Finding An Appropriate Drug Treatment Center

If you are seeking help from a drug treatment center, we applaud you. It takes courage and a lot of help to arrest the problem of drug addiction. If you're here seeking information from drug treatment centers for a loved one, we applaud you also. Many lives have been spared because a friend or relative had the courage to pick up the phone and call a drug treatment center when his or her loved one wouldn't or couldn't.

Drug addiction knows no geographic, age, gender or ethnic boundaries. It can strike anyone and anywhere! So one might argue that an addiction is an addiction and they all need to be treated the same. If it were only that simple! If one believes in the disease concept, then the disease of addiction is the only disease a person can have that tells you "you ain't got it". If one doesn't believe in the disease concept and you got addicted by accident, when you finally realize that you do have a serious problem, this problem will assure you "everything is going to be okay, just do some more drugs and you'll be fine". Disease or not, addiction is a cunning, baffling and patient foe and your chances of beating a serious addiction problem without the help of a drug treatment center are slim to none.

Types of Drug Treatment Centers

There are many different types of alcohol and drug treatment centers available and there is a need for every type. Within each type of treatment center, as with any type of business, you'll find many reputable and ethical centers and some, not so much. We hope to provide you with some information that will make your search a little easier and hopefully help you will avoid some of the pitfalls.

First, decide what is within your budget. That doesn't mean one should shop around for the least expensive drug rehab center in your area and admit yourself, remember we're talking about possibly saving a life here. Find the one that appears to be the best one that you can afford to pay for. However, if you are like many addicts and the drugs have completely depleted your resources to the point where there is simply nothing left and there is no one left in your life that is willing to help, then "God Bless You" you've arrived just in the nick of time.

It may be more difficult for a person with a very limited budget to access a drug treatment center, but believe it or not, help is available for everyone. In fact, there are many organizations and treatment centers that recognize and address the financial barriers to treatment and recovery. In an attempt to screen out the less than sincere addicts out there, these facilities may require the indigent to display a little extra willingness that a paying client would not be required to display, but keep in mind they have limited space available for indigent cases, so it is in your best interest to eagerly do what they ask (within reason).

Many County and State Funded Drug Treatment Centers operate on a sliding fee scale (people pay what they can afford to, based on their income), are open to arranging payment plans, and/or participate in Medicare and Medicaid programs. To find one, check out SAMHSA's Alcohol and Drug Treatment Center Locator or call 1-800-662-4357. Contact these drug treatment centers directly, because if somebody else makes the call for you, it may appear to the center that the person making the call wants help for you more than you want it for yourself. Ask them what they can do for someone that's arrived "Just in the nick of time."

There's President Bush's substance abuse treatment initiative, Access To Recovery, which provides drug addicts with vouchers to pay for treatment. Keep in mind that not all states participate in this drug treatment initiative and most of the treatment centers that do are faith-based.

You can also check with your county's Substance Abuse Programs, which is usually a division within it's Mental Health Department and ask for a list of County Funded Drug Treatment Centers. Be persistent and don't give up. There is always someone that is willing to help if you really want it.

Narrow Your Drug Treatment Center Search

If you are one of the fortunate and you can afford to pay for drug treatment or you've still got family or friends that are willing to help, your options aren't nearly as limited. I can't suggest strongly enough that you limit your search to gender specific treatment centers. It's a well known fact in the health-care industry that female addicts have different circumstantial needs, as well as different physical, emotional and psychological needs as those of men. Many centers offer both men's and women's programs. This is fine as long as they have separate, gender specific housing and the treatment schedules separate the genders for the most part, so the girls can discuss female issues and the boys can discuss, well, the girls.

Next, you'll need to decide if entering a local center is really a good idea. Sometimes, for obvious reasons the farther away the better. We suggest that you find several drug treatment centers that offer individualized treatment planning. We might all have the same problem, but we all have a unique set of issues to address and a "one size fits all" type program may not address some of your more unique issues.

Call these centers that you've narrowed your search to and ask them a lot of questions like: Are they licensed by the State? (If not, report them.) Do they provide alcohol and drug detox services? Non-medical, medically-supervised detox, or medical? For some substances such as opiates, without medication opiate withdrawal symptoms can be so severe that the pain is practically impossible to bear. What certifications or credentials do their counselors possess? What type of drug treatment do they offer? Traditional 12-Step based or non 12-Step? (This is a personal choice you'll have to make for yourself.) How many residents are there in their group sessions? (Normally, 10 or 12 is about the maximum if the group is to remain manageable.) Is there a refund policy if one doesn't complete the program? (Most don't offer refunds, but the State requires them to put whatever their policy is in writing.) If you're a parent calling on behalf of your son or daughter, ask them why you should trust your most precious commodity to their care rather than to the drug treatment center around the corner from them. (By the way, your child is still your most precious commodity, even if it doesn't seem like it at the moment.)

Drug Treatment Center Success Rates

Last but not least. Please, shy away from a drug treatment center that boast what seems to be an unusually high success rate. They are probably beginning your relationship by being less than honest with you. These inflated success rates are impossible for a drug treatment center to accurately calculate. What are they basing it on? The number of clients that complete the program? The success of a drug treatment center should be based on what happens to the client after he or she leaves the program and when they are scattered all around the planet it is just impossible to state any success rate, high or low with any real certainty. A more honest response from a drug treatment center when ask about their success rate might be "We can't collect accurate statistics, so we don't want to mislead anyone." or "I can tell you that if one puts 100% of his or her available effort into his or her recovery each day, chances are about 100% he or she will stay clean and sober that day."

Best wishes in your search...