There are more than 700 NY treatment centers within a 50-mile radius of downtown Manhattan which includes sober living environments, in-patient treatment and out-patient treatment centers, along with many detox facilities and others.

Addicts in New York have a great deal of opportunity to find treatment that is specifically suited to their lifestyles, particular addictions, and religious beliefs, perhaps their sexual identification. Programs are available for those who espouse Christian, Jewish, Buddhist and other religious preferences. There are programs for women with children, addicts with co-occurring mental diagnoses, men or women only, and LGBT populations. Long or short-term, from two weeks to a year, for inpatient or outpatient treatment is available. There are component programs, where an addict may go into a detox process for two weeks, remain in residential (inpatient) treatment for a stabilizing period of two weeks to two months, then remain for outpatient treatment for up to two years, while residing in either private housing, or going to a sober living environment. All of these options are predicated on both insurance benefits available and/or financial wherewithal.

One benefit of going to treatment in New York City is the availability of options for programs and preference for types of treatment. These range from $150.00 per day to $10,000.00 per day, for residential treatment. They include every type of dietary need, medical need, lifestyle option, and numerous other factors. Some offer different types of therapy and frequency of sessions, yoga classes, singing, chanting, religious rites, animal therapy (such as equine therapy), ropes’ courses, alternative dietary regimens, spiritual rites (such as Native American sweat lodges), meditation, and others. While these may all be available at treatment centers in other parts of the world, the variety seems largest in this city.

In a list of more than 500 treatment programs in a 50-mile radius centered in Los Angeles, more than 60 of treatment centers are in Los Angeles itself. This can be misleading, because, unlike other large cities in the United States, the city of Los Angeles is a hard location to pinpoint. It spreads out into other locations and other areas, looking more like a multilegged spider than a metropolis. If you spread the search out to 100 miles around the center of Los Angeles, there are more than 600 treatment programs listed.

Given that many treatment programs in such a small area, what could some of the differences be? Well, for starters, Southern California is known for several things: ideal weather most of the year, beaches, movie stars and fancy cars and other stereotypes of the California lifestyle. Along with those images come those of the movie, TV and music personalities who become famous (infamous?) for their lives of excess and embarrassing publicity around that excess.

It seems that many of them will land in California treatment programs at one time or another. The number of high-end centers in Malibu is around 12. However, most in the treatment field know there are others. Some private, exclusive agencies do not advertise or list themselves anywhere. These are usually the places for the celebrity crowd or elite.

For the rest of the crowd, treatment may run the gamut of low-income, subsidized beds in residential centers such as the Salvation Army in inner cities across the country to private rooms and board in the high-end facilities catering to the very wealthy and private at $90,000.00 per month. There are inpatient, residential services for those who have the means or the insurance package to cover these services and outpatient, either intensive or not, for the same crowds. Others may find help in the downtown Los Angeles mission district, where soup kitchens and homeless services are offered to those who are less fortunate and without other resources.

Many people come to California from other parts of the country for various reasons. Most often, the weather is an incentive, and the same is true for rehab. Why spend the winter in a cold, snowy climate in winter when rehab is the plan for a month or two? For a bit more travel money, a nice climate change to Los Angeles beach areas or Palm Springs can be a great break in the routine. This is especially true when the routine is one of cycling through the ravages of drug and/or alcohol addiction.

Beginning in the 1980s, Southern California became a mecca for treatment seekers with the opening of a treatment program in the Palm Springs area run by the wife of a former president whose public recovery from addiction to pain pills was front-page headline news. Always a popular spot for vacationers and retirement, Southern California offers a wide variety of treatment and an array of programs serving everyone.

A successful road to recovery can be a challenging path when one is looking to find a good fit that isn’t part of the 12-Step process. Here are a few  organizations that offer alternative recovery options:

LifeRing, www.lifering.org. Begun in 1999, this group provides secular self-help for abstinence from drugs and alcohol. The philosophy is one of the “3S”: 1. Sobriety, 2. Secularity, 3. Self-help.

Moderation Management, www.moderation.org. This group began in 1993, providing peer support for reduction of drinking-either to lower levels or total abstinence. They state they provide (but do not say how) a variety of behavioral change guidelines and measures for success. They offer 9 Steps Toward Moderation and Positive Lifestyle Change.

SMART Recovery®, www.smartrecovery.org. SMART=Self-Management and Recovery Training groups teach tools for recovery based on research. They state that they provide a 4-point program: 1. Building and Maintaining Motivation; 2. Coping with Urges; 3. Managing Thoughts, Feelings & Behaviors; 4. Living a Balanced Life. Incorporating the treatment tool of Stages of Change with several of the worksheets from that book, they also have many other types of worksheets and what appear to be lectures. Most of the material is located on the website.

