Most people have a preconceived idea or a set of expectations for drug rehab. Some of these may be unrealistic, such as expecting that drug rehab is a cure-all and once you leave, you’re cured. Others have low expectations, believing that a drug rehab center is just a step up from a homeless shelter. Whatever your drug rehab expectations, the best way to address them is to call a variety of drug rehabs and talk to intake coordinators.

What Can You Expect from Drug Rehab?

You can expect that a drug rehab can help you. After all, that’s what a drug rehab is for! This is accomplished through providing a few things that you’re not likely to get if you don’t enter drug rehab.

You can expect that drug rehab offers a safe, supportive and sober environment with 24 hour supervision to keep you drug and alcohol-free. In spite of your best intentions, when you are just getting sober and going through the sometimes uncomfortable withdrawal process it can take everything in your power not to reach for drugs or alcohol on your own. A drug rehab environment ensures that you are sober long enough to go through the worst of the withdrawal symptoms and cravings in a safe environment with support around you to help you through it.

You can expect that a drug rehab is staffed with professionals who have training, experience and credentials in treating people who struggle with alcoholism and drug addiction. Many people who work in a drug rehab center have successfully recovered from addiction and earned credentials in counseling, psychology or marriage & family therapy in order to help others do the same. Doctors such as clinical therapists, psychiatrists and medical personnel are often on staff at drug rehab centers, along with holistic practitioners in therapies such as acupuncture, massage, meditation and yoga.

You can expect that a drug rehab center will educate you on the disease of addiction. Educational modules on the effects of drugs and alcohol on the mind and the body are usually presented along with relapse prevention and how triggers, old patterns and behaviors can trip up your recovery.

You can expect that a drug rehab center will introduce you to a support group, whether it’s 12-step based or faith-based. This is a traditional means of support once you leave drug rehab.

What You Cannot Expect from Drug Rehab

You cannot expect a drug rehab to cure you. It’s not like taking a pill for 30 days that makes you immune to drugs and alcohol forever. Some people are ready to get sober and some aren’t. If you are, drug rehab can be an extremely rewarding time for you. If you’re not, drug rehab expectations may fail you. This doesn’t mean that it won’t be successful at some level. Talking to an intake coordinator at a drug rehab center can help answer your questions on whether your drug rehab expectations are realistic and find the one that will be most rewarding for you.

The World Health Organization (WHO) now recognizes the benefits of acupuncture in treating a variety of ailments. Acupuncture in drug rehab, and in particular ear acupuncture, has gained ground in the treatment of alcoholism and drug addiction. This assists in minimizing the sometimes uncomfortable symptoms of anxiety and restlessness associated with withdrawal while increasing an overall sense of calm. Acupuncture and drug rehab combined with traditional methods of recovery, such as the 12-steps originated by co-founders of Alcoholics Anonymous, offers a more comprehensive approach to addiction treatment.

How Does Acupuncture Work?

Acupuncture accesses natural channels of energy in the body. These channels can get blocked through emotional trauma, abuse and damage by drugs and alcohol. The needles used in acupuncture access these channels along certain points in the body and “unblock” the energy, allowing it to flow freely through the body. Blocked energy in the body can result in a host of ailments, including stagnated blood, headaches, digestion, depression, anxiety and insomnia. Herbal remedies may also accompany acupuncture treatments to help bring the body back into balance.

The Benefits of Acupuncture in Drug Rehab

The benefits of acupuncture and drug rehab have been proven in a variety of studies, most notably in Minneapolis where a controlled research team determined a group was 93% effective in completing an acupuncture and drug rehab program as compared to a control group at 2.5%.

Newly recovering alcoholics and addicts tend to be restless and anxious. The most obvious benefits of acupuncture are a reduction in cravings and withdrawal symptoms and an increase in relaxation. These are all vital in helping those early in sobriety overcome the initial discomfort and settle in so they can concentrate on the material being presented in drug rehab.

The most effective drug rehab usually offers comprehensive services rather than a standardized approach. Finding a drug rehab program that takes into account your family and substance abuse history, potential for mood disorders, physical and emotional health issues. The most effective drug rehabs issue clinical evaluations that help determine issues that need to be addressed in order for alcoholism and drug addiction treatment to be successful.

Effective Drug Rehab Programs

There is no one tried and true method to recovery that works for everyone. If that were the case, drug rehab would be standardized like an assembly line. The truth is, alcoholism and drug addiction is a complicated disease that neither physicians nor scientists have discovered a cure for. For this reason, the most effective drug rehab programs offer a variety of approaches and options to overcoming addiction.
When you research drug rehab facilities, find out if the program is tailored to each individual based on clinical evaluation or how they determine the best approach to treat you. The most effective drug rehab programs will address physical aspects of health to treat the physical addiction, psychological aspects to help root out any underlying issues contributing to alcoholism and drug addiction, and explore spiritual approaches that work for you.

