How to Choose the Best Rehab Treatment Center for Drug and Alcohol Addiction
Table of Contents
Are you looking for the best rehab treatment center for drug and alcohol addiction?
With so many rehabilitation centers out there, how do you know which one would be best for you or your loved one?
Of course, certain salient features are essential for the best drug and alcohol rehab treatment centers out there, but choosing the right one depends on a lot of other factors as well.
Seeing as there are so many different types of alcohol and drug addiction treatment programs to choose from, making the right choice isn’t always easy, especially during such a difficult time.
So where do you even start? First, consider your (or your loved ones’) requirements and budget. Then decide which kind of substance abuse treatment programs would best fit your needs before choosing an appropriate facility.
Before we go any further, I’d like to explain why we need to do this exercise when choosing a treatment center.
Why Choose a Rehab Treatment Center
Drug and alcohol addictions are painful for the person suffering and can also have a negative impact on family members and children. These types of addictions can rob a person of his/her happiness, leading to a negative domino effect.
Long-term use of alcohol and even short-term drug dependency can have a negative impact on health, finances, career goals, emotional stability, and so many other aspects of a person’s life.
When an individual is ready to seek help, it can be difficult to know where to look and what to look for. If you or your loved one is already facing challenges related to addiction, one of the best ways to seek help is through a rehab facility.
You can find a treatment facility that specializes solely in alcohol or drug treatment or you can look for one that is able to help with a combination of both.
But what is a rehab treatment center? How can it help you or a loved one? And which rehab center should you choose?
It may all seem a little overwhelming, but I’ve got everything covered in this post. After reading this entry, you’ll be able to differentiate between certain types of rehab treatment centers out there.
You’ll also know the criteria you should be aware of when selecting the right addiction recovery center.
Types of Rehab Treatment Centers
Rehabilitation centers (or “rehab” for short) are places where people can go to get help for certain addictions.
Now, not all rehab centers are created equal. They differ from each other in terms of the types of programs and facilities that are offered. They can also be categorized by their treatment styles and philosophies.
Seeing as no two people are exactly alike, it’s good to know that a variety of treatment programs are available for all types of individuals.
Four common treatment approaches are behavior modification, pharmaceutical treatment, cognitive therapies, and holistic treatment.
Some treatment centers that use one or more of these approaches are known as:
- Residential
- Outpatient
- Holistic
- Teen and Adolescent Treatment Centers
- Luxury Treatment Centers
- Community-Based Programs (like Alcoholics Anonymous)
In this post, we are going to focus on residential, holistic, and luxury treatment centers.
Residential Rehab Treatment Centers
Outpatient treatment centers offer flexibility in terms of time, allowing a person to carry out other responsibilities during the rest of the day.
One of the main differences between outpatient treatment centers and residential programs is that residential programs offer comprehensive treatment 24/7.
Residential rehab programs can be ideal for severe addiction cases in need of around-the-clock, intensive care. They offer a secure place to live as well as constant accesses to expert help.
Some of these facilities feel that in order to fully benefit from the program, individuals must remain on the premises during their entire stay.
Many of these types of residential rehab programs last 28 days, but the length of time can change depending on individual needs.
For individuals who have completed one or more traditional rehab programs, there is also the option of a sober living house, which is a non-residential rehab treatment center with more freedom.
Essentially, it is a group of people who decide to live together who are all trying to not use drugs or alcohol in some sort of structured environment.
Sober living environments are not regulated by the state, and are not allowed to do most forms of non-holistic treatment. This form of extended care can help reduce the chance of relapse when a person attends after finishing a residential program.
Sober living houses can help with the difficult challenges someone can face when transitioning from 24/7 care to little-to-no care at home.
Holistic Rehab Treatment Centers
Holistic rehab programs focus on the whole individual (mind, body, and spirit). They help inculcate healthier lifestyles and attend to other contributing aspects of the problem, rather than the primary problem itself.
Holistic treatment centers focus on helping individuals become stronger in mind, body, and spirit by offering therapies that are based on traditional Eastern practices like meditation, yoga, and acupuncture.
Some treatment centers choose to incorporate both holistic and traditional practices with a goal to maximize benefits and minimize recovery time.
Luxury Rehab Treatment Centers
Luxury rehab treatment centers provide all the benefits of residential and holistic treatment centers with added comfort and privacy.
These types of facilities are known for their upscale services and amenities, including extra comfortable rooms (akin to four or five star resorts), as well as additional personal attention and services from highly specialized experts.
They offer treatment options and experiences that can be a bit more advanced and targeted to individual needs in comparison to standard rehab treatment centers.
Malibu, California is one of the go-to destinations for luxury rehab treatment centers due to its beautiful location away from the busy bustle of the city.
Many high profile celebrity personalities, including Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, Charlie Sheen, Robert Downey, Jr., Mel Gibson, and David Hasselhoff have chosen drug rehab alcohol treatment centers located in Malibu.
Criteria for Choosing a Rehab Treatment Center
Choosing the right rehab for you or your loved ones can be a difficult and overwhelming process.
The first step in the process should be to determine the extent and intensity of the addiction so that you know how much help is needed. Gathering this information will help guide you toward an outpatient treatment program or a more intensive residential program.
If you (or a loved one) need specialized care and attention, or you desire quick recovery, then an inpatient or residential rehab center could be a great choice.
Next, you need to decide between a standard or luxury rehab treatment center. From there, you can choose the one that’s best suited based on the available services, staff, and success rate.
Make sure that your chosen rehabilitation center for drug and alcohol addiction provides medically supervised detoxification services and that there are trained and credentialed staff available, including doctors, psychiatrists, and therapists.
Lastly, and most importantly, make sure that the place you choose for yourself or a loved one offers treatment plans and therapeutic options suited for individual needs.
Bottom Line
By choosing a rehab center that is in line with individual treatment needs, recovery time can often be reduced. But it’s important to keep in mind that long-term programs can help minimize the chance of relapse.
Results can be even greater if a person attends when he or she is really ready to commit to a program. Inner-motivation can actually be one of the most powerful tools a person can bring with them into treatment.
Rehabilitation programs are great and helpful resources that can lead to more positive, healthier, and happier lives.
If you expect a high level of customer service and amenities, along with exceptional care and treatment, then you might want to consider a luxury rehab treatment center.
Over To You –
Have you or your loved one experienced living in a rehab treatment center for drug and alcohol addiction? Which drug or alcohol rehabilitation centers suited you best and why? What were your criteria for choosing? Share in the comments.
Hey Vinay,
I call rehab centres the revolving door. There are pros and cons of any centre. A drug addict leaving their environment to clean up and go into rehab is a great way to ensure there is no drug use. However I am always concerned with anyone leaving a centre. I find its when a recovering addict is at their most vulnerable.
Being in a control environment and then going back to their own, which has many triggers – oh I just could not imagine the strength they would have to have to refrain from using.
And if they do, a habit is learned so they go back to their old behaviours and yet their bodies are clean and this is when using again can be life threatening.
I’m glad you divided up these programs for people who need help deciding on which centre to choose if they have choice. Because its a terrible time for everyone involved.
Rachel
Hi Rachel,
You’re right. Rehabilitation does not guarantee that you’ll come out clean permanently – this depends on so many factors. But as I stated in my reply to one of the comments above, the chances of relapse are always there and a patient may need to get readmitted into a rehab treatment center at some later point in life.
I agree that the period when the person leaves the rehab center is the most vulnerable phase and that’s where a strong support group helps a lot. Refraining on your own is difficult and you truly need support from your family, friends, and other members of the support group.
It’s a mind game – it’s the mindset, attitude, and most importantly habits as you mentioned which can get the better of any person.
Addiction and rehabilitation can really prove to be an ordeal for the person affect and his near and dear ones. I hope this post and the ensuing discussions helps create the right awareness.
Thanks so much for your deep thoughts and honest discussion. Thanks for your time and have a great day ahead!
Hello Vinay Kachhara,
Very informative article sir 🙂
I have seen some of the rehab centers, and they were very un-obligated with their patients.
Yeah no doubt some are very far better than the rest and once should do proper inquires,
before sending their loved ones in there.
Sir, I wanted to know are there major chances for the success in the rehab centers.
Means I have seen people who were sent due to getting an addict, and after the treatment
the results were almost unsatisfied.They still managed to consume drug heavy or light,
yeah I know that they should be avoiding that environment but most of the times, I have seen
that sending one to rehab centers didn’t work out actually.
Thank you for sharing this very useful article among us.
Shantanu sinha
Hi Shantanu,
There are all kinds of rehab centers and that is why it is crucial to do a thorough check up before deciding to finalize one.
