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.

image: doctor talking to parents of teen alcoholic 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

image: doctor discussing outpatient counseling with alcoholic 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.

image: male ad for alcohol and drug therapy

Characteristics of Successful Recovery

image: young female alcoholic in need of alcohol 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.

 image: female ad for alcohol and drug treatment

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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