Do you or a loved one need addiction treatment for alcohol or drugs? Choosing the wrong provider can mean serious consequences for future sobriety, relationships, and family life.
If you're considering rehab treatment in Pembroke Dock, first check our guide below - this is the UK’s no 1 guide on how to find the right rehab centre for you.
Step 1 - Early Decisions About Treatment Can Change Your Opinion Later
Having newly made the life changing decision to get help can feel rejuvenating....as well as more than a little vulnerable. 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
A normal stay for alcohol or drug treatment would include the three stages of detoxification, rehabilitation, and aftercare planning. But there's no point in spending more than you have to.
- Unsure if you need detox, rehab, aftercare, or all 3? (Be honest).
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.
Clinic Location
Understandably, when feeling low and needing detox, most will opt for a clinic close to where they live.
But there's more to consider, in your long term sobriety journey, than the clinic next door.
Therapy levels vary wildly from clinic to clinic, and therapist to therapist. What feedback do you have on the clinic you plan to attend? Just a few minutes work here, can pay off down the line.
See all the locations Abbeycare serve, here.
A Past History Of Addiction
Getting the right help means being picky about the support you'll receive while in treatment.
If you've been detoxed in the past, and are looking for recovery afresh, it's a good idea to check on exactly what detox you'll get.
The medical team at a given clinic have the final say of course, but the admissions team for a provider should be well-versed enough to give you an idea of how your detox will proceed.
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.
KEY QUESTIONS
- In your experience, would someone with my detox needs be better suited for hospital detox?
- Is dealing with someone with my intake level and addiction history, a normal everyday client for your clinic?
- If I have questions about my specific detox needs, who would I speak to?
Step 2 - The Rehab Need-To-Knows
How does admitting to rehab work?
For in-patient treatment stays, you'll have your own room in the clinic, where you stay, live and sleep, for anywhere from 7-84 days or more (28 days is the average stay).
The clinic you enquire with, have to make sure they can look after you and your needs for detox and rehab. They'll ask some standard questions about your usage, and history with addiction. This is normal, and it's important for them to rule out extreme cases where their environment may not be safe, or provide a comfortable detox experience.
The Plan For Treatment
Reputable clinics will try to personalise the care you receive, as far as possible.
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. Make sure to take an active part in this stage.
KEY QUESTIONS
- What sort of care planning takes place when I enter the clinic?
- Do you have a one size fits all approach to treatment, or do you work with each individual's needs?
- What will my care plan include?
- Am I passed from one staff member to another, as shifts change?
A Day In The Life
What Is Day To Day Life Like, In Treatment?
It can be tricky to discern exactly what happens each day in treatment, as the routine can vary.
In treatment, you should receive some form of agenda for each day of the week. This will give a clear indication of what activities happen when, where, and what's expected of you.
The time it takes to feel better at the initial stages of treatment is personal to each individual. 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. Sometimes it will take longer than this to get a clear head again. This variation is natural.
Visiting the clinic before committing to treatment will also help you gauge just what the everyday is like, inside a centre, before committing financially.
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 get reassurance about the look and feel of the clinic, prior to arranging admission?
- How quickly after detoxing can I get started on the remainder of the programme elements?
How Does Covid-19 Affect Rehab Centres?
They say, that rehab and recovery are team sports.
Only with the support of others on the journey, can we hope to make a full recovery.
But doing so safely, in the age of Covid-19, means ensuring the clinic you choose has provisions in place to guard against risk of infection.
Step 3 - Rehab On A Budget
Decide firstly, are you going down the public or private route?
Public services are accountable to the tax payer, and seldom offer more specialist interventions.
Automatically choosing the lowest price provider can lead to poor care levels inside the clinic, detrimental to your recovery progress.
Working with minimalist care, in a clinic with spartan conditions is not conducive to personal breakthroughs. Instead, look for alternative providers with smaller programmes, headcount, and overheads, to strike the right balance.
Use this step to get a clear idea of what rough budget you can commit to treatment, ringing round a few providers for initial pricing if needed.
Alternative Options
AA/NA/GA Meetings
Even since covid-19, Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous groups are still available, although most have now adopted online platforms to hold meetings, these can still be a rich source of support.
For most at the start of the recovery journey though, detox options are a very real need, and not something that can be obtained without more specialist help.
Thousands benefit from local community groups every week. But for short term help for detox, you'll need professional assistance.
NHS Assistance
Requesting a referral to your local CAT (Community Addictions Team) from your GP normally means being assigned to a local keyworker who will help you keep track of intake, effects it has, etc, but obtaining short-term rehab help via public healthcare, is unlikely.
Hospital or clinic based detox places strain on resources and funding, and is usually only available for extreme cases.
Aggregating funds together, between friends and family, can be a good approach to securing private treatment instead, where the individual can't finance it themselves.
Step 4 - Get Impartial Consumer Reports
Opinions on different clinics' standards of care are ten a penny on the internet, but how do you know who to trust?
Enter The Care Quality Commission (E&W) and The Care Inspectorate (Scotland).
These two regulatory bodies inspect rehab clinics on a regular basis (usually annually) and produce written reports on their findings.
Clinics are graded across multiple areas of care, including support standards, management, and clinical environment.
Regulatory Reviews - The Need To Knows
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 - Choose A Clinic
Now that you've read up, and compared a few clinics, it's time to arrange admission.
Expect to go through a few questions initially, when you call the provider you've chosen - this is normal.
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.
Now is also the time to finalise any other arrangements re payment, like paying via insurance policy.
Step 6 - Financing Treatment
Most clinics will expect payment of a deposit, toward the full balance of treatment, prior to admitting.
Expect to pay anywhere from £1,800 to £4,000 to book a place in a treatment provider's clinic.
The days of clinics offering finance facilities directly, are mostly gone, although a few do still offer in-house plans to pay for treatment.
Ask for an email confirmation of booking, and get clarity on when the admission details will be finalised, and your date of admission confirmed.
The Remaining Funding
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.
Pay this on time to avoid surcharges that could quickly mount up later.
Step 7 - Get Started
Make note of the day and time you're due to admit to treatment.
Bring along a few supplies with you, like those below. You should be able to arrange for anything else, after arrival.
It's worth checking usage policies re internet and wifi, and devices, as you may be disappointed if the clinic you've chosen asks you to hand them in, before your stay begins, without prior warning.
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.
Take a well-deserved rest, as the road to recovery opens up before you.
Easy Rehab Q&A Cheatsheet
You've reached the end of our ultimate guide on finding the right rehab!
Thanks for reading our ultimate guide to finding treatment help in Pembroke Dock.
Abbeycare operate UK clinics providing help for alcohol or drug addiction for those in the Pembroke Dock area.
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.
Even if you need transport arranged to get here, we can probably help with that too.
Our clinic inspection reports are available on the relevent service pages: Abbeycare Scotland, Abbeycare Gloucester.
Our admissions team are ready to listen to your needs.
Our medical team can assist you to detox, safely, and comfortably.
Our therapy team are available, to help you identify triggers, patterns, and start truly overcoming them.
Our clinical team are ready to help you start the journey.
The only question is - are you ready?
If you're ready for help, call our admissions team direct, on 01603 513 091.
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