Drug Rehab

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Call our local number 01603 513 091
Request Call Back
Call our local number 01603 513 091
Request Call Back
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KEY TAKEAWAY

Drug addiction is a devastating disease that inflicts havoc on both the addict and their loved ones.

Drug rehab centres are designed to provide addicts with an environment in which they can experience continual sobriety without any external pressures or stressors.

The goal of drug rehabilitation is to teach individuals how to live healthy lives free from addiction.

Understanding How Addiction Develops

Some succumb to addiction secondary to other issues, e.g. abusing painkillers after receiving them for surgery or an injury.

After using drugs in this way a few times, a form of positive reinforcement occurs.

The person can unconsciously begin to use the substance not only for its pain-killing effects, but for the other feelings of euphoria it brings, or for its ability to help other worries or stresses in life seem less painful.

From the biological perspective, when there are no drugs present in the brain to cause this effect, other neurotransmitters in the brain that are responsible for emotional equilibrium are depleted, and the individual experiences withdrawal symptoms such as depression, anxiety, anger, shaking, sweating, and other symptoms.

People can't stop when this habituation has developed to the point where the individual needs very frequent doses of the drug in order to function on a day-to-day basis.

At this point, the person is said to be addicted, and continually seeks drugs to remove these feelings of drug withdrawal symptoms.

What’s needed, is to restore balance in the natural amounts of brain chemicals the body produces, without external drugs.

Achieving this whilst minimizing withdrawal symptoms, and maximizing comfort levels, usually demands professional help.

Using Drugs To Cope

It’s easy to turn to drugs as a way to ‘feel ok’, or to bolster our self-esteem in some way. This is true for alcohol addiction, cocaine addiction, drug and alcohol addiction, or any other type of addiction.

If I’m using drugs to "feel important", then it’s possible I have a root belief in my mind that "I’m not important".

If I then heal the cause of this belief, therapeutically, so that I don't have the belief “I’m not important”, then I don't have the root reason I was turning to drugs.

In this scenario, by healing the mind, it becomes substantially easier to release the pattern of drug abuse in day-to-day life, and heal the longer-term addiction.

Of course, this is a simplification, and long term drug abstinence and success in recovery, take much more than this.

Nevertheless, this principle runs throughout the pattern of getting better for good – understanding your addiction.

Physical .v. Psychological Addiction To Drugs

Struggling with addiction can often be borne out of initial drug use for a legitimate reason, e.g. pain relief after an operation.

In other cases, peer pressure turned into the initial drug abuse, and the inability to stop.

For some, prescription drug addiction escalates after a period of ongoing use results in increasing tolerance levels.

On one level, addiction to drugs happens to people for the same reasons as any other addiction – it’s doing something for them.

The substance is helping them to feel a certain way – e.g. a sense of euphoria, or an ability to forget day-to-day stressors. In some way, every addiction solves a problem, of some kind.

An addict continues to use addictive drugs not to experience ongoing highs, but to avoid withdrawal symptoms.

Psychologically, during drug misuse, the individual often sees it as a way to continue a behaviour or unuseful pattern in another area of life, without having to focus on it directly, as the substance misuse removes the pain associated with facing up to the issue.

In other words, struggling with substance addiction is used as a compensation mechanism, either to gain good feelings, that weren’t there before, or to avoid negative feelings, that were there before drug use.

As we explain below, a key component of treatment options is to figure out this compensation mechanism, as it expresses itself in your life, and thereby heal it.

Do You Have A Drug Addiction?

How do I know if I’m addicted to drugs?

  • Do you have consistent thought patterns revolving around the next obtaining drugs and how to do so?
  • Are you prioritising drugs, over other activities in life or have physical dependency?
  • Are you opting out of day-to-day activities you would previously have been involved in, as a result of drug use?
  • Did your prescription drug use increase incrementally?
  • Are you lying or making excuses to compensate for your addiction in daily life?
  • Has drug use resulted in a significant impact in major areas of your life such as your job, your relationships, or your family?
  • Are you squandering resources like money or time on drug use, that should be directed more prudently?

What Is Rehab and Drug Addiction Treatment?

Admitting usually requires attending a clinic as an in-patient, for a period. This can vary for anything from 2-4 weeks or more for the initial treatment of the addiction.

