Alcohol Treatment Centres

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Traditional alcohol treatment programs frequently have been based on the 12-step approach that was developed and put into operation by Alcoholics Anonymous.

Other less traditional alcohol treatment approaches, however, have been taking place in rehab hospitals or in alcohol treatment centres and have been providing alcohol abusers and alcoholics with alcohol rehab that is not based on the 12-step recovery program.

Alcohol Treatment Centres: Medications and Counseling

image: doctor in an alcohol treatment centre looking concerned about an alcoholic in treatment Most of the non-12-step alcohol rehabilitation approaches take place in rehab hospitals or in alcohol treatment centres that feature treatment approaches that are grounded in the administration of doctor-prescribed medications along with extensive education, support, counseling, and training.

Additionally, many non-12-step programs treat alcoholism and alcohol abuse from both a psychological and a physiological framework.

Similarly, due to the fact that some of the more effective alcohol treatment methods are more comprehensive than others, they concentrate on how alcoholics and alcohol abuser will respond to employment issues, relationship difficulties, and financial problems after they complete treatment, get sober, and return to their place of residence.

Finally, many of the successful alcohol treatment centres maintain a holistic perspective that helps alcoholics and alcohol abusers identify and cope with some of the primary issues that more likely than not lead to the individual’s alcohol addiction or alcohol abuse in the first place.

Examples of these basic issues include the following: poor financial management skills, career indecision, pain, spirituality issues, poor coping skills, a sense of loss, grief, poor interpersonal relationship skills, unemployment, and poor anger management skills.

Call your doctor whenever you or someone you love has an alcohol-related problem. Remember, alcoholism is an illness that can be treated, not a sign of weakness or poor character.

Follow-Up Treatment: A Requirement

When an individual undergoes alcohol treatment, it is especially important to address what he or she will be doing after he or she has finished the rehab protocol.

image: doctor in an alcohol treatment centre reviewing chart of an alcohol abuser

Stated more precisely, getting through the alcohol detox process and overcoming one's alcohol withdrawal symptoms are central to the recovery process, but so is the “follow-up” training, education, and counseling that quality alcohol treatment centres routinely initiate as soon as the inpatient part of the treatment process ends.

Some of the more successful and better known alcohol treatment centres, for instance, provide follow-up outpatient counseling, education, and training for one year after the residential part of rehab is finished.

In a word, the more broad-based and results-oriented alcohol treatment centres provide treatment that has been developed and put into operation for long-term success rather than utilizing short-term, quick fix therapeutic approaches.

The earlier a person begins drinking heavily, the greater their chance of developing serious illnesses later on. Once one becomes dependent on alcohol, it is very difficult to quit. In one study, after five years, two-thirds of people with alcoholism were still dependent.

The Importance of the Treatment Environment

image: doctor in an alcohol treatment dentre talking to parents of an alcoholic teen The treatment environment in which an alcohol abuser or an alcoholic finds himself or herself is a pivotal treatment contemplation. As a result, some of the better alcohol treatment centres, for instance, foster an interesting, motivating, supportive, and harm-free environment that typically results in long-lasting treatment success.

While the majority of alcohol treatment centres provide alcohol rehabilitation that is relatively expensive, especially those that offer inpatient, residential therapy, many of the more productive and effective alcohol treatment centres put financial considerations on the back burner and restrict the number of alcoholics and alcohol abusers they accept for rehab. This is more of a "treatment" determination and less of a "profit and loss" decision that permits staff to focus on the time, resources, effort, and consideration that professional, top-quality alcohol treatment requires.

Repeated alcohol exposure causes neuroadaptation in the brain's reward pathways, which results in drinking more alcohol. This is the quickest way for an alcoholic to feel normal again and it causes long-term memories related to alcohol use that produce intense cravings, even after long-term abstinence. Environmental cues can reactivate the brain's reward pathway and this can lead to relapse.

Characteristics of Successful Alcohol Treatment Centres

image: doctor in an alcohol treatment centre visiting an alcoholic patient The following represents some of the more significant features of effective alcohol treatment centres:

Extensive day and night counseling and educational programs
Private detoxification services
Success rates well beyond the national averages
Hospital and non-hospital treatment options
Hotel or rehab facility suites for out-of-town patients or guests
The employment of medications to help clients refrain from alcohol relapse
Competitive pricing
Outpatient methods that are individualized to “fit” the personality, financial resources, and the needs of each client
Treatment options with different time frames and length of treatment options that are tailored to the needs of each client
A caring, professional, and results-oriented staff
Doctor prescribed medications to help control and manage alcohol withdrawal symptoms

Society views alcoholics as responsible for their problems. To some extent, this is true. Like most of their peers, the alcohol abuser made the early choice to drink but once addiction kicks in, choice is removed. The person must drink to feel normal. Twenty percent of alcoholics who try to quit drinking on their own without medical management die of alcohol withdrawal delirium.

Alcohol Treatment Centres: Conclusion

image: doctor consoling elderly male alcoholic about his alcoholism Many of the traditional alcohol recovery approaches are patterned after the 12-step methodology that was initiated and implemented by Alcoholics Anonymous. Other, less mainstream, non-12-step alcohol treatment methods, however, have emerged and have increased in number and in popularity.

These non-12-step rehab methodologies focus less on factors such as a "higher power, the number of meetings an alcoholic or alcohol abuser attends, and group support and more on empirically validated, scientific results that use doctor-prescribed medications in combination with staff support and broad-based education, counseling, training, and a productive and practical follow-up treatment program.

Many of the more thorough, non-12-step alcohol rehab programs take place in rehab clinics, alcohol treatment centres, or in rehab hospitals. These non-12-step alcohol treatment facilities are typically staffed with top-rate, helpful, and compassionate healthcare professionals who do everything in their power to help alcoholics and alcohol abusers learn more effective decision-making, relationship, coping, and "life" skills; help them recover from their irresponsible, unhealthy, and hazardous drinking; and help them learn how to reestablish their lives and start on the road to alcohol recovery.

The brain of someone addicted to alcohol is a changed brain. The chronic use of any mood-altering chemical first chemically changes the brain as the cells respond to the poison by producing counteracting chemical compounds that reduce the effects on the cell. If the use continues, the brain changes in structure and, finally, it changes in genetics.

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This is the only way to think about alcoholism accurately. You are dealing with a person who is dying. Evidence says that 68% of those people who come to a trauma center have an alcohol or drug problem. Thirty percent of patients in acute care hospitals are addicted. Alcoholics spend four times the amount of time in a hospital as non-drinkers, mostly from drinking-related injuries. Up to 20% of visits to primary care physicians are related to substance abuse problems. Yet doctors almost never recognize the alcohol problem.

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