Private rehab treatment for alcohol or drug addiction can be expensive, and low-cost or free alternatives are seldom available. It's easy to sign up too quickly for treatment, without a proper understanding what to look for.
Before taking the plunge, here's everything you need to know when shopping around for addiction help in Gwersyllt.
Step 1 - What Do You Need?
When you or a loved one are finally ready for help, it can be tempting to pick up the phone and sign up for the first rehab clinic you can find. But, choosing the wrong provider early on, might mean drawing the wrong conclusions about recovery, and what's possible for your future.
Detox & Rehab: Short Term .v. Long Term
Some providers can try to sell Rehab, and even Aftercare, upfront, before you've even started treatment, but do you really need all these?
- Do you need all three stages of treatment, detox > rehab > aftercare? (Be honest).
Opting for the full package will provide more support, but think about if it's necessary.
Treatment Near Gwersyllt
Amongst the concerns we hear each day, the location of the clinic is one of the most common. But sometimes, you can be too close to home.
Unless you're extremely unwell, consider anything up to 100 mile radius and focus instead on quality of care.
Clinics have to pass muster with regulators re the basics of detox and rehab, but how supportive is their team? What is the staff:client numbers ratio? What happens if you struggle in future? Just a few minutes work here, can pay off down the line.
More Than One Previous Detox?
You should know: your progress in treatment can depend heavily on the strength of the clinic staff around you, and the support of your peers.
This can be especially important where you have complex drug or alcohol detox needs.
While an admissions team or sales team can give an indication of likely detox methods, this is of course finalised and decided upon by the supervising medical professionals present.
Ask if the clinic you're dealing with has specialist professionals who've delivered your detox in the past, and with what results.
KEY QUESTIONS
- How long should detox take, for me?
- Is dealing with someone with my intake level and addiction history, a normal everyday client for your clinic?
- If there are unexpected issues during my detox, what happens?
Step 2 - Understand How Rehab Works
How does admitting to rehab work?
Private rehab clinics are centres where all the normal addiction treatment options like detox, therapy, and relapse prevention, are provided in a private setting, all under one roof, with specialists in the field. With your own room, and seclusion away from the addiction triggers in normal life, you have a chance to truly recover.
The provider you're working with should ask you some questions over the phone to make sure you're a good match - it's important to give honest answers, to avoid complications later.
How Do I Monitor Progress?
Whilst all clinics operate a group environment generally, most should look to help you keep track of your progress, and monitor treatment goals reached.
If staff do not offer to help draw up a personalised care plan of action for your clinic time, and longer recovery journey, you've chosen the wrong provider.
This is your opportunity to make sure your key sticking points, triggers, and recurring issues, are factored in, and will get appropriate attention during your stay. Any input at this stage will likely pay dividends later.
KEY QUESTIONS
- Is the care planning the same for every client, or is it personalised to me?
- How do I know if I'm on the right track, during treatment?
- Do you take account of my history of addiction when making treatment care plans?
- How is care planning done?
Life Inside The Clinic
What is it like being in a rehab clinic?
Asking some key questions before admitting to a clinic can help you get a sense for what life is like in treatment, before committing.
Since residential rehab is a group environment, most clinics provide each client with a daily agenda, every night for the following day. The agenda lets you know what's happening when, and what activities you should participate in.
The normal first stage of treatment is detox. The pace of your treatment can vary. For example, for those with lighter intake levels, progression beyond the detox phase of clinic work can happen in just a few days. Others may take much longer than this to progress. This level of variance between individuals is very normal.
Also, make sure to ask to arrange a visit to look around the clinic, first.
KEY QUESTIONS
- What see inside photos do you have, of the clinic, online?
- Do I take part in daily activities even during detox?
- How do I arrange to see inside the clinic, before admitting?
- When do you expect me to start taking part in the therapy process?
A Word About Covid-19
Recovering from addiction is a group-oriented exercise.
Those in long term recovery achieved it, only by accepting help from others, and helping them, in return.
But recovery gains can only be made safely, with consideration to other health factors, in the bigger picture.
Step 3 - Managing The Budget For Treatment
Whilst private clinics offer fast access to specialist help, financing the stay in treatment needs planning.
The differences between public and private options are vast.
Automatically choosing the lowest price provider can lead to poor care levels inside the clinic, detrimental to your recovery progress.
