What to Look for In A Quality Treatment Facility

There are more treatment centers than ever popping in response to the nation’s unprecedented drug addiction problem. While this may mean increased access for patients who truly need help, it also means the heightened potential of landing in a facility that’s ill equipped to deal with your care needs or those of your loved one. The reality is that not all addiction treatment facilities are created equal and it’s important to distinguish those that offer quality care from those that lack the resources, understanding and expertise to truly help you and your family.

When we’re looking for help with drug and alcohol addiction, we want it immediately. The last thing we want to have to deal with is exhaustive research on our care options. This is why we should have a sober and lucid loved one help us with our research. This is one of the most important decisions that we will ever make, and we want to make sure that our time, money and efforts aren’t wasted on the wrong program.

With that in mind, here are a few things to look for when making our selection.

Medically Supervised Detox – Detoxification and withdrawal management are fundamental parts of the treatment process. It’s important that the program you choose either offers referral to a quality detox center or, better yet, onsite medically supervised detox by themselves. Detox is a medical procedure that should be overseen by a trained group of experienced and qualified professionals. Any program that doesn’t offer assistance with this stage of treatment is, frankly, one to be avoided.

Aftercare Planning – No matter how much work we do in treatment, the transition back into everyday life can be truly jarring. It’s important that the treatment facility we choose can offer a comprehensive plan to help us cope with temptation and arrange logistical support so we can better avoid relapse. This can simply mean applying the work that we did with our therapists and leveraging our heightened self-awareness to thrive in recovery. The period immediately following treatment can leave us especially vulnerable; it’s important that we have the support we need to build our strength and confidence.

Wide Variety of Therapies – We never really know what techniques we’re going to respond to in a therapeutic context. It’s helpful to have a wide variety of options, whether it’s yoga, music therapy, meditation or anything else. Generally speaking, the more therapies a facility offers, the more resources they have. Even if we don’t think we’ll benefit from alternative or holistic therapies, we may be pleasantly surprised by the end of our program.

It’s also important to determine whether or not we need inpatient or outpatient treatment. This determination will either add or eliminate the residence variable (whether or not we need to be concerned with housing) of our treatment search. At the end of the day, looking for treatment is never a pleasant process, but some due diligence can make it much easier.