New to addiction treatment? Clinic programmes and options for private addiction help can be confusing. Choosing the wrong provider can mean serious consequences for future sobriety, relationships, and family life.
Here's everything you need to know when buying rehab - including how to ask the right questions and weed out weaker options.
Step 1 - What Do You Want From Rehab?
There are a wealth of treatment options available for those fresh to the journey of recovery. But spending just a little time getting clear on what you truly need, can save a costly mistake.
Detox-Only, Versus Full Rehabilitation Programme
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.
- Do you need detox, or rehab? Think about this carefully.
Committing unnecessarily to all 3 stages of treatment may see you paying too much, but not having enough support down the line could also mean paying the cost of rehab again.
Finding Rehab Near Port Talbot
Thinking of treatment nearby? It's a natural response when feeling low.
Make comparisons instead, against level of care, support, and independent reviews from The Care Quality Commission (England & Wales) or The Care Inspectorate (Scotland).
Detox beds can be found in hospitals, and virtually any clinic. But does their long term support match your needs in the longer term? It pays to shop around here.
See all the locations Abbeycare serve, here.
Multi-Substance Detox, Or Previous Attempts At Rehab
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.
Multiple previous detoxes, or challenging liver issues, should mean you're extra careful that the clinic can accommodate your needs, both safely, and comfortably.
The clinic team over the phone should be able to give a rough indication of how they'll approach your treatment.
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
- Can you easily accommodate my detox needs?
- What professionals in the clinic are admininstering detox?
- If I have questions about my specific detox needs, who would I speak to?
Step 2 - Get The Low Down On What Happens Inside The Clinic
What should I expect, inside an addiction clinic?
You'll stay full time in a clinic, normally with a dedicated room and your own space, complete detox, and attend therapeutic sessions several times a week. Towards the end of your stay, the clinic should set up supports for the future. More about that later.
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.
In the best clinics, where personal attention is high, you'll work with an assigned case manager, throughout your stay, who should help you draw up a care plan, in this way.
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. This part is important and can determine your progress later, so don't skip it.
KEY QUESTIONS
- Is the care planning the same for every client, or is it personalised to me?
- How do you help clients measure goals and progress?
- Does care planning account for my detox needs, therapy needs, or both?
- Am I passed from one staff member to another, as shifts change?
A Day In The Life
Tell me about the daily routine in treatment?
Without actually being in the clinic, the closest you can get is to ask questions about the daily experience of life in the clinic.
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. The agenda lets you know what's happening when, and what activities you should participate in.
Factors such as previous detoxes, history of relapse, amount and duration of intake, and others, will determine how long the detox stage of treatment takes. Getting clear of the physical effects of alcohol or substance misuse in detox could take 3-6 days, for lighter use cases. Other times, it takes longer for the body to process the left-over substances. This level of variance between individuals is very normal.
Arranging a visit to the clinic, before committing any funding, can help reassure you of standards of care, and avoid a costly mistake. Ask about this.
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?
- When do I get to start taking part in the therapeutic help inside the clinic?
Rehab & Covid-19
Since rehab treatment is usually a communal environment, you should expect to have to accommodate others on the journey.
In fact, a big part of recovering in the longer term, is re-learning to interact with others, and break the old patterns of isolation.
But making headway in your recovery, at the expense of other health factors, won't help anyone.
Step 3 - Planning A Budget For Rehab
Whilst private clinics offer fast access to specialist help, financing the stay in treatment needs planning.
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.
Double check standards of care and therapy provided for lower cost providers - you may be surprised. Opt instead for a middle-tier clinic, with a better balance of cost to care levels provided.
Without committing yet, get in touch with at least 3 potential treatment centres and ask about costs and your needs. You'll also get some insight here as to how much attention each provider pays and their levels of care.
Options Beyond Rehab
Support In The Community
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.
If you're just starting out in recovery though, detoxing comfortably first, will undoubtedly be the priority.
AA, NA, and the big book groups have millions of followers and attendees, and have been very successful over the years. But initially, it's important to get professional help to detox safely, and comfortably.
NHS/Public Funding Options
Obtaining short-term detox from NHS services is unlikely, due to demand on resources.
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 - Read The Reviews
Assessing a provider's standard of care is important - but can be tricky for the layman.
Arm yourself from the outset, with the *only* truly impartial consumer report available for private clinics - the Care Quality Commission (England & Wales) and/or Care Inspectorate (Scotland) inspection reports.
These two regulatory bodies inspect rehab clinics on a regular basis (usually annually) and produce written reports on their findings.
Clinics are reviewed on quality and expertise of their service, staff, and care levels provided.
Regulatory Reviews - The Need To Knows
Inspections can be "announced" (the clinic is aware in advance) or "unannounced" (inspection teams arrive without warning) - so for the best insight into everyday care levels, check for unannounced reports.
Step 5 - Complete The Initial Assessment
At this point, you've got enough info to decide on one of the clinics you've seen.
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.
It's a good time at this point to also sort out any payment by insurance policy, or other means.
Step 6 - Deposits & Paying For Treatment
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.
Ask for an email confirmation of booking, and get clarity on when the admission details will be finalised, and your date of admission confirmed.
Remaining Balance
The remaining balance is normally paid for on arrival at the clinic, at the point of admission.
Interest on late payment for a significant sum like this can be significant, so it's worth getting this done on time.
Step 7 - Admission
Did you get a booking confirmation, containing the practical details, like date and time you're due to arrive for treatment? If not, request one now.
Most clinics will expect you to pack these basics:
Check your booking confirmation for advice about mobile phone usage, internet access, visits, leisure facilities, and any special arrangements for covid-19.
Make sure to finalise transport arrangements a few days in advance, to ensure you attend the clinic on time, and avoid any surcharges on delays on treatment.
And of course, enjoy your recovery!
Asking The Right Questions
Thank you for reading the ultimate guide to finding the right rehab treatment for Port Talbot.
Thanks for reading our free guide.
Abbeycare have central UK locations, and serve the Port Talbot area.
We've helped hundreds (thousands probably) move beyond addiction, and start a new life.
In these last 15 years, our experience has gone from strength to strength.
Our team can even get transport organised too, if needed, from your location (with an extra charge).
Our inspection reports from the regulators, are available on our clinic pages, here: Abbeycare Scotland, Abbeycare Gloucester.
Our admissions team are ready to listen to your needs.
Detox is possible, safely and comfortably, with the help of our medical team.
Our therapeutic team can help you identify the issues behind addiction, and stop the pattern in your life.
The Abbeycare clinic team are ready to help you co-ordinate everything.
Are you ready?
If you're ready for help, call our admissions team direct, on 01603 513 091.
