Rehab Alway

Finding the right alcohol or drug rehab options for you or a loved one can be overwhelming - at a time of greatest need. It's easy to sign up too quickly for treatment, without a proper understanding what to look for.

Step 1 - Understand What You Need

At the bottom of another binge it can feel all too easy to quickly commit to the nearest clinic offering a fast detox. But considering first, what your treatment needs truly are, can help you pay for rehab just once, and not twice.

Detox & Rehab: Short Term .v. Long Term

- Have you tried treatment previously, without success? Or even, tried going it alone without professional help? (Be truthful).

Be honest with yourself here, as going the detox-only route initially, when underlying work is truly needed, often ends in paying for treatment twice, not once.

Treatment Near Alway

Caught up in the need for detox, many will commit too early to a clinic as close as possible to home, without thinking ahead.

Complex Detox Requirements

The quality of support you receive from the clinic team, can make or break recovery results.

You'll want a clear idea here of what detox protocol you're getting, and what help is available during it.

Most clinics have standardised approaches for routine detoxes for alcohol etc, but anything more complex will need specialist input from suitably qualified professionals.

Ask around to find a clinic with professionals who have experience in detoxing your substance type specifically, e.g. a high dose methadone detox is complex, and should be undertaken only by professionals with substantial experience.

Step 2 - Understand How Rehab Works

How does admitting to rehab work?

Rehab clinics are not hospitals with shared wards - you'd normally have your own room in the clinic for the length of your stay. Some clinics also offer shared rooms - although this has become less common since the advent of coronavirus.

Expect to complete a pre-admissions screening process over the phone - this is quite normal.

How Do I Monitor Progress?

Clients are normally encouraged to actively monitor their progress towards recovery treatment goals and outcomes.

This means a 'care plan' is drawn up, and agreed by you and your assigned care manager.

This document will be used as your yardstick to measure progress and keep track. Don't miss this bit out.

Life Inside The Clinic

What actually happens in a clinic, every day?

Asking some key questions before admitting to a clinic can help you get a sense for what life is like in treatment, before committing.

Every day new clients enter treatment and previous ones leave. Although everyone is at different stages of treatment, providers must keep everyone on track. This means preparing and issuing a daily agenda. This will give a clear indication of what activities happen when, where, and what's expected of you.

Detox from alcohol or substance misuse in a clinic can last anywhere from a few days to several weeks, depending on multiple factors. Detox could last just a few days. Others may take 7 days or longer. This variation is natural.

Call the clinic's admissions team to arrange to look around the inside of the centre before completing any paperwork. This can give you a real feel for how the day to day looks and feels.

A Word About Covid-19

Rehab is almost always a group exercise, even at higher end clinics.

Only with the support of others on the journey, can we hope to make a full recovery.

Achieving recovery in a covid-19 world, however, means making some accommodations along the way.

Step 3 - Planning A Budget For Rehab

Decide firstly, are you going down the public or private route?

Third sector organisations providing full stack care (detox, therapy, aftercare) under one roof are few and far between, but worth investigating in your area.

If you're tempted to opt for the cheapest clinic straight away, think twice.

Cheap providers often involve minimal rooms or living conditions, and poor therapy. Look instead for smaller providers, with more personal attention.

Call round a few providers, using our cheatsheet if needed - and get a feel for pricing, and whether they can meet your needs comfortably. Don't commit to anything just yet.

Other Ways To Get Help

Local Mutual Aid Meetings

Most cities and towns across the world play host to mutual aid style meetings locally, like the 12 step driven groups of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous.

Whilst mutual aid plays a big part for many, later in their recovery journey, those at the start will need professional help to detox safely.

Community support is invaluable, at the right stage in the process. But the first stage of help - physically detoxing - will need more specialist care.

Public Healthcare For Addiction

Whilst the NHS do have addiction keyworkers in different regions, they’re normally overrun with enquiries and demand on resources, meaning obtaining funding for a rehab stay is unlikely.

This is not a question of lack of intention to help, but more of resources and strain the healthcare system experiences, under heavy demand.

In reality, where the need for detox is urgent, we often see families and groups of friends pooling funds together, to help a loved one access treatment faster, from a private provider.

Step 4 - Find Objective Reviews

While many providers will claim to show many positive reviews, their legitimacy is not always clear.

Our heroes here are the industry watchdogs - The Care Commission, and The Care Inspectorate.

Important - Regulator Inspections

There are 2 types of clinic inspections you need to know about - "Unannounced" and "Announced". "Unannounced" means the inspection team arrived at the provider with no forewarning; "Announced" means the clinic were aware of the visit in advance; therefore, always seek out reports detailing "Unannounced" inspections, to get the clearest picture possible, of day-to-day standards, inside the clinic.

Step 5 - Complete The Initial Assessment

Now is the time to come to a decision about where you're completing treatment.

The clinic team will ask you to complete a telephone questionnaire, to make sure they can meet your needs.

An assessment shouldn’t normally take more than 20 minutes, after which you can pay any required financial deposit over the phone and expect some form of booking confirmation and receipt of payment.

Now is also the time to finalise any other arrangements re payment, like paying via insurance policy.

Step 6 - Arranging Payment

As mentioned above, paying a deposit means the clinic can prepare for your arrival, and allocate your room booking.

Depending on total costs, your deposit could be anywhere from £500 - £3,000 or more.

You won't find many clinics offering payment options directly, unfortunately.

You should expect some kind of booking confirmation from the provider, usually by email, after any deposit or balance payment is made.

Outstanding Balance

Treatment providers will expect payment for the remainder of the balance of treatment, upon arrival the clinic.

Pay this on time to avoid surcharges that could quickly mount up later.

Step 7 - Admission Into Treatment

By now, you should have an agreed time and date of arrival at a clinic.

You'll usually be asked to bring certain essentials with you:

Rules re mobile phone and device usage varies from clinic to clinic - it's worth checking before you set off - how many devices are allowed, and what the internet usage policy is. Many clinics have a restricted use policy, to keep clients on track.

It's also worth ensuring travel arrangement ahead of schedule - as some providers with have surcharges for late arrival.

At this point, congratulations! Your recovery journey has already begun.

Print Our Cheatsheet To Easily Compare Providers

You've reached the end of our ultimate guide on finding the right rehab!

You'll find all the right questions to ask a treatment provider in our printable checklist.

You've completed our guide on finding the right rehab near Alway!

Abbeycare's UK clinics have been helping those in Alway.

We've worked with thousands from all over the world, and we can probably help you too.

In our 15 years, we've worked with even the most complex detoxes, needs, and issues.

Our team can even get transport organised too, if needed, from your location (with an extra charge).

Our admissions team are ready to help.

Our medical team are ready to help you detox, comfortably.

Our therapists are ready to help you get the insights you need, to stop the pattern of addiction, and reclaim your life.

The Abbeycare clinic team are ready to help you co-ordinate everything.

The only question is - are you ready?