Effective Drug Rehab Programs and Cost

An effective drug rehab program has less to do with cost and more to do with you. You can spend tens of thousands of dollars on the “best” drug rehab program available and be back in a bar or meeting with your street dealer the day the program ends. Someone else can get sober in a state-run facility with a cot and a 12-step program and remain sober for years.
Cost factors into effectiveness with the therapies offered. You may be willing to pay a little more to be comfortable and have the added benefits of individual therapy and holistic treatments such as massage and acupuncture during drug rehab. If you want to ensure that you choose an effective drug rehab program that works the first time around, choose one that is comprehensive in addressing all levels of addiction – mind, body and spirit.

Holistic drug rehab offers a mind, body, spirit approach to alcoholism and drug addiction. Holistic therapies take into account the whole individual and seek to help the body heal itself rather than relying on medication.
Today, while more drug rehabs are beginning to recognize the benefits of holistic therapies in addressing the symptoms associated with alcoholism and drug addiction it is still considered an alternative method of treatment. Holistic drug rehab may also offer a combination of medical and clinical therapy to address the symptoms of mind and body created by alcoholism and drug addiction. These traditional methods are then combined within a 12-step program that addresses the spiritual aspect of the disease.

Holistic Drug Rehab Programs

Holistic drug rehab programs often offer the same medical and clinical components as traditional drug rehabs but with the complimentary benefits of holistic therapies. A holistic practitioner will “read” the body’s symptoms. The body’s symptoms show where healing needs to take place.
In holistic medicine, the focus is on awakening the body’s own innate power to heal itself through a combination of natural remedies, such as massage, herbs, acupuncture, yoga and meditation. Holistic therapies treat the body’s symptoms rather than suppressing it through medication. For many people entering drug rehab, they’ve suppressed their symptoms for years through drugs and alcohol. The period of time following detox can be uncomfortable as people become aware of these symptoms, maybe for the first time. Holistic therapies are a natural and comfortable way to treat these symptoms.

Holistic Drug Rehab Benefits

A holistic drug rehab program offers benefits of mind, body and spirit healing on an individual basis. Treating the person on a holistic basis requires knowing the history and symptoms in order to treat them most effectively. This requires a one-on-one approach that is beneficial in treating alcoholism and drug addiction.
In addition, holistic therapies have shown a success rate in the treatment of alcoholism and drug addiction. A Yale University study has concluded that acupuncture alone can increase the success rate of a drug rehab program by 200%. Ear acupuncture is especially effective in minimizing detox symptoms and increasing a sense of calmness and well-being.  Combining these benefits in a holistic drug rehab program with clinical therapy and the traditional 12-step model seem to be the most beneficial approach to alcohol and drug addiction treatment.

The 12-step recovery model is the most recognized method of success in sobriety. Most people have heard about Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) but not everyone has heard of Narcotics Anonymous (NA). NA is derived from the 12-step basis of Alcoholics Anonymous that is based on the idea of reliance on a Higher Power to relieve the obsession of drug addiction and alcoholism. This is achieved through working the 12 steps.
People who are in recovery for drug addiction may be better able to relate at drug rehab and Narcotics Anonymous meetings than Alcoholics Anonymous. While the principles are the same, the discussion topics are different. AA generally discourages discussion of drugs at meetings geared toward the nature of alcoholism. When researching drug rehabs to attend, it’s a good idea to ask if there are Narcotics Anonymous meetings available to attend.

Do Drub Rehabs offer Narcotics Anonymous?

While most drug rehabs introduce the 12-step model of Alcoholics Anonymous, not all drug rehabs offer Narcotics Anonymous meetings. Networking with members of NA can help provide a peer support system where members share their experience, strength and hope overcoming drug addiction. Someone who had a terrible heroin habit may be better able to relate to a speaker who shot up with needles rather than a shot glass. Many drug rehabs have their own group therapy sessions for processing and this may be enough support to encourage individuals to share their own stories. However, introducing Narcotics Anonymous during drug rehab may help to instill the important practice of attending meetings following drug rehab.  Narcotics Anonymous provides a forum for sharing experience, strength and hope in conjunction with drug use, which unless prescribed, is illegal.

Narcotics Anonymous after Drug Rehab

Drug rehab lays the foundation for recovery, but it’s just the beginning. Recovering from drug addiction is a lifelong journey and it helps to have group support and role models along the way to encourage abstinence. Finding this support following drug rehab and Narcotics Anonymous can make the difference between a successful recovery and returning to a drug habit following drug rehab. Introduction to Narcotics Anonymous during drug rehab can make a big difference. As of 2007, NA had over 25,000 group meetings in 127 countries and membership continues to grow.