Acknowledging, accepting, and owning up to the fact that you may be struggling with substance abuse is a bold first step toward the goal of getting sober. For many, the road to recovery and achieving long-term sobriety begins with professional help at a drug addiction treatment center.
However, statistics show a measurable amount of reluctance to enter treatment among people struggling with a substance abuse disorder (SUD). The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) National Survey on Drug Use and Health indicates that in 2023, 30.5 million American adults perceived that they had a substance abuse problem.
The same study shows that:
- Among the 39.6 million adults who had an SUD in the past year, 94.7% of them did not seek treatment or think they should get it.
- 8% of people with an SUD did not seek treatment but believed they needed it.
- And only 0.5%, or 189,000, actively sought treatment.
If you have a problem with drugs or alcohol, these statistics might resonate with you, and you might feel unsure or reluctant about seeking treatment. How do you know if entering a drug addiction treatment center is the right step?
What Is Drug Addiction Treatment?
Substance abuse and drug addiction treatment is a comprehensive process designed to help individuals break free from using drugs and alcohol to stay sober and addiction-free.
First, a counselor will conduct a clinical assessment to understand the nature of your addiction better, creating a personalized plan and mapping out goals for your time in treatment. Formal treatment typically starts with a period of detoxification to safely manage withdrawal symptoms.
To develop a customized plan and set goals for your stay in treatment, a counselor will first do a clinical assessment to gain a deeper understanding of the nature of your addiction. Treatment then begins with a detoxification period, but it’s not cold turkey — detox is a gradual process to help wean patients off a substance and manage withdrawal symptoms. Additionally, you may be prescribed a form of individual, evidence-based therapy, like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, group therapy, or medication, depending on the substance, in addition to more holistic modalities such as mindfulness meditation or yoga.
In treatment, the overarching goal is to help patients stop using drugs, remove them from their lives, and develop healthy coping mechanisms to sustain sobriety without relapsing.
What Is a Drug Addiction Treatment Center?
A treatment center is a facility where you can get the help you need to recover from addiction and overcome substance abuse. Centers can be either inpatient (where you stay onsite) or outpatient (patients must return home every following the day’s treatment). You’ll also be able to receive ongoing aftercare support after treatment.
Since a treatment facility specializes in addressing all manner of drug dependencies, they’re staffed with doctors, therapists, case workers, and other people in recovery with similar goals to yours.
Addiction treatment centers (such as those offered by Footprints to Recovery) all share one thing in common: they are a safe, supportive environment, free of judgment, where all are welcome, and anyone can devote their focus to recovery with the help of professionals and peers.
How Long is Drug Addiction Treatment?
Just as the nature and nuances of a substance abuse disorder can vary from person to person, so can the duration at a drug addiction treatment center. This can depend on numerous factors, such as the severity of one’s addiction, the type of substance you’re being treated for, your program’s structure, plus your own needs — the last of which is one of the most determining reasons for the length of treatment programs.
Some expected treatment timelines include:
- 30 to 60 days: Generally suitable for people in recovery with less severe addictions or those who need a brief, more intensive intervention
- 60 to 90 days: Longer-term programs at a drug addiction rehab center provide more time to address underlying issues contributing to more severe or chronic addiction.
- Outpatient programs: Treatment may last months or even years since care and therapy onsite are interspersed with living at home.
Remember that these are just general rehab lengths of time. Since each person’s recovery journey is different, there isn’t a set period that applies to everyone regarding treatment.
What Can a Drug Addiction Treatment Center Help With?
It’s a fact that most people can’t simply stop using drugs for a few days and be cured. Long-term or repeated care is needed to stop using completely and recover their lives. Since each drug affects a person’s brain and body differently depending on their physiology, specialized treatment is a must at a drug addiction treatment center like those at Footprints to Recovery locations.
Cocaine Addiction Treatment
Statistics on cocaine addiction are alarming and point to a need for treatment — with 2.2 million regular cocaine users in the U.S. and 1 million individuals struggling with cocaine use disorder (CUD) in recent years. Cocaine, as a drug, is a stimulant that can pose serious heart problems and mental health issues like anxiety and paranoia, both of which are withdrawal symptoms. Due to its robust qualities, users run a high risk of overdose.
