You can’t rush drug rehab. Addiction is a remarkably stubborn disease, one that can’t ever be eradicated overnight. On the contrary, the only successful drug rehab facilities are those which account for patients’ long-term needs, beginning with the first day of drug detox and extending through sober living and aftercare programs. If you or someone you care about is a victim of drug abuse, there’s simply no other way to get better.

The other practical implication here is that you have to be ready for an extended fight the day you check into a private drug rehabilitation center. Remember, drug rehab can only work if you make it work. No one can heal you against your will. No one can save you if you won’t save yourself. If drug rehab is going to work for you, it’s going to be because you commit yourself to your drug rehab program, for as long as it takes to get sober. Even the most exclusive luxury rehab in Los Angeles can’t take the heavy lifting out of the healing process. If you want to get better, you’re going to have to work for it.

Rehabs break addicts down. No matter who you are, no matter where’ve you’ve been…drug rehab will break down. Rehabs work only and entirely by virtue of personal transformation: by helping addicts remake themselves from the inside out, into people capable of facing the world and themselves without resorting to drug abuse. Rehabs break addicts down for no more or less a reason than that they have to. If you’re going to get healed, you’ve got to start from scratch.

Rehabs, as should probably go without saying, aren’t gentle, and they aren’t fun. Rehabs are and must be home to at least a little suffering, because the sort of change on which sobriety must be predicated never comes easy. Rehabs will test even the strongest will, and try even the staunchest nerve; they will break you down, whoever you are…and I promise that nothing in the world will ever be more worth it. Rehabs save lives. That’s all you need to know, really: Rehabs save lives. Don’t wait to start learning the truth for yourself.

Interventions have got to be about love. An intervention can’t work if it’s driven by angst, or acrimony; if you want an intervention to be successful, you’ve got to remember why you set out to conduct it in the first place: to convince the addict you care about that he’s got to get help.

If someone you care about has slipped into a pattern of compulsive drug abuse, you’re sure to have plenty of grievances against him. An intervention, though, isn’t the forum in which to air them. Interventions only matter..are only successful…if they result in an addict’s enrolling in a drug rehab center. Short of that, nothing could ever be important.

The intervention process is never easy. The good news is that professional intervention counselors can help you along the way, and that the right guidance can make a world of difference. For your own sake, for the sake of whomever it is that needs help…don’t wait another day to make the right decision. An intervention is always too important to put off until tomorrow.

Drug treatment centers are something of a taboo in polite society: everyone knows they exist, but no one wants to talk about them. The result, unfortunately, is a preponderance of misinformation; they less people say, the more the facts get obscured—and the more concerns potential patients have about entering sobriety programs. In that sense, clearing the air around treatment centers—telling the truth, and setting the record straight—is an essential precursor to the recovery process.

First, let’s be clear about what a drug treatment centers are not. They are not, importantly, the squalid horror shows depicted on television and in popular movies. They are not run by callous nurses, or sadistic doctors. They are not filled with dank rooms and ill-lit hallways; their walls do not echo with the plaintive moans of anguished patients. That sort of fantastic imagery makes for good entertainment, but—thankfully—it’s a far cry from reality. As is so often the case, Hollywood has it all wrong.

Drug treatment centers—real drug treatment centers—are places of healing. Places of growth. Places where recovering patients can lose the scars of their old addictions, and take the first steps on the road to a new life. The treatment center taboo is anything but a sound one; there’s nothing to hide, nothing not to talk about. Recovery is by no means an easy process, but it is—can be, in the right environment—a joyous one. Drug treatment centers, more than anything, are bastions of hope: hope hard and unrelenting; hope challenged and defiant; hope honest, most of all, and resilient, no matter how difficult the course or how rocky the way.

In practical terms, that hope finds its structure in a handful of distinct treatment center models. The unique organizational formats correspond to specific phases of the recovery process, so that an individual patient may spend time in a number of different “types” of center—detox, primary care, extended care, halfway house, 3/4-way house, sober house—en route to his or her final state of health. Understanding each type in turn is important for anyone determined to overcome addiction.

Detox centers, as their name suggests, are designed to see patients through the detox process. Staffed by expert medical professionals, detox centers provide the essential services for addicts in withdrawal: therapeutic medicine, psychological counseling, and intensive supervision. Patients can expect to stay in detox centers as long as their withdrawal symptoms persist, usually for anywhere from three days to two weeks.

Primary care centers are at the core of the recovery process. A person said to be in “rehab” is generally in a primary care center—a place where he or she begins to develop the skills required for sober living. Primary care centers, which often contain in-house detox centers, continue to provide the medical and psychological support needed by the recovering addict. They also help patients embark upon the road to emotional and spiritual healing, mostly through the careful maintenance of a nurturing group dynamic. Primary care programs generally last for a minimum of thirty days.

