Anyone looking for help either for themselves or someone else who has a problem with drink or drugs is likely to consider the possibility of going into rehab.
There are other options, such as going directly to meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous or some other type of day treatment, depending upon the availability and where you live.
Many people consider going into a rehab as their primary choice, in part because it has become accepted as a standard route for dealing with the problem of drug and alcohol addiction.
The nature of rehab can vary quite considerably depending upon where the rehab is located, and the type of approach the rehab adopts in terms of its addiction treatment programs. The majority of inpatient clinical rehabs adopt a model of addiction treatment that is based on the 12-step approach of Alcoholics Anonymous.
These rehabs will often offer what they refer to as the first five steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, although in practice the therapeutic approach adopted is different to that used in the actual 12 step program of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Whether or not a rehab uses the model based on Alcoholics Anonymous or some other type of therapeutic and clinical approach, it is important to realise that a rehab has a limited time span is available in which to facilitate major changes.
Does Rehab Work ?
The majority of rehabs will offer a 30 day treatment program, which has probably two main elements to it. Firstly is to try and help the alcoholic begin the process of accepting the fact that they have an illness, called alcoholism, and that because they suffer from this illness they are, de facto, an alcoholic.
The individual acceptance of this premise may vary widely, and may take a significant time after they have left rehab to really accept the reality of what this means.
The second aim of the majority of rehabs therapeutic addiction treatment programs will be to help the alcoholic not only understand that they have an illness, but to begin to understand the basic tools available, therapeutically and spiritually speaking, that can help them get sober and stay sober.
A part of this approach is likely to be an introduction to meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous, which may be held either on the site of the rehab itself or in the local vicinity. A great deal of importance is likely to be stressed to the individual on the need to regularly attend meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous once the individual has left rehab.
This is likely to help lay the foundations for a much better likelihood of the individual getting sober and staying sober over a significant period of time.