At a cocaine addiction treatment center, CBT and talk therapy are practical options for treating CUD, both to understand your addiction and manage compulsions and cravings. There are currently no medicines available to wean oneself off cocaine, making therapy and alternative treatments that much more critical for CUD sufferers.
Crystal Meth Addiction Treatment
A form of methamphetamine coined for its glass-like appearance, crystal meth abuse has been on the rise, with a 37% increase in methamphetamine-related substance use disorder and overdose deaths involving meth more than doubled in recent years.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the most effective therapies for methamphetamine addiction “are behavioral therapies, such as cognitive-behavioral and contingency management interventions.” Accessible through a meth addiction treatment center, some of these therapies recommended by the NIDA include the Matrix Model, a 16-week comprehensive behavioral treatment approach combining 12-step support with behavioral and individual counseling.
Opioid Addiction Treatment
Though prescription opioids are designed to treat chronic pain, their recreational use and subsequent abuse, particularly in drugs like fentanyl (50 times more potent than heroin), have seen an alarming rise in recent years due to their easy availability and highly addictive makeup. The World Health Organization notes that in recent years, about 600,00 deaths worldwide were attributed to drug use, with nearly 80% of those tied to opioids. Almost one-quarter of those fatalities were caused by overdoses.
Numbers like these make it imperative to seek treatment at a prescription drug addiction treatment center for anyone struggling with opioid abuse. There, work through the steps of managing withdrawal symptoms and your physical and emotional withdrawal symptoms through medication-assisted treatment combining group and behavioral therapy with prescribed medicines like methadone, buprenorphine, or naltrexone.
Benzodiazepine Addiction Treatment
Benzodiazepines (“benzos” for short), like Xanax and Valium, are commonly prescribed for anxiety but can lead to dependence when misused. While benzodiazepine abuse on its own is rarely linked to severe illness or death, about three-fourths of deaths involving them also involve an opioid drug. Signs of benzodiazepine addiction, according to WebMD, may include anxiety, insomnia, appetite loss, headaches, and weakness.
Seeking treatment from a pill addiction treatment center implores anyone in recovery to live a life free of benzo dependency, gradually tapering off clonazepam, triazolam, and others and minimizing withdrawal symptoms in tandem with getting to the root of one’s addiction and addressing it head-on.
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Can Drug Addiction Treatment Help Me Stay Sober Long-Term?
One of the chief reasons for seeking help at a drug addiction rehab center is to find long-term sobriety — which we like to think of as a permanent lifestyle choice. Your individualistic journey to recovery doesn’t end when you stop using drugs; it’s a lifelong process that requires ongoing support, skill-building, and dedication.
Rehab imparts holistic benefits that touch those in recovery physically and cognitively simultaneously.
Physical Benefits of Drug Addiction Treatment
The physical changes following treatment at a drug addiction recovery center — the complete healing as your body adjusts to life without the crutch of substances — cannot be denied. Withdrawal symptoms subside, and cravings fade as they become less and less pronounced once they’ve left your system. The risk of relapse is minimized. Improved sleep and increased energy are other tangible benefits.
Then there are the long-term improvements we don’t readily see on the surface, like minimizing heart disease and liver damage, even preventing future complications to skin or teeth, as seen so often with meth abuse.
Cognitive Benefits of Drug Addiction Treatment
Addiction can severely impact one’s high-level functioning. Memory, temperament, decision-making, and emotional regulation are all part of the cognitive palette that drugs can alter — not to mention one’s personality, which can all but be lost in the thick of drug abuse, changing users into something their family and loved ones no longer recognize.
CBT is so helpful in this regard, literally founded in reclaiming one’s cognitive abilities, regaining clarity, and establishing refocus to manage stress and the triggers that might have led you to use substances in the first place. Time at a drug addiction treatment center empowers people in recovery to tap into the true essence of the person they may have lost to drugs, enabling them to make healthier choices for long-term sobriety.
What Is Drug Addiction Treatment Like?
Hardly two treatment processes at a drug addiction treatment center are alike, even when a group of clients are struggling with the same addictions. What they do have in common is a structured approach to recovery — a promise that Footprints to Recovery swears by.