Extended care centers offer continuing treatment after a patient’s first month of recovery. They build upon the gains made in primary care centers, with a particular emphasis on advanced group interactions and personal introspection. Lasting anywhere from three to six months, extended care helps to reinforce the values and lessons developed during early recovery, with the ultimate goal of helping a patient commit to lasting sobriety.

Halfway houses are the first step back into the “real world,” and aim to gradually reintroduce a patient to the rigors of independent living in a safe, structured environment. Staffed by expert counselors and characterized by the tight restrictions they impose upon their residents, halfway houses allow the patient to test the waters of functional sobriety—by holding a steady job, for example—without losing the support network of a formal recovery institution. Patients usually stay in halfway houses for up to six months.

3/4-way houses are like advanced halfway houses: they continue to provide a safe and structured environment for a patient’s reintroduction to sober living, but they’re designed to develop personal accountability by loosening the restrictions imposed upon residents. They amount to a sort of stepping-off point for recovered addicts, the last staging area before they strike out “on their own” in a sober world.

Sober houses, finally, reintroduce patients to fully independent living. At a sober house, a patient is surrounded and supported by other recovered addicts—by other people who’ve “been there,” and know how it feels; by other people who can help to ensure that the final transition to sober living is a smooth one. The simple triumphs achieved at sober houses might not make for the stuff of big-budget movies, but at the very least they give addicts—all addicts—reason for hope. Hollywood should be so lucky.

Addiction treatment is, in no uncertain terms, the treatment of addiction. Of course, of course: that much should be obvious, right? A no-brainer. A foregone conclusion. But look at the statement again. Think about it, mull it over, let it take root in your head. Addiction treatment is the treatment of addiction. What does it mean, exactly? What’s the buried truth—the deeper truth—there between the words? Pay special attention to the last part of the sentence: the treatment of addiction. Not of addicts—of addiction. Small as it may seem, that distinction—of addiction versus of addicts—is of critical importance to the recovery process.

Addiction is a disease. Period. It’s not “like” a disease; it’s not “almost” a disease. It is a disease, same as AIDS or cancer or any other more “conventional” ailment for which millions of American patients receive treatment. An addict is not an addict because he or she has some gross personal flaw—not anymore than a diabetic is a diabetic because of his or her lack of ethical character. Addicts, like diabetics, are sick. Clinically sick. Scientifically sick. Sick in a way that needs healing. Sick in a way, most importantly, that can and must be treated.

And so we’re back to square one: Addiction treatment is the treatment of addiction. Not addicts. Addiction. Addiction treatment aims to cure the patient, to combat the disease—addiction—which has made him or her sick in the first place. Addiction treatment does not pass judgment. It does not stigmatize, does not cast blame upon the individuals who receive it. Addiction treatment, simply put, aims to fix what’s wrong. Beyond that, all other considerations—moral, social, spiritual—are irrelevant.

But how, then, is that fixing accomplished? How does addiction treatment actually work? Individuals weighing the merits of recovery programs—either for themselves or for someone they love—often have questions about the most essential elements of the treatment process: conceptual methodology, structural organization, practical effectiveness. In order to make an informed, intelligent treatment decision, the potential patient—or his or her caretaker—must address each one of these areas in turn.

From a methodological standpoint, addiction treatment seeks to meet the specific needs of every individual patient; just as no two addicts are exactly alike, so should no two treatment programs be exactly the same. With that in mind, addiction treatment is geared towards treating the whole patient, not just his or her addiction. In practical terms, this means addressing a wide range of problems: medical, emotional, psychological, social, vocational, and legal. Addiction treatment is also defined by its inherently responsive, adaptable nature; as the needs of the patient change, the parameters of his or her treatment program must adapt in kind.

Broadly speaking, those parameters include two primary modes of treatment: behavioral and medical. Behavioral treatment aims to resolve the psychological underpinnings of an addict’s disease, both by exploring the roots of the addiction itself and by identifying the behaviors and thought processes that help sustain it. Behavioral treatment can include psychotherapy, cognitive therapy, and individual and group counseling. Medical treatment, by comparison, helps patients stabilize their lives—and stay off of illicit drugs—by providing chemical substitutes for addictive substances. Medical treatment techniques—like methadone maintenance programs for recovering heroin users, or nicotine patches for cigarette smokers—are effective insofar as they can ease the cravings associated with repetitive long-term drug use. In general, addiction treatment incorporates both behavioral and medical therapies in the healing process.

With respect to structural organization, addiction treatment is conventionally divided into a number of distinct phases, all of which function as complements to and outgrowths of one another. Addiction treatment typically begins with a one- or two-week detox program, which cleanses a patient’s system of all remaining drug residuals. From there, treatment transitions into primary care, wherein an individual continues to fight the physical ailments of post-addiction while developing the emotional and social skills necessary for functional sobriety. That process, which usually lasts for at least a month, often continues in extended care programs, which build on the gains made during primary care in a more advanced environment. For many patients, the recovery process continues in halfway houses, 3/4-way houses, and sober living houses, all of which build towards the ultimate goal of self-supervised independent living. Studies have indicated that addiction treatment is most effective when patients spend at least three months in their recovery programs, though longer stays—of six months or a year, for example—have been shown to demonstrably enhance an individual’s chances for long-term success.