You should’ve some criteria for choosing the rehab treatment center that is best for you and best for someone else. If there are confirmed reports that a rehab center is not treating its patients well, then be careful but not outrightly reject it based on someone’s else’s opinions because they could be biased and prejudiced – may or may not, but there are chances.
Shantanu, read some of the comments and my replies to them in this post and there we’ve talked about what are few of the major factors of success in the rehab centers – it’s you and your support group. There are always chances of a relapse, depending on many factors, so a single rehab stint may not really solve the problem.
I hope the information helps you create more awareness.
Thanks for visiting and sharing your thoughts.
Hi Vinay,
I had my first drink in the 7th grade. I’ve being using drugs and alcohol for a very very long time. I lost my career, marriage, retirement, self-respect, self-worth but mostly I lost hope.
A person never wants to lose hope.
With addiction taking the world by storm with pain meds and heroin, this post is bigger than one might realize. Children are dying daily because of it. They need help.
When I was finally tired of killing myself I checked into the Salvation Army. I stayed there for 6 months. It’s a men rehab and it’ s foundation is God..
I learned I can”t recover by myself. Today WE celebrate 5 years 10 months and 10 days clean.
It’s important to know an addict won’t stop until he’s ready to so it doesn’t matter where he goes. Last I checked only 2% stay clean after rehab. The key is developing an outside support group while still in there.
12 steps programs are good and I’m a big part of today but another called Celebrate Recovery is biblical and we’re starting one at our church.
The biggest thing I learned wasn’t finding out drugs wasn’t my problem, it was learning how to process my feeling and thinking.
Vernon
Hi Vernon,
I’m sorry for your loss but I’m too happy to know that you’re on the right path and determined to remain clean. Carolyn too talked about a Church rehabilitation program in one of the comments above that claims 100% success rate. I guess the religious and spiritual aspect of the program really makes a difference.
I’ve personally thrown out alcohol and smoking from my life and for me it was my principles, strong belief, and determination. But cases of severe and long-term addiction need more than that and one of the important aspect as you mention is the outside support group. And the other is learning how to process your feelings and thinking – these are golden tips.
Thanks for sharing your personal experiences and I’m sure they will help and inspire the needy readers. I hope people will help spread the awareness and save the affected individuals.
I wish you all the best with your initiative at your church.
Hi Vinay
Very important topic you selected to write this post as many people just picked the first one they get to know and take it as the final option.
In eastern part of the world such centers are managed on voluntary basis by NGOs but in advance world they are being run commercially so one needs to be so choosy while picking them in view of his affordability and other requirements.
Addiction of any type is not good but if it is of alcohol it may sabotaged one’s whole life so one must wake up before its too late.
Many thanks for sharing such wonderful info especially for those who want to get rid of this malaise.
Have a great weekend ahead.
Hi Mi Muba,
Choosing the rehab treatment center that best suits your needs is very important. You should have the belief and faith in it and its rehab programs. I agree that there are rehab centers that focus more on the commercial aspect than the well-being of the individual so one must be very careful in choosing the right rehab center and program.
Any addiction that adversely affects your daily life activities and hampers your relationships or causes physical damage is bad. That includes mobile or Internet addiction, and much more seemingly harmless addictions.
I’m glad you like the post. You too have a wonderful weekend!
Well, here’s something we don’t talk much about on blogs. Great advice, Vinay. Thanks for this. It’s such a prevalent problem. Nice to know there is hope and solutions to be had.
Hi Lisa,
Glad you like the advice and information in this post. I hope it helps the needy and fills them with the hope that there is a solution to drug and alcohol addiction.
Thanks for visiting and commenting.
Hello Vinay, The first thing I would want to know is what the success rate is for treating the addiction. You can have all the luxury in the world but if the issue you’re trying to treat is addiction, I would want to know how successful the treatment has been in the past.
I was speaking with someone last month who runs a church-based treatment program. I wasn’t shopping for a program, but he mentioned that he runs one. He said that the program is rigorous, with lots of homework assignments and personal tasks to accomplish. He said that the work is so challenging that people will only stay in it if they really want to get better, otherwise people drop out.
He said that for people who stay in the program, their success rate is 100%. And the program is free (though it isn’t a residential program).
I hope I never have to shop for one of these programs. But if I were to, I would want a high success rate.
I’m sure this will help many people, Vijay. It’s a difficult topic and unfortunately, many people do have a need to learn about this topic.