Typically, treatment involves several phases, each designed to address different aspects of addiction.
Drug Detox
Medical detox is the process of cleansing the body of toxins from addictive substances and the first step in recovery from alcohol or drug addiction. Because your body and brain functions become dependent on substances after repeated abuse, detoxing on your own can prove risky. A medically supervised drug rehab is a safer, sounder way to manage withdrawal symptoms, paving the way for the next steps in your treatment plan.
Inpatient Drug Addiction Treatment
Inpatient substance abuse treatment, or residential rehabilitation, is designed for individuals with severe addiction, addiction relapses, mental health disorders, or co-occurring conditions. You’ll live in a non-hospital rehabilitation center, such as one from Footprints to Recovery, which provides safe housing and medical care. During this time, 24/7 care is at your disposal, along with all the elements of your treatment plan, in a structured, drug-free, safe space.
Outpatient Drug Addiction Treatment
In contrast to inpatient care, outpatient drug rehab is one option that affords you the flexibility to tend to other obligations in your life. At the same time, you learn to live without drugs or alcohol. That means your treatment involves attending therapy sessions as scheduled at a drug addiction recovery center while being able to go to work or school and come home at night. This option is ideal for people with less severe addictions or if you’re transitioning out of inpatient care.
Aftercare for Drug Addiction Treatment
Aftercare is an essential part of recovery that cannot be overlooked. It’s not just an addendum or optional piece of treatment but an integral piece of the recovery puzzle where continued support to prevent relapse may include ongoing therapy and regular check-ins with your counselor to see what kind of progress you’re making in your sobriety.
What Therapies Are Offered During Drug Abuse Treatment?
Therapy is just one component of treatment at a drug addiction rehab center, but the benefits they impart are invaluable to your recovery.
From traditional psychotherapy modalities to more esoteric, holistic treatments, therapy is meant to approach the psychological and emotional aspects of addiction from all angles, exploring the motivations behind one’s addiction and uncovering the coping mechanisms and inner tools to get sober and stay sober.
Psychotherapies
Addiction is so much more than a physical dependence on drugs or alcohol. There are always underlying emotional and mental underpinnings that manifest themselves in addictive behaviors. This is where Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, comes in. CBT helps individuals in recovery recognize the negative, deep-seated thought patterns and behaviors that contribute to substance abuse — patterns that can be changed and transformed into new, positive habits.
Dialectical behavior Therapy (DBT) is a form of CBT with a strong emphasis on mindfulness techniques. DBT focuses on emotional regulation and encourages you to recognize and acknowledge, without judgment, unwanted thoughts and behaviors. How can it help with addiction? DBT is effective in opening the mind and the heart so you can learn to identify the root causes of your addictions. Much like CBT, DBT enables the development of actionable ways to alter destructive thinking patterns and behaviors and cope with the addiction triggers present in day-to-day life without running from them.
Holistic Treatments
A massive asset to your recovery is the availability of holistic treatments at a drug addiction treatment center. While therapy and medication have their rightful place in recovery, alternative methods to heal the mind, body, and spirit, such as yoga, meditation, art therapy, psychodrama, and EMDR, are experiential types of therapies for remaining present at the moment, and recognizing — intuitively and consciously — the connection between your thoughts, body and behaviors, and how they link together.
Find Drug Addiction Treatment Near Me
The right drug addiction treatment center is an ingredient for recovery that can’t be overlooked. To remain accountable to your addiction and admit you need help is a brave step — but without a reputable drug addiction recovery center with a compassionate, experienced staff at the helm, your recovery’s trajectory could be compromised.
Ask yourself: Why Footprints to Recovery? Four locations with equal parts comprehensive services, inpatient and outpatient care, individualized, tailored treatment plans, multiple healing modalities, and, most importantly, a unified commitment to see you get sober are just a few of the promises we make to anyone who contacts us asking for help.
Addiction doesn’t have to rule your life. All it takes is a phone call and a simple 3-step process to get started. Contact us today.
- Highlights for the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health
- What is substance abuse treatment?
- Methamphetamine Use, Overdose Deaths, and Arrests Soared From 2015 to 2019 | The Pew Charitable Trusts
- What treatments are effective for people who misuse methamphetamine? | National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
- Opioid overdose
