Who Needs Outpatient Drug Rehab?

Who needs outpatient drug rehab? This type of care is best suited for individuals who are looking for a more educational form of treatment than therapeutic. Addicted persons with a long history of drug abuse will find that this type of treatment is not intensive enough to make the difficult and necessary lifestyle changes that come with getting sober and learning to be a drug-free individual. Some of the best candidates for an outpatient drug rehab program include addicted individuals who have a brief history of substance abuse, those who have been through treatment before and are looking to strengthen their tools and skills to remain sober and persons who have recently relapsed after completing drug rehab and are looking for additional guidance on staying off drugs and alcohol just to list a few.

Outpatient drug rehab means that the recovering person attends the rehab for specific times each day or week to receive counseling, therapy, medication or any number of rehabilitation methods the center uses to help their clients learn to live a drug-free lifestyle. Because the recovering person is free to come and go from treatment there are many hours in the day that go unaccounted for. For this reason, it is important that the program participant reside in a drug-free supportive environment where they feel safe and removed from potential triggers that could cause relapse. Good candidates for outpatient drug rehab are those who have drug and alcohol abuse problems but are not so severely addicted that they need to be removed from their day to day lives.

Many addicted persons choose outpatient rehabs because they are usually less expensive than residential or inpatient treatment. However, while finances are almost always an issue when it comes to drug addiction and recovery choosing to enroll in an outpatient program if it is not the right fit could be a very poor choice. A person with a long history of addiction may find that the lax environment and limited accountability at an outpatient drug rehab leaves them too much time to think about using and provides them with the opportunity to return to their drug using friends on a whim. Keep in mind, that the majority of outpatient drug rehab programs are low-intensity and often give little more than drug education and personal accountability to show up sober just a few times a week. �'�'

Outpatient drug rehab can be categorized into three types: outpatient drug-free treatment, maintenance programs for opiate addiction (methadone, etc.), and group therapy. This includes focusing on problem-solving, insight-oriented psychotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and 12-step programs. Drug-free outpatient drug rehab programs mean that the program participant does not take any drug substation or replacement medications (i.e. methadone, buprenorphine, etc.) to recover from their addiction. Typically, drug-free outpatient programs use individual or group counseling to help their clients achieve a stable, well-balanced life free from substance abuse.