The standard programmes for drug addictions treatment typically happens in 3 stages:

  • Detox Process
  • Rehab
  • Aftercare

Drug Addiction Treatment At Home

There are substantial risks and safety concerns involved in detoxing from any drug use, and as a result, detoxing from drugs outside the centre is not recommended.

In-Patient .v. Outpatient Treatment

Inpatient treatment is best and requires staying residentially, for a period of (e.g.) 14-28 days. Usually, a completely supervised detox would be prescribed by a professional and administered by clinical staff.

Inpatient treatment offers support after detox, to examine and overcome the deeper elements of the addiction.

For some, outpatient treatment means regular meetings with a key worker from a local drug alcohol team.

For others, outpatient help could mean accessing a daily dose of maintenance medication given by a doctor, with (e.g.) outpatient sessions of counseling or support whilst doing so.

In either case, concerns can arise rapidly. If you attend a counseling or keywork session, and make great progress, you can be triggered by an outside event on the way to your house, and all the progress is lost.

Whereas, in residential rehab, you’re removed from these triggers and allowed to make emotional gains, and keep them.

Drug Treatment

Let’s be realistic – overcoming drug abuse isn’t easy. But it is possible. This is what we do, 24/7 – we get it, inside out.

Here’s the process at our treatment centres.

Overview

  • Initial telephone assessment. During this, we can advise on the most appropriate detox and program for your case personally. This will determine the costs of your treatment. There are free addiction assessment plans as well. 
  • Bespoke program clearly laying out your treatment strategy
  • Detox – Medical assistance from professionals, administered over a period of time, that can resolve cravings and withdrawal symptoms, making treatment comfortable
  • Group therapy including CBT and the 12 step model, with immediate assistance, helps you to pinpoint the bottom-line concerns with the initial screening process.
  • Keywork meetings with your individually assigned case manager, help strengthen the progress made in therapy and includes 12 step progress and goal setting
  • Complementary therapies such as massage, reflexology, or reiki
  • Aftercare planning support, that’s individualized to you, including access to ongoing support groups
  • Weekly family support groups specifically for the families of Abbeycare clients
  • Optional Cognitive Behavioural Therapy following discharge

Program Duration

How long does the drug rehabilitation programme last? Your time in a rehab can vary, for anything from 14-28 days or more.

This will depend on a number of elements, such as your previous relationship with administering drugs, current intake, health problems, and other specifics. We can assess these with you individually, when you call, and suggest a duration of treatment, and the associated cost. 

How Do Drug Rehab Clinics Operate?

Drug Detox

Drug rehabilitation for addiction treatment usually involves detox services, if you require it.

Following an initial consult, our residential staff will prescribe the optimum detox for your needs, to minimise withdrawal symptoms. You’ll take medication at certain points of the day, during your stay, with our help.

Therapeutic Help

Care Plan

Your care planning will clearly lay out an agreed set of goals for your treatment at Abbeycare. A dedicated case manager oversees your progress, throughout your stay at one of our services.

You’ll map out a strategy together, the outcomes you want from drug rehabilitation treatment and therapy, and later, come up with the aftercare support elements you’ll need when leaving the centre.

Insights from this strategy can be used as a yardstick to help measure your progress and define the support you'll need following treatment.

Keywork one-to-ones like this are fully bespoke. You’ll usually team up together like this 1-2 times per week.

Some centres focus on the outcome of addiction treatments, while others adopt alternative health based approaches to overcoming addiction.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Our specialists at our services know addiction inside out and will help you identify core issues of self, including beliefs, values, and patterns of behaviour, that are behind your addiction.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is an evidence based therapy, and meetings usually occur around 3 times per week. Some clinics use Dialectical Behavioural Therapy, as an alternative to CBT.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy sessions and therapy are delivered in a small circle of people deliberately.

Do not underestimate the power of multiple perspectives. Often, it is only with the contrast of another experience, that you’re able to place your own in context and truly interpret it. You’re unlikely to get this type of perspective in any outpatient setting, or going to meetings.

Working in a social setting is powerful. Another peer group, in the same situation, gives you the shared validation of your issues, but also the context and perspective that fosters internal change, quickly.

