Ready to take the first step toward sobriety? Start by understanding addiction and recovery in order to find your way out.
Deciding to Make a Change
Deciding to make a change is the first step towards recovery from drug or alcohol addiction. Struggling with substance abuse can alter the brain over time, creating strong cravings and compulsive urges that make the road to sobriety a difficult one. No matter how deep the addiction, change, and recovery is possible with the right treatment and support.
Part of recognizing a problem with addiction is committing to change behaviors that impact addictive habits. Changing how to handle stress, being cautious of the people who surround you, how free time is spent, personal self-image, and the use of prescription and over-the-counter medications all need to be reflected on.
Types of Addiction Treatment Options
There are several different types of addiction treatment options that can help patients on the path to recovery.
Attending a residential treatment center away from loved ones, personal commitments, and abuse triggers allow a patient to better focus on their recovery without distractions. Residential treatment programs provide a safe and supportive environment staffed by medical personnel who can help manage detox and withdrawal symptoms.
Patients who have a strong support system may benefit from an outpatient treatment plan. With outpatient treatment, patients live at home and work through their program without missing personal commitments. In this situation, a patient would meet with the facility team two or three hours during the day or the evening.
The Canadian Centre for Addictions is a premier private facility for addiction treatment in Ontario. The center offers a full range of services that give patients flexible therapy and counseling for drug and alcohol addiction. The Canadian Centre for Addictions offers inpatient rehab, outpatient care, interventions, and medically supervised detox in a luxury, five-star amenities facility.
Day treatment or partial hospitalization is similar to an outpatient treatment program. Patients live at home and work their treatment plans for seven to eight hours daily. Day treatment has the same detox, withdrawal, and counseling support as a residential treatment center. Patients work with doctors, therapists, and psychologists and attend either nightly 12-step meetings or life skill education classes.
Not everyone is ready to assimilate back to their daily lives right away. Some patients benefit from completing a residential treatment program and then move into a sober living community. These communities continue to offer a safe and secure environment where patients can practice the new skills they have learned during recovery.
The benefit of sober living communities is that fellow residents can focus on maintaining sobriety together in a sober environment while continuing to learn healthy living and coping skills.
What Makes Addiction Treatment Effective
There are a few factors to consider that make addiction treatment effective. There is no one-size-fits-all treatment plan. It’s important to find an addiction treatment plan that is customized to your unique situation.
Addiction affects all aspects of life, which means treatment should address more than drug or alcohol abuse. Successful treatment teaches patients new ways of living and coping with addiction. To do this, the underlying factors that lead to addiction need to be addressed.
Many people who experience chronic pain are prescribed to addictive prescription pain medications that mask the symptoms instead of treating the cause. Sober patients coping with chronic pain can address their pain with a Pulsed Harmonix PEMF therapy machine. A Pulsed Electromagnetic Field therapy machine uses electromagnetic waves at precise frequencies that help damaged cells recover. This non-invasive treatment reduces inflammation which is the underlying cause of most chronic pain.
Addiction treatment requires a commitment to spending the time and motivation to become and stay sober. How long a patient needs treatment depends on how long and intensely the addiction has been going on. The kind of care a patient needs depends on their age, drug-use history, and medical or psychiatric conditions. There are addiction treatment services provided by clergy members, social workers, and counselors.
