How Alcohol Rehab Centres Can Change Lives

A person who wants help in his or her struggle with alcohol abuse or dependence has three primary options. They can seek out a local support group, they can request a prescription medication from their GP, or they can take advantage of the services provided by alcohol rehab centres. Those with the most chronic problems are limited to the last option if they expect long-term recovery. Having said that, let us talk about how alcohol rehab centres can help change lives.

For starters, we need to define three different kinds of rehab centres:

1. Public - The public rehab centre is one offered by the NHS or a government-approved voluntary organisation. These do not exist in large numbers due to severely limited funding. Yet there are a couple of them out there, particularly in the Greater London area.

2. Charities - Alcohol rehab centers run by charities are also available in limited numbers. These charities can be religious or secular; they can be locally, regionally, nationally, or internationally based. The services these provide are directly tied to their rehab philosophy and their funding sources.

3. Private - Private alcohol rehab centres tend to be what we think of when we consider residential rehab. Private clinics are funded by charging clients for services rendered. These offer residential programmes that can last anywhere from four to 12 weeks, with up to 12 months of aftercare to follow.

Medically Supervised Detox

Any alcohol rehab centre with a good success rate offers medically supervised detox for those with dependency issues. Medically supervised detox involves prescription drugs and care from experienced professionals. It is an essential part of permanently overcoming an alcohol addiction.

There are times when outpatient or home detox is a better option for clients. Outpatient detox involves the client visiting a rehab facility on a daily basis where he or she can be medically examined and given medication to control alcohol cravings. As for home detox, it is usually a last resort option for those who need medical supervision but cannot travel to a rehab centre.

Rehabilitation Therapy

Once detox is complete, the recovering alcoholic moves into the therapeutic stage of rehab. This is what sets the alcohol rehab centre apart from standalone detox programmes. This is where a life is truly changed by addressing the underlying issues responsible for addictive behaviour.

Rehabilitation therapy seeks to get at the heart of those mental and emotional issues that drive addiction. They utilise a number of different therapies, including something known as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). This therapy retrains the thinking so that the individual can come to terms with his or her issues and deal with them effectively. CBT is a highly successful therapy for alcohol recovery.

Alcohol rehab centres are changing lives by treating recovering alcoholics at every level. It is important that we support their efforts here in the UK. Without the services they provide, recovering alcoholics and their families will be left with limited options for effective treatment. That is simply unacceptable.