The Alcohol Treatment
Facility
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The traditional alcohol treatment facility employs the
well-known 12-step approach originated by Alcoholics
Anonymous. Other non-traditional alcohol treatment
facilities, however provide "alternative” alcohol recovery methods
that are not modeled after the 12-step approach.
Alternatives to the 12-Step Alcohol
Recovery Process
A number of non-12-step, "alternative" alcoholism treatment
approaches take place in an alcohol treatment facility or in a
hospital that provides alcohol
rehabilitation via intensive counseling and therapy in
combination with doctor-prescribed medications.
In addition,
these non-traditional methodologies typically focus on alcohol
addiction from both an emotional and a physiological
orientation.
Some of the more successful alcohol treatment programs are more
extensive than others and center on how the alcoholic will deal
with and cope with relationship issues after he or she attains
sobriety and returns home
Additionally, more than a few of the more effective alcohol
treatment programs have a holistic therapeutic approach that
emphasizes addressing and working through significant foundational
issues that probably played a large part in leading to the
individual's alcohol addiction in the first place.
Some of these issues include the following: poor financial
management skills, grief, poor interpersonal relationship skills,
career indecision, poor coping skills, pain, loss, spirituality
issues, and poor anger management.
The Significance of Outpatient Follow-up
Counseling
When undergoing alcoholism treatment, it is usually important to
get involved in an outpatient “follow-up” program that starts as
soon as the inpatient portion of the treatment process is
finished. Some of the more productive alcohol treatment
programs, for example, provide follow-up in the form of outpatient
counseling for one year after an individual completes the
residential program.
Stated differently, the more extensive and successful alcohol
treatment programs are targeted for “long-term” success, rather
than for immediate results via the “quick fix.”
The Alcohol Recovery
Environment
The therapeutic “environment" at the alcohol treatment facility
in which an alcohol dependent person finds himself or herself is a
critical recovery concern.
Some of the more productive alcohol treatment programs, for
instance, provide a comfortable, stimulating, involving, positive,
and safe atmosphere that results in productive, effective, and long
lasting treatment success. While alcohol treatment programs
can be expensive, the more effective and well-known programs put
financial profits to the side and typically limit the number of
alcoholics they accept for treatment at any one time. This is
done so that the professional staff can provide the compassion,
effort, resources, and the time that quality treatment demands.

Characteristics of Successful
Recovery
The following list represents some of the more important
characteristics of effective alcohol treatment programs that can be
found in some of the more successful and more productive alcohol
treatment facilities:
- A caring, professional, and results-oriented staff
- Competitive pricing
- Doctor prescribed medications to help clients refrain from
alcohol relapse
- Outpatient programs that are individualized to “fit” the
personality, financial capabilities, and the needs of each
client
- Hospital and non-hospital treatment options
- Hotel or treatment facility suites for out-of town clients
- Programs with different time periods and length of treatment
options that are tailored around the needs of each specific
client
- Doctor prescribed medications to help manage and cope with
alcohol withdrawal symptoms
- Intensive day and night counseling and therapy programs
- Success rates well beyond the national averages
- Private detox services
| In the second or third stages of
alcohol dependency the alcoholic's hands may have trembled slightly
on mornings after getting drunk. In the fourth and final
stage of alcohol addiction, however, alcoholics get "the shakes"
whenever they try or are forced to abstain from
drinking. |
The Alcohol Treatment Facility:
Conclusion
Many, if not most of the "traditional" alcohol treatment
programs have been and still continue to be based on the 12-step
recovery approach of Alcoholics Anonymous. Other,
“non-traditional” alcohol treatment approaches have materialized,
moreover, that perceive issues such as group dynamics and support,
frequent meetings, and “a higher power” as less important than
empirical, research-oriented techniques that focus on intensive
therapy and counseling and doctor-prescribed medications.
| Underage drinking costs
Americans nearly $53 billion annually. If this cost were shared
equally by each congressional district, the amount would total more
than $120 million per district. |
Many of the more effective "non-traditional" alcohol treatment
protocols, furthermore, take place in a hospital setting or in an
alcohol treatment facility. Such
treatment facilities are typically staffed with competent and
caring healthcare professionals who help alcoholics recover from
their dependency, learn more effective relationship, coping, and
life skills, and who teach the alcohol dependent person how to
re-establish his or her life.

| According to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), each year in the United
States, between 1,300 and 8,000 babies are born with fetal alcohol
syndrome (FAS). Fetal alcohol syndrome is a combination of
physical and mental birth defects that affects about 6% of the
babies born to women who are alcohol abusers or
alcoholics. |
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| Ninety-two percent of American
adults are familiar with the designated driver concept, and 148
million have either been a designated driver or been driven home by
one. |
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