Your peers in the facility have shared similar a experience and arrived at the same place of addiction. No one is more able to get you. You will see yourself in them, and them in you.

Many past clients have come to us, afraid of being part of group, unaware that simply going to these meetings alone, is helping treat the pattern of isolation that is central to addiction itself.

Group therapy in rehab treatment can reduce shame and help us embrace the parts of us that need support the most. Participating allows an opportunity to witness that the supposedly shameful elements of addiction – the parts we thought no one else had – are in fact shared by everyone.

In therapy, we want to help you:

  • Discern the negative consequences and dysfunction in your life, resulting from drug dependence. 
  • Explain the events leading to your addiction, and your involvement in them. 
  • Clearly identify the reasons behind your addiction, and those enabling it (whom you thought were helping)
  • Recognise and work on triggers, conditionings, and associations involved in your drug use, and thereby help prevent them moving forward.

12 Steps

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is combined with the 12 step approach during therapy meetings in Abbeycare services.

We’ve found this a particularly powerful approach. During your treatment at Abbeycare you’ll cover step 1 in depth.

Rather than overwhelming spiritual rhetoric, we combine the most practical elements of step-work, with the insights into your addiction pattern, to help you make the progress you need. Drug rehab will deal with the most common drug addictions with help of other addiction specialists.

Meditation and Therapies

Once a week you’ll have a range of complementary therapy like massage, reiki, or reflexology, to augment your recovery and give you a taste of what can contribute to ongoing recovery moving forward.

Recovering from addiction is about working on all aspects of yourself. Regular treatments of massage, reiki, or reflexology help balance the body, and provide a taster of self-care elements you can continue, later in recovery.

Aftercare

Aftercare planning for lasting progress.

During your treatment at Abbeycare, we’ll help you map out a series of additional help, that will help your substance addictions recovery and sobriety, later.

Free aftercare is included in Abbeycare programmes, and comprises:

  • The best relapse prevention planning that accounts for your needs, personal circumstances, and intentions.
  • A detailed, practical strategy for abstinence – what will your first day in recovery look like? Where will you be? What will you be doing? Seeing, hearing, and feeling? We’ll help you get realistic.
  • A number of supports you can turn to when stressors in life arise. This takes account of your addiction triggers, and associations.
  • Supports to help you deal with the other elements of staying abstinent – that might not surface to be addressed during treatment.
  • Signposting to more specialist help, where appropriate. This could be specialist Mental Health support, or agencies for housing, employment, financial benefits, etc, as needed.

Your aftercare strategy is personal to you and will vary depending on your needs, circumstances, and progress during treatment.

We do all this in detail, deliberately – the more detailed this strategy is – the easier it is for you to follow through on, after treatment at one of our services. You can also check alcoholics' anonymous support session.

Substance Abuse Treatment Costs

How much does private treatment for substance misuse cost?

The price of addiction treatment depends on the duration of your treatment at Abbeycare. This in turn depends on what you’re seeking help for.

As an example typical minimum stays for e.g. opiate detox could be from 14 days, this would be a program focussed mainly upon detox elements and with less focus on a holistic recovery.

Whereas, one of our 28-day programmes allows more time for significant gains that can lead to long standing recovery success with detox from prescription drugs and treatment for addiction. An overview of the duration needed for each substance type can be seen in our comparison table here. Please see our pricing page for more info.

The minimum duration for drug addictions help at Abbeycare is 14 and extends to 28 days and upwards.

For pricing info for your unique needs ring direct on 01603 513 091, or access instant personalised pricing using Abbeybot below.

Important

Private treatment is not the same as admitting to an NHS hospital – should you require emergency treatment please attend your nearest Emergency Department a the NHS.

Always ask your GP for advice re help for drugs in the first instance.

FAQ

Where are your centres?

We have residential treatment centres in Erskine, Renfrewshire (Abbeycare Scotland), and Gloucester (Abbeycare Gloucester). Not all types of program features are available at all facilities. Please enquire for more info.

How quickly do clinics accept admissions?

The admissions process is simple and you can normally be admitted to treatment in 24hrs or less. For a free confidential assessment, please call direct on 01603 513 091.

I’m addicted to multiple substances, do you accept such cases?