Hi Carolyn,
That’s a good question. Rehab treatment centers do not provide a magical solution. As per the research by the National Institute of Drug Abuse on how effective the drug addiction treatment is, the findings show that the relapse rates for addiction resemble those of other chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and asthma. In fact, the successful treatment in all these cases require adjustment, continual evaluation, and modifications.
There may be a few pitfalls and relapses but it has to be a continual process and just one rehab stint may not be a permanent solution.
Honestly, I’d be skeptical if someone tells me that their program has 100% success rate. A non-residential program or for that matter even a residential program may not work for everybody, so one has to really do a lot of research and review before choosing their rehab program and center.
Again, even if a particular rehab center or program has a high success rate, it does not guarantee that it will be a success for you too, but that does not mean that you ignore the success rate. 🙂 It certainly has to be one of your assessment criteria.
Thanks for reading and contributing your valuable views for a useful discussion.
Hi Vinay, Excellent point. You’re absolutely right, I wasn’t shopping for treatment centers, I was hearing about the good work his church was doing. The treatment program was a part of that, and he was (rightfully) proud of the program.
But I didn’t question him further about his 100% statistic. I do trust him, but I don’t know how old the program is, maybe they just had one session, I don’t know. Or maybe the program is so rigorous they’ve only had just a few people complete it.
That’s great advice, people should not only ask about the success rate, they should ask what that rate is based upon. And you’re right, what works for other people may not work for everyone. Finding the best fit is just as important as finding out the overall success rate.
Thanks for sharing your wise insights, Vinay.
Hi Carolyn,
You never know may be he is right and as Vernon mentions in a comment below how the church helped him too get out of long-term addiction.
I read that Lindsay Lohan changed many rehab treatment centers and even the most popular ones with high success rates did not work for her. As Vernon highlights in his comment – much also depends on the individual for the success of the program.
Thanks for the continued discussion and I hope this helps the readers.
Drug addiction is a very difficult problem to solve. You need to seek professional guidance to cut the addiction. Addiction will definitely affect the happiness of a person and affect her/his whole life. Thanks for sharing this.
Hi April,
Yes, drug addiction is a difficult problem to solve, but it’s not impossible. Not only professional guidance but you also need to make lots of personal efforts to find ways to get rid of addiction.
Thanks for visiting and commenting.
Hi Vinay,
Addiction is an incurable disease. An addict is just on a long-term remission I would say, so choosing the best rehab center for the person’s own specific needs is very important. I feel that’s going to determine the solidity of the remission and recovery.
Personally, I love holistic healing. I discovered it about 5 years ago because one of my cats had cancer, and that’s how I discovered holistic cancer care medicine for cats and dogs, as well as for humans. Plus it works great.
As you said, determining what treatment/rehab to choose will be based on the severity of the addiction and what fits best for each person.
Great research you’ve done on the topic.
~Sylviane
Hi Sylviane,
I’m glad you like this post.
Addictions are of various types and of different levels or intensity, so I’d not say that they are incurable, but some could be very difficult to treat.
Yes, that’s the definition for the best rehab – it has to be the best one for your specific needs. If it doesn’t fulfill your needs, it isn’t good for you even if it is popular as the best rehab.
I agree with you that holistic healing penetrates deep within and helps you resolve the problem at the core. A combination of healing treatments work best for better and quick recovery.
All rehabs might have some pros and cons and that would be more of a subjective assessment. Nevertheless, one needs to do a diligent research and review before choosing their rehab treatment center.
Thanks for reading and expressing your views.
Hi Vinay,
Fabulous article. Back in my 20’s, my live-in boyfriend was an alcoholic and drug addict. He eventually went to away to a 90-day program. The rehab was chosen based on what the insurance would pay for. Unfortunately, he only stayed clean for a few months after that and we split.
One really needs to research rehabs before entering, if possible. Some are pretty hardcore, others not as reputable.
Passing this along!
Bren
Hi Bren,
It’s not easy to remain clean even after taking treatment at a rehab but it’s not impossible either. It depends on person to person and many other factors. But a rehab certainly helps and I agree with you that one needs to be very careful in selecting a rehab and should do a thorough research.
Thanks for sharing your story, I really appreciate it.
Very informative post. 🙂
Great job sir.
I wasn’t aware that there are different types of rehab centers.
This surely clears the faulty assumption.
Hi Ankit,
Glad you like the post.
There are different types of people, their addictions, and their needs. So, there needs to be different types of rehab centers too.
Thanks for visiting and reading the post.