabilitation mission-vision. If you can get a hold of the success rates of the company by the testimonials of their referrals or through third-party statistics, then the better it is for you.

When I look for drug rehab centers near me, I make sure I know what sort of rehab they’re using so that I have a good idea what to expect. From there, I go with the type of program that works best with my severity of addiction.

According to common sense, the more satisfied you are with your rehabilitation experience the likelier you are to complete the program and actually end up drug-free when all is said and done. Push forward for the healthy life you deserve with the right rehab centers and institutions for you.

And when you call the rehab, are you speaking to a commissioned sales rep or a Therapist that will actually work with you when you get there? Are you admitted without any detailed assessment? That alone will tell you a lot about the rehab center, their motivation and how you can expect to be treated.

General Treatment in the Past

Rehabilitation facilities of the past used to give all recovering drug addicts or all recovering alcoholics the same generalized one-size-fits-all services. That’s what being a successful drug rehab program used to be like.

Whether you were a woman or man, adult or teenager, you were assigned the same therapies unless you had enough money to get specialized treatment. Addicts who’ve been diagnosed with co-occurring diagnoses, like addiction and schizophrenia or depression, were expected to go through rehabilitation the same way (unheard of nowadays).

Individual Treatment in the Present

This has changed in modern times. So what is a high drug rehab success rate in the 2010s? How did the paradigm shift happen? Here’s the lowdown.

• The NIH Started It All: The National Institute of Health (NIH) in particular acknowledges the importance of personalized treatment for each patient in today’s rehabilitation scene.
• Modern Rehab’s Modus Operandi: Nowadays, a drug rehab with high success rate involves programs where each client is treated as an individual and his addiction treated on a case-by-case basis, with one-of-a-kind history and specific needs.
• Individual Treatment Leads to Higher Success Rates: NIH says that tailoring your rehabilitation to the needs of the individual client is critical for his success in kicking off his drug habit. Indeed, going the individualized route has led to the rise of drug rehabs with high success rate.
• Evaluating the Client Himself: A personalized care plan requires complete medical, physical, and mental evaluation of the addict in question before admission even happens. He should be assessed by a psychologist and/or an addiction treatment specialist.

In regards to the standard operating procedure of drug rehab facilities, they should specifically gather pertinent information about the individual, such as:

• History of drug use
• Family background
• Spiritual preferences
• Co-occurring mental health disorders
• History of serious medical conditions
• Previous experience with rehabilitation

Before being admitted, all of these factors and info must be taken into account for those drug rehab programs that are worth their salt. Clients who aren’t accepted as individuals are likely to feel alienated by being treated like they’re part of the herd.

• The Dangers of Isolation: If the addict feels alone, he might fall into the slippery slope of helplessness and alienation. They won’t feel accepted by peers or counselors if their individuality and the uniqueness of their cases aren’t acknowledged.
• Generalized Therapy and Relapse Risk: This lack of acceptance will compel the patient into dropping out, especially when it comes to drug rehab for teens. He needs to feel like he belongs in order to keep going with his rehab.
• The Cost of Individualized Rehabilitation:Although the drug rehab cost of individualized treatment is higher than general treatment, it’s less expensive than going through relapses and another round of rehab every time.

Dual Diagnosis Care

Dual diagnosis care might be required if the addict has a coexisting mental illness along with his addiction. It also affects drug rehab success rate because treating addiction alone without taking into consideration the disorder can result in relapse.

• What made the dual diagnosis movement come about in modern times? In recent years, awareness of the need for dual diagnosis care has grown. Research reveals that addiction and psychiatric conditions usually occur at the same time and on the same person. This can be considered a subset of individualized rehab, in a certain point of view.
• What makes dual diagnosis so tricky? The most successful drug rehab program is one that takes this important consideration into account. Diagnosis of a dual nature is quite tricky because a disorder like bipolar disorder or depression might hide the signs of addiction and substance abuse or vice-versa.
• Why is dual diagnosis important nowadays compared to before? Effective rehab or drug rehab with high success rate should have centers that recognize this phenomenon, or at least realize the risk of it happening as part of an addict’s individualized therapy. From there, integrated care for both disorders should be provided to dual diagnosis patients, as drug rehabs with high success rate are wont to do.
• Are co-occurring mental health disorders and substance abuse common? According to the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, co-occurring mental health disorders and substance abuse are so common that they should be screened as a rule rather than as an off-chance or exception.

So that answers the question, “what is a high drug rehab success rate?” It involves drug rehab that actually takes into account the individual needs of the patient including treatment of a separate disorder that could aggravate his addiction.

Rehab pros should be prepared to address the risks of a dual diagnosis, which includes:

• Patterns of poor self-care
• A lower rate of compliance with medication and treatments
• A higher rate of self-destructive behavior and suicidal tendencies
• Coexisting physical health conditions like heart disease or diabetes

Alas, many drug rehab centers or foundations are ill-equipped or not equipped at all when it comes to dealing with a dual diagnosis treatment. What’s worse is that some ignorant rehab centers even stigmatize addicts with mental issues rather than help them in that regard.

If you have a preexisting condition that causes, worsens, or hides your addiction problems, make it a point to ask your drug rehab counselor if they offer equal competence in addiction and mental health treatment.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, many rehabilitation programs fall short by failing to provide patients with mental health issues with the medications and therapy they need to complete rehab in a complete manner.

