5 Ways An Addiction Treatment Center Can Help A Loved One

Overcoming addiction is a battle. The situation varies for every patient but the fact remains that it is something that negatively affects the patient as well as the family.

If you have a loved one with a drug dependence or alcohol addiction issue, the best way to help them remedy their problem is by enrolling them in a drug addiction treatment center. These centers are filled with experts that can help your loved one have a smooth path to long-term recovery and a truly better life, one with fulfillment and positive change.

What Is An c?

Addiction treatment centers deal with patients that suffer from drug dependence and alcohol addiction. These treatment centers are mainly focused on rehabilitation of the patient to help them get their life back and maintain the level of functionality they had before drugs and/or alcohol became a problem, and furthermore beyond the baseline level that they were ever able to achieve before treatment.

More specifically, these treatment centers have two main ways of dealing with patients: inpatient rehabilitation and outpatient rehabilitation. Inpatient rehabs are full-time, intensive, and reserved for severe addiction cases. The patient may be provided outpatient treatment once they achieve enough recovery and are prepared for independence.

Ways It Can Help With Recovery

Here are 5 different ways an addiction treatment center can help your loved one achieve long-term recovery.

Beat The Influence And Achieve Personal Goals

All recovering patients have a single goal: to let go of their addiction to pursue a healthy life. However, this goal may look different from person to person. It’s also easier said than done. 

The main struggle of drug-dependent or alcoholic patients is the presence of influence that can cause them to relapse. In the normal world, the patient may encounter more temptations than they do while sheltered. Unfortunately in their addiction or alcoholism, their main goal is often to obtain more of these substances and continue seeking the mood, an altered state of consciousness.

It often gets particularly difficult when they go through the detox stage, during which, all of the foreign and toxic substances are flushed from their body. Prior to the relapse stage, the cravings intensify as our biological systems strive for stability from past habits. 

Aside from the intense cravings, the patient will usually experience intense mood swings and emotional stress. Drug addicts and alcoholics are more likely to succeed in the process of detoxification and then proceed onto the next stages of recovery with the help of addiction professionals.

Healing addiction starts with discussing the experience of the patient, and then the professional can partner with them to help them achieve their goals. Long-term abstinence and replacing maladaptive coping mechanisms with healthy routines and interventions is a shared goal of the patient and professional.

Proper Education

Recovery becomes so much more likely if the patient can fully understand the process. Addiction treatment centers can educate the patient as well as the loved ones regarding the entire process. The experts at these centers understand and can communicate the details down to the biological level.

In this way, the patient and their family will know exactly what to expect and brace themselves for it. This allows the patient to be less resistant to the treatment because they will understand that everything is for their own good.

Emotional Healing Through Therapy

Sessions may be one-on-one therapy, group therapy, or family therapy, depending on the needs of the patients and their particular stage of recovery at that time.

Therapy is crucial to recovery because it targets the root cause and possible triggers of the addiction. Substance abuse is more than just a physical addiction. There are mental and emotional factors that may lead to and perpetuate it. Oftentimes there are major events, and traumatic events, that contribute to a person’s turn to drugs or alcohol to avoid pain and to feel pleasure or euphoria.

Therapy sessions are very helpful in recovery because they allow the therapist to understand the underlying causes of the addiction so that it can be remedied accordingly. This also allows the patient to understand themself better.

There may be crucial bits of information discovered during therapy sessions that will allow the facility to adjust the treatment plan so that it will become more personalized and much more effective to the patient.

Provides A Long-Term Support

The thing about substance dependence is that it can recur over time. There are so many patients that have achieved recovery but relapse after a few weeks or months, usually in the presence of a trigger.

Most patients have the tendency to wallow in self-loathing whenever they relapse. However, the experts at addiction treatment centers understand that long-term recovery is harder than it looks. Patients oftentimes relapse if they stop treatment too soon or if they left the treatment center without having the necessary personal tools to help them beat temptation.

It’s important for patients to know that they are not alone in this journey. Having an addiction treatment center means having someone to lean on. Addiction treatment centers have the patient’s best interests in mind, and that includes making long-term plans with the patients.

Lastly, addiction treatment centers mend the relationship between the patient and his family. Such an issue is bound to cause some tension and anger between the two and it is very important to medicate it because recovery from addiction is highly reliant on a good support system.

Sustained recovery is a life-long commitment in that it takes discipline, hard work, and persistence. Alumni organizations within a treatment center help to create a supportive network after the initial phase of treatment in order to help people by continuing to have support and resources when life happens and the going gets tough.

Provides A Safe Haven

It’s important for everyone to know that treating substance abuse and alcoholism is an arduous task. Aggressive approaches may just push the addict or alcoholic into denial or resistance and further from recovery.

It’s essential to make the patient feel like they are safe, understood, and guided all the way through the recovery process. Historically, addiction was treated in hospitals and other sterile environments that sometimes made the patients feel more isolated than ever.

Recent addiction treatment centers have evolved into comfortable living arrangements that make the patients feel at home and usually even better. They are deliberately designed to feel like a safe haven – a place that recovering patients can turn to whenever they feel overwhelmed.

Having professionals and a community of recovering people to turn to in the face of their struggles is paramount to reduce the chances of relapse. Whenever the patient feels overwhelmed and on the brink of relapsing, knowing that they can run to a safe space lessens the chances of them resorting to alcohol or drugs, and rather realizing their connections and love.

Recovering in a comfortable environment will likely make treatment modalities more effective. Having a calm surrounding allows them to think clearly, put things into perspective, and achieve emotional healing.

Final Thoughts

Recovering patients should never be made to feel like they’re alone in this journey. Aside from their loved ones, there are addiction treatment centers and communities of like-minded people that specifically cater to their needs.

The experts at these facilities will help them get a step closer to recovery. They’re not alone on this journey.