And, finally, a word on that success. For most potential patients, this is the most important consideration: Will addiction treatment work? Will it fix what’s wrong with me? The short answer is a resounding yes. Though no program is perfect, addiction treatment is generally every bit as effective as treatment of other chronic diseases, like diabetes or asthma. A number of studies have shown that drug treatment reduces drug use by up to 60 percent, and leads to a significant decline in criminal activity both during and after a patient’s time in a recovery program. Treatment has also been shown to reduce the rate of HIV infection for intravenous drug users and increase an individual’s prospects for employment by as much as 40 percent. Granted, specific treatment outcomes depend on the particular circumstances of individual patients, and there is no guarantee that any one treatment program will be successful. That said, though, addiction treatment very certainly does give a patient reason to hope—which, when weighed against the alternative, would seem at the very least to be a chance worth taking.

There are many paths to sober living nowadays. In southern California sober living is possible through a myriad of avenues. Most people recovering from addiction find themselves looking for more than just one way to achieve sobriety. Too many times recovering addicts in other cities find subpar assistance. In southern California, there things seem to be getting better.

As times change, the ways of the past make way for the future. The antiquated methods of attaining sobriety have now relinquished the reigns to more effective means of gaining clarity. Someone seeking a southern California sober living lifestyle would find that treatment has not only become more tenacious in its scientific manner, but it has gained a spiritual side too.

Drug and alcohol rehabilitation could possibly be better in California than in any other place in the world. A patients journey could involve the application of treatment staples like the 12 step programs, group therapy sessions, and/or dual diagnosis meetings. Aside from the old school ways, one could find the bevy of holistic methods that California has to offer much more amiable. Southern California sober living seems more attainable with the help of acupuncturists, spiritual healers, and highly trained massage therapists. It doesn’t hurt to live in a place like southern California, a place that seems to attract more yoga instructors, chefs, and all around spiritually aware folk more than anywhere else on earth. Southern California sober living seems to be the best sober living there is.

To many recovering addicts, sobriety will remain a constant challenge.
Even with changes to their lifestyle and new relationships, many will
find the lifelong path of sobriety a challenge. The act of abstaining
from anything that gives us pleasure or relaxes us, is a tough challenge
for anyone. This is the lesson contained in the saying used by A.A.
members “one day at a time”. Sobriety can only be effectively
maintained through constant vigilance and discipline.

Due to the psychological issues surrounding sobriety, professional
support and reinforcement through private drug rehab or group therapy is
recommended, if not essential. Enrollment in a drug treatment center
is a vital step in the achievement of sobriety.
Detoxification removes the chemical traces from the system and frees the
body from the physical ball and chain of addiction and prepares the
mind. Therapy for the mental dependency covers the psychological and
behavioral issues surrounding addiction.

The objective of long-term sobriety is not as easy to maintain as it may
seem, especially in the case of alcohol or prescription drug abuse and over the
counter drugs, which are readily available and easy to obtain. The
support of of other individuals with experience in dealing with the many
external issues of recovery and sobriety, is vital to the effort. In the
case of other narcotics, a shift in lifestyle, friendships, and the support of a quality drug treatment center
are also a
crucial part of maintaining one’s sobriety.

Recovery houses can often be an addict’s only road to sobriety. It often seems that returning to a sober lifestyle can be next to impossible in the world in which we live. Recovery houses make that job more attainable than many of the methods out there.

Due to the amenities offered to recovering addicts in a recovery house setting, attaining a sober way of life can become an easier task. Recovery houses usually offer a myriad of paths to sobriety. One can find private on-campus living, the frequent use of the 12 step program, and regiments of personal responsibilities when dwelling in a sober living home. The purpose of most recovery houses is to offer such things to maintain the focus and stability of recovering patients. The 12 step program, being one of the most popular ways of achieving a sober lifestyle, is often a staple in the recovery house setting, and with good reason. Its proven track record speaks for itself.

There are more holistic approaches being used in more of today’s recovery houses. These days recovering addicts can find yoga instructors, Chinese medicine experts, massage therapists, and vegan chefs to name a few of the amenities found in today’s recovery houses. Depending on where one seeks treatment, benefits like Reiki healers, hypnotherapists, Shiatsu masseuses, and acupuncturists can also be at their disposal as well.

Here at Sunset Malibu, we provide a wide variety of resources and links in an effort to give back to the recovery community. You can find everything from links to sober living houses to articles on prescription medicine. Take a moment and look around our extensive collection of addiction resources.