Family Involvement and a Family in Treatment

So what does a high drug rehab success rate supposed to entail? Familial support, of course. To wit:

• Family Involvement Is a Must:The participation, support, and even sacrifice of your loved ones might also be needed to increase your potential rehabilitation success. A successful drug rehab program should also take into account family participation or else it’s not as successful as it should be.
• Addiction Is a Family Matter:As many a drug rehab with high success rate knows, it’s important to remember that addiction doesn’t only affect the addict. It’s also a disorder of the family that involves every member of your household when all is said and done.
• Family Therapy Works:Significant others, spouses, children, and parents are highly recommended to participate in the educational sessions and counseling in order for the rehab to become successful. The love, caring, and devotion of the bloodline can also be seen by close friends and coworkers, but usually family is more involved than mere “strangers”.
• Family Participation Raises Drug Rehab Success:Most drug rehabs with high success rate also include family involvement in the mix in order to assure an addict’s chances of overcoming his addiction. Without a family intervention or even friend intervention, your success in rehab is greatly reduced because of the aforementioned feelings of isolation and despair.

The Consequences of Addiction to the Family

A truly comprehensive recovery program from addiction should bring all the members of a household into the fray. This will allow the healing process to encompass not only the addict, but also his family (and friends whom he considers as part of it).

• Family Rehab First: Before you start thinking about drug rehab at home, you should consider drug rehab for the family since a home is nothing more than a house with a family in it and the family remains one of the most impactful factors when it comes to addiction treatment.
• Addiction Destroys the Family: Addiction can destroy the family, dealing close bonds and relationships tremendous damage. Whether it’s in regards to your blood relatives or your spouse and in-laws, drug addiction doles out a nasty blow to all of them.
• Undermining Trust: As many drug rehab centers would point out, substance abuse can undermine the trust between everyone and can lead to financial ruin, legal trouble, and emotional turmoil, thus creating lasting pain.
• The Healing Process: Through individualized therapy, group therapy, dual diagnosis therapy, educational weekends, family therapy, and many other drug rehab activities, the healing process can begin when it comes to mending many of those wounds.

Family Treatment Addresses Important Addiction Issues

Family therapy when undergoing drug rehab acknowledges many of these exacerbating issues:

• Is the family itself full of enablers of addictive behavior?
• What is the impact of addiction on each member of your home?
• Can the family create a sober and stable living environment after rehab?
• Are there concerns about addiction with your younger family members due to the bad influence of the older addicted members?

Hopes for the future, disappointments, and resentments can be openly discussed during family therapy that’s conducted in a neutral and safe environment.

Continuing Care After Rehab

A truly successful drug rehab program should have comprehensive aftercare services to keep relapses from happening. Some questionable facilities boasting that they’re a drug rehab with high success rate tend to hide their relapse rate.

They even count the addicts who’ve completed treatment even though when you double-check the figures they’ve long relapsed, rendering the rehab ineffective. Don’t go to incomplete rehabilitation centers like that. Find rehab that checks on your progress after the program is done.

• What is the aftercare treatment? The true drug rehabs with high success rate include aftercare treatment as part of their overall program. This treatment is a transitional one that recovering addicts can receive after completing the core program to prevent relapse.
• So what is a high drug rehab success rate without aftercare treatment? It’s not worth a hill of beans and using only stats about rehabbed patients without data on whether or not they relapsed afterwards is questionable at best. Lip service rehab that results in the addict becoming addicted again afterwards is a failure of a program.
• When should a drug rehab program be considered successful? Usually, when an addict completes both the core program and the aftercare program and doesn’t relapse, then he is considered “cured” and his rehabilitation efforts are rendered as “successful”.
• What does aftercare treatment entail? Aftercare from a drug rehab center with a trustworthy success rate should involve rehabilitated addicts (the “graduates” of the program) getting the support they need to stay sober and not relapse back into bad habits after leaving the structured and secure environment of a residential facility. The best rehabs even offer a “refresher week” every year free of charge to show their commitment to the clients ongoing success and as a mark of confidence in their program.

What to Look for from Aftercare

While comparing rehab programs between those found in America (the U.S. or Canada), Europe (the U.K. or France), and Asia (Taiwan or Thailand), search for an addiction treatment center that offers the following aftercare services:

• Life skills classes
• Relapse prevention training
• Access to counseling services
• An alumni program for rehab graduates
• Outpatient medication management programs
• Referrals to outside services for recovering addicts
• Assistance with transitional housing (sober living homes)

You can also get long-term aftercare solutions such as:

• 12-step meetings
• Group therapy sessions
• Medication management

Aftercare through Sober Living Homes

The ineffective, incomplete, and unsuccessful therapies of the past falsely believe that every addict requires the same treatment and that addiction has no connection with any other mental conditions the patient has.

A drug rehab with high success rate in the 21st Century takes into account how recovering addicts fear the real world and the things that led them to becoming an addict in the first place (peer pressure or stress relief).

A truly effective rehabilitation program or drug rehabs with high success rate can arrange things like transitional housing at a sober living home within the community so that the ex-addict can reintegrate himself into society with a healthier mindset.

These living homes for sobriety offer enough structure to give the patient a sense of discipline and security without compromising the self-sufficiency of the ex-addict in question.

The Portrait of a Successful Drug Rehab Program

According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, drug addiction or substance abuse is a medical condition that’s chronic and imprisons addicts in a spiral of self-destruction.

For recovering addicts, nothing less than a comprehensive program will suffice in order to consider a given drug rehab program a successful drug rehab program. The need for such a multi-step complex treatment is called for because anything less can increase the risk for relapse.

Most importantly, a drug treatment center that’s worth its salt should treat addiction like an acute illness rather than a crime that should be disciplined or punished. That is what is a high drug rehab success rate is all about.