Overcoming alcoholism can be a long and arduous process. Alcoholism is defined as a situation where a person is completely unable to control alcohol drinking. To start with, some of the difficult aspects of the healing process includes understanding when you require support from a rehabilitation center and what type of treatment is fit for you.

Recovery from Alcoholism

Recovery from alcoholism is a gradual process that requires patience from both the client and therapy provider. The biggest obstacle to recovery is denial where clients find it very difficult to admit they have a drinking problem. The first step to overcoming alcoholism is setting very clear drinking goals. State when you want to stop/cut down drinking, avoid temptations and stay away from bad influence. This could mean giving up certain social connections and friends. While some people may manage alcoholism on their own, others require the intervention of health care givers to treat alcoholism. This involves admission to a drug rehabilitation centre.

Drug Rehabilitation

Drug rehabilitation (drug rehab) is treatment for drugs dependency. In cases of alcoholism, understanding cause of addiction helps in identifying the root cause of alcohol abuse which in turn enhance healing. Various methods are used in drug rehab centres to treat drug abuse. These includes medical detoxification, inpatient management and outpatient management. Understanding drug rehabilitation method helps in choosing the most suitable treatment process for your patient or yourself.

Treatment process is mostly highly individualized. Drug rehabilitation process is divided into 4 steps:

1-  Assessment during admission in the rehab center to identify the right treatment plan. It is done by a team of counselors, therapists and doctors to enhance recovery.

2-  Detoxification (detox) to remove abused drugs from the body. In alcoholism, detoxification involves taking medication to manage withdrawal symptoms. Various medications of benzodiazepine family are used.

3-  Rehabilitation which involves identifying and addressing the real cause of drug abuse using treatment plan chosen in step 1.

4-  Aftercare – this involves training the person to live without dugs. It ensures that the transformation that happened during rehabilitation becomes part of life.

Alcoholism Treatment Programs

As stated before, treatment programs should be coined as per individual needs. Programs for treatment of alcoholism include:

Inpatient/residential programs: After detoxification, clients go to residential inpatient program. In alcohol addiction, it takes between 30 and 90 days. There are both non-medical and medical treatment options. Medical therapy involves administering pharmaceutical medications by health care providers. They include Disulfiram, Acamprosate or naltrexone. They reduce alcohol craving and risk of relapse.

Recovery Village Rehab is a type of inpatient rehabilitation center that is designed for specific patient’s needs. It offers various treatment options, wellness programs and support to clients to enhance healing.

Partial hospitalization: It is for people who have stable situation but in need of continuous medical monitoring. The program is conducted between 3 and 5 days a week for up to 6 hours a day. Treatment is done during the day and the client can go home in evening.

Outpatient rehabilitation: It is aimed at those with less severe alcoholism mostly to prevent relapse. It can be scheduled around school or workplace.

Individual, group or family therapy helps in identifying the root cause of alcoholism, build relationships and learn coping skills in recovery process.

In conclusion, alcoholism treatment is a tough process but it is possible to overcome. The first step in treating alcoholism is to identify client’s specific needs. Managing alcoholism may require admission to a rehab centre. At the rehab centre, clients go through assessment, detox, rehabilitation and finally aftercare. Treatment programs include inpatient Treatment, partial hospitalization, outpatient program and then group therapy.

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