In most cases, yes. The residential team will prescribe the detox medication required for your needs. The root problems concerning multi-substance addiction are usually similar to those in single substance addiction, and the therapy work will be the same.

I have a underlying complex mental health disorder, such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, can I still admit to the service?

Where complex health problems arise, we can assess them on an one-to-one basis. For these more complex types of cases, the best option is to contact us for help. 

I use high-dose methadone for opiate addiction, can I admit?

Usually, yes. Please see our methadone detox page for more information.

Will I need secondary care following rehab?

This depends on your unique circumstances, some will require additional secondary rehabilitation support following primary care treatment.

This happens sometimes for example if the person has a strong history of relapse, complex needs, or the rehab residential team recommends additional secondary care. Cases like this are assessed individually, and you can contact us for help.

What is the price?

The cost of residential treatment will vary depending on your unique needs.

For those suffering from a single substance addiction, and need a lot of support from others, this could be a 14-day treatment. 

Prices will vary from one provider to another. For a price estimate, use our Pricing bot, Abbey, below. Final pricing will depend on approval from our admissions and medical teams.

What is an inpatient centre like?

When you visit an inpatient unit, you stay in a residential rehabilitation service, full-time. You will have your own room and space.

After receiving help with the initial symptoms, you’ll start to take part in the therapy sessions. 

Later, you’ll receive help to figure out the aftercare elements of your recovery map/plan.

What to do after treatment?

Any residential rehab and drug misuse treatment is only the beginning of a lifelong recovery journey. The journey demands support, from people like a sponsor, or others in drug recovery, as well as mutual aid meetings, and a regular schedule. 

A treatment centre will usually help you learn more about what is available in detail before leaving the centre.

How to pick a rehab centre?

Treatments are varied, and choosing a provider for a drug addictions treatment and detox requires homework.

Most clients compare treatment facilities on their experience and ability to meet their needs, comparative measures might be history of addiction, location, price, and speed of admission. 

See our comprehensive guide on how to find the right rehab, in the Help & Advice menu, above.

How long does rehabilitation take?

Any treatment you undertake needs to be long enough to allow comfortable and safe detox and to allow you to consolidate your understanding in therapy, of how you arrived in drug addiction, and how to prevent it recurring. 

Attempting to rush through this process for other reasons, is unlikely to help you later.

Some will arrive at great insights regarding their drug use very quickly, for others it will take longer.

Any therapy process is a personal one and will vary from one person to another. A standard treatment lasts 28 days, longer or shorter durations are often available, depending on specifics.

Think of recovery as a lifestyle transformation you are embarking on – this will take a while to become everyday life.

How does rehab help a drug addict?

Rehab helps a drug addict to physically and chemically detox.

Then, therapy one-to-ones help tackle the  underlying psychological components of the drug addictions, which have led them to where they are at currently.

Rehab helps people learn about past behavioural patterns and events that turned into an addiction problem and therefore provides insights and support on how to overcome them, in a life of recovery.

How effective is rehab?

Like any process of self-improvement, treating addiction is as effective as the effort you put in.

Rehab provides a structured environment and a host of tools and support to complete drug detox, drug rehab therapy, and planning for the future. 

Those who put in minimal effort, avoid responsibility, and maintain social patterns present during active drug addiction, may be vulnerable to relapse following rehab.

But, those who actively are involved in the process, complete the therapy required, and embrace a new beginning, are well placed for long term outcomes.

How to involuntarily commit someone to rehab?

This is not possible. Treatment clinics in the UK admit individuals on the basis of voluntary admission and every visit is a desire to embrace recovery. 

Private clinics have no jurisdiction under the Mental Health Act and cannot detain clients against their will. Treatment and rehabilitation is a voluntary process.

Pricing

Abbeycare Pricing Bot

How To Book

For a free addiction assessment, call us direct on 01603 513 091.

About the author

Laura Morris

Laura Morris is an experienced clinical practitioner and CQC Registered Manager with over twenty years experience, over ten of which have been as an Independent Nurse Prescriber.

She has held a number of senior leadership roles in the substance use and mental health sector in the NHS, the prison service and in leading social enterprises in the field.

Last Updated February 28, 2024