Secular Organizations for Sobriety/Save Ourselves, www.sossobriety.org. This group is also non-affiliated with a Higher Power concept and empowers the individual to recover from addiction. They offer 6 guidelines to follow for responsible recovery and abstinence.

Women for Sobriety, www.womenforsobriety.org. This is a for-women-only sobriety group which 1976. They offer a “New Life” program with 13 statements, instead of 12 steps.

While they all appear to eschew both a 12-step format and a Higher Power concept, they all include at least several bullet-point terms to change of behaviors linked to active addiction. A couple of these also include instructional manuals for learning to become a group leader. The more structured of these programs sometimes need to find a group with trained leaders in order to become a new group, taking someone from the group to the new one as their leader or becoming adept at running a gathering by being trained.

Support groups provide a safe haven for those who seek abstinence as a way of life. Just as they had a group with whom they enjoyed the conviviality of drinking/drugging, the companionship and caring of a group of people traveling the path of recovery is important for success.

Affordable Alcohol Rehabilitation Centers in California

There are a great many alcohol rehabilitation centers in California, perhaps more than in any other area of the country. Often, these treatment centers are associated in the public’s mind with the rich and famous. While there are certainly many that cater to high-profile clients, there are also affordable rehabilitation centers that may be easier to manage for those who are not particularly wealthy.

Alcohol abuse affects people across a wide cross-section of society. While certain drugs tend to be associated primarily with specific segments of the population, alcohol addiction knows no boundaries. More than 700,000 alcoholics are treated in the United States every day, and that figure doesn’t include those who suffer from the addiction but are not being treated. The addition of those who are not in treatment probably would increase that number by several multiples.

Choose From Many Alcohol Rehabilitation Centers in California

Fortunately, there are a great many alcohol rehabilitation centers in California, encompassing many different types, so you can find one that suits your personality, your budget, and other factors such as age, gender and location. Rehabilitation centers that rely on the 12-step program of Alcoholics Anonymous may be less expensive than those that use other approaches, and follow-up care, at least in terms of attending meetings, is free and available just about anywhere.

Rest assured that even the most affordable treatment centers listed in our directory are fully qualified, and will protect your privacy as diligently as that of the most famous movie star. And remember that no matter how elegant or how spartan the alcohol rehabilitation center you attend might be, the biggest luxury of all is leading a life free of addiction.

The last resort for most people is an alcohol and drug rehabilitation center. In fact, it’s common for the suggestion to come from family members, friends or employers. If someone suggests you need to go to an alcohol and drug rehabilitation center, its probably time to take a look at your alcohol and drug usage.

Considering an Alcohol and Drug Rehabilitation Center

Behaviors that precede checking into an alcohol and drug rehabilitation center are destructive enough for others to notice and react with concern. It could be you get kicked out of school, lose your job, get a DUI, can’t pay rent or your health is deteriorating. If none of these apply to you, realize it’s just a matter of time if you don’t get help soon.

Deciding to get professional help at an alcohol and drug rehabilitation center can be scary. Most people resist it because they don’t know how they’re going to live life without alcohol or drugs. This is a normal reaction. Professionals in an alcohol and drug rehabilitation center provide a safe, structured and sober environment to allow you enough time off of drugs and alcohol to learn how to start living life sober. Most centers offer 30 days programs. This is barely enough time to get the hang of living life sober. This is why most alcohol and drug rehabilitation centers also introduce clients to 12-step programs so they can attend meetings following rehab. These meetings provide the sober support network that is so necessary to stay sober in early sobriety.

Checking Into an Alcohol and Drug Rehabilitation Center

As the days get closer to checking into an alcohol and drug rehabilitation center, you may have second thoughts or decide to just have one last bender before you go in. This is also normal. Just realize that it’s the addiction that’s trying to hang onto you. Tell yourself you’re going to give the stay in rehab a fair trial. You’re going to give it the 30 or 60 days you signed up for and you’ll put everything else on hold during that time. Give it everything you have and save any other decisions for later.

If you have set it up to go through a medical detox at an alcohol and drug rehabilitation center when you arrive, then it’s actually safer not to abruptly quit drinking or taking drugs. Your body could go into shock and the withdrawal symptoms can be severe. Most alcohol and drug rehabilitation centers offer detox either at their facility or they are contracted with a private company. These are questions you want to get answers to before checking in. Find out the level of care you require so there are no surprises when you show up.

Lastly, have someone drive you because if left to your own devices, you might not get there. Alcohol or drug addiction can trip you at every step of the way prior to physically checking into an alcohol or drug rehabilitation center, so make sure you have support around you! Once you get to the center, you’ll be in safe hands.