Instead, seeking out non-brand name providers, who spend less on business and more on care levels, can pay off.
Get a rough indication of costs at this stage by calling a few clinics direct and make it clear your call is just an initial enquiry, to avoid over-committing to one provider too early.
Other Ways To Get Help
Local Mutual Aid Meetings
Big Book, or 12 step meetings, are available via groups such as AA and NA, across most towns and cities.
If you're just starting out in recovery though, detoxing comfortably first, will undoubtedly be the priority.
Thousands benefit from local community groups every week. But the first stage of help - physically detoxing - will need more specialist care.
NHS Assistance
Immediate help to detox from NHS services is usually not possible. It's more common to receive a referral to a local Drug/Alcohol support team, and begin weekly meetings with a keyworker.
Hospital or clinic based detox places strain on resources and funding, and is usually only available for extreme cases.
Families and friends often agree to jointly finance private treatment, in cases where no publicly funded options are available.
Step 4 - Get Impartial Consumer Reports
Assessing a provider's standard of care is important - but can be tricky for the layman.
The industry regulators - the Care Quality Commission in England & Wales, and the Care Inspectorate in Scotland, publish the only independent reporting on standards available, for private rehab clinics.
These two regulators ensure clinics are up to scratch, and send written reports to clinics with their findings, on how they can improve their service, and potential penalties, if they don't comply.
Treatment providers are graded against standardised performance measures like environment, care standards, and support provided to clients.
Regulatory Reviews - The Need To Knows
In some visits, the provider is made aware in advance, that the inspection is occuring - these are what's known as "Announced" inspections. Other times, inspection teams show up without warning - these are "Unannounced" inspections - therefore, to get the most reliable information, look for reports which state the inspection was Unannounced.
Step 5 - Complete The Initial Assessment
With the homework all done, it's time to get serious about arranging treatment at one of the providers you've shortlisted.
When you call the admissions team for the clinic you’ve chosen, expect to go through an initial telephone assessment, and pay a deposit towards treatment, as explained above.
You can normally complete the necessary steps over the phone in 20 minutes or less, and then make an initial deposit towards treatment, that's used to hold the room in your name, until you arrive at the clinic.
If you’re paying via an insurance policy, this is the time that will get sorted out also.
Step 6 - Arranging Payment
As mentioned, paying a deposit secures your room in the clinic, prior to arrival.
Most clinics will expect a deposit of £2,000 or more.
It's less common nowadays to see treatment clinics themselves offering payment plan options.
Make sure to get an email confirmation of deposit paid, and confirmation of what happens next.
Balance To Pay
The balance to pay for treatment, if not paying via insurance or a third party, is usually due when you arrive to admit to the clinic.
It's a good idea to pay this promptly, to avoid excess charges.
Step 7 - Admitting To A Clinic
If you don't already have it, contact the admissions team and confirm your date and time of arrival.
Pack enough essentials for your treatment duration, like:
Check your booking confirmation for advice about mobile phone usage, internet access, visits, leisure facilities, and any special arrangements for covid-19.
Treatment centres must co-ordinate their clinical and medical teams availability for your arrival - so being on time matters. Try to arrange your transport to the clinic, ahead of time, to make sure things run smoothly.
From this point on, your recovery journey has begun!
Print Our Cheatsheet To Easily Compare Providers
Thanks so much for reading the ultimate guide on finding rehab treatment in Gwersyllt.
We put together a list of all the right questions to ask a clinic, in a fill-in-the-blanks cheatsheet format.
Download it on our main guide page here (direct download - no sign up required). You can download it here.
Thanks for reading our free guide.
Abbeycare's UK clinics are available to those in Gwersyllt.
We've helped hundreds (thousands probably) move beyond addiction, and start a new life.
There's no substitute for the years of experience we've had, assisting with even the most complex cases.
Our team can even get transport organised too, if needed, from your location (with an extra charge).
You can read our inspection reports from regulatory bodies, on our clinic pages, here: Abbeycare Scotland, and The Hygrove.
Our admissions team will help you navigate the treatment options.
The Abbeycare medical team can help you detox comfortably.
Our therapy team are available, to help you identify triggers, patterns, and start truly overcoming them.
Our clinic team - many of them in recovery personally - are ready to get you started.
Are you ready?
If you're ready for help, call our admissions team direct, on 01603 513 091.
Nearby: