Category: Addiction Recovery

Finding a Drug Addiction Rehab Near Me

Doing it alone when trying to beat addiction is a risky bet.

It’s certainly doable with colossal willpower but it’s a major uphill battle when you consider everything you’re up against.

Kicking the habit while being in the same location, with the same negative influences and triggers as well as easy access to your drug of choice is a recipe for relapse. Not to mention the fact that getting through the withdrawal and the associated pain and discomfort may well be a life-threatening endeavor depending on what substances you’re on and the severity of your addiction.

If you’ve ever had the inclination to stop but haven’t been able to muster the strength to do so and found yourself contemplating the question, “how do I find a drug addiction rehab near me?”; now is the time to act on that and seek an answer.

What Is a Drug Addiction?

Addiction works in insidious ways and the reason many, many people need help overcoming it lies in what it does to the brain.

As defined by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) as a “chronic, relapsing disorder characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use despite adverse consequences. It is considered a brain disorder because it involves functional changes to brain circuits involved in reward, stress, and self-control. Those changes may last a long time after a person has stopped taking drugs”.

Therefore, they note, “it is considered both a complex brain disorder and a mental illness. Addiction is the most severe form of a full spectrum of substance use disorders, and is a medical illness caused by repeated misuse of a substance or substances”.

The key takeaway and idea to grasp is the fact that the brain is literally being rewired as the addiction carries on; functional changes to the brain circuits as they put it.

On top of that, to add insult to injury in a sense, you very well could be battling against your genetics too.

Is Drug Addiction Genetic?

NIDA found that “family studies that include identical twins, fraternal twins, adoptees, and siblings suggest that as much as half of a person’s risk of becoming addicted to nicotine, alcohol, or other drugs depends on his or her genetic makeup”.

A 2009 study pointed out that “both genetic and environmental variables contribute to the initiation of use of addictive agents and to the transition from use to addiction. Addictions are moderate to highly heritable. Family, adoption and twin studies reveal that an individual’s risk tends to be proportional to the degree of genetic relationship to an addicted relative”.

This was confirmed by another study in 2012 which noted: “twin studies indicate that genes influence each stage from initiation to addiction, although the genetic determinants may differ”.

In other words, if addiction runs in your family, you’re likely at a higher risk for it yourself and it makes it that much tougher to beat it.

Benefits of Going to a Drug Addiction Rehab Near Me

At this point you can clearly see how simply wanting to quit just isn’t quite going to be enough for most people. Overcoming your genetics, undoing the changes in the brain and in essence reconfiguring those wires takes time, energy and a supportive team.

The benefits of going to a drug addiction rehab center like Valley Recovery Center at Agua Dulce are that you get all of that and more.

Your treatment happens in a luxurious, soothing environment free from the stressors and triggers that you would have using in the past. You’ll be guided through a personalized rehab plan utilizing evidence-based methods and administered by a team of caring, dedicated and trained addiction specialists who are passionate about seeing you progress.

Reach out to us today to learn more about how we can help you.

Finding a Rehab That Accepts TRICARE

Serving proudly in the armed forces is something that stays with you forever and in many respects, that’s a wonderful thing. The idea of being part of something bigger than yourself or the random “thanks for your service” you may get and the pride you feel in those moments.

Those are endearingly positive takeaways.

On the contrary, there are other aspects of being in the military that are less savory. There’s the physical pain that lingers and there’s the mental suffering you carry with you, particularly if you saw combat in your deployment.

If left unchecked and untreated, these traumatic experiences can eventually turn into full-fledged substance use disorders.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) notes that “more than one in ten veterans have been diagnosed with a substance use disorder, slightly higher than the general population” and that an “estimated that between 37 and 50 percent of Afghanistan and Iraq War veterans have been diagnosed with a mental disorder. These conditions are strongly associated with substance use disorders (SUDs)”.

As it relates to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) note the following:

Almost 1 out of every 3 Veterans seeking treatment for SUD also has PTSD
More than 2 of 10 Veterans with PTSD also have SUD

With substance use disorders and PTSD wreaking havoc on the minds and bodies of both current and past service members alike, is there a solution?

Yes, there is.

Fortunately, treatment can work wonders in helping you beat your addiction and deal with the underlying trauma that led you there to begin with.

As a veteran or active-duty service member, there are a number of insurers that are specifically available to you, among them being TRICARE and the question then turns into: does TRICARE cover drug rehab? (Spoiler alert: yes, it does cover rehab).

What Is TRICARE Insurance?

If you haven’t heard of TRICARE, let’s introduce it briefly.

It was formerly known by the rather cumbersome name Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services or CHAMPUS but has since rebranded.

As per their website, “TRICARE is the health care program for uniformed service members, retirees, and their families” and most plans through them meet the requirements for minimum essential coverage as set out by the Affordable Care Act.

What Does TRICARE Cover?

In terms of the specifics of what they may cover for substance use disorders, it looks like this:

Inpatient services (emergency and non-emergency)
Intensive outpatient programs
Management of withdrawal symptoms (Detoxification)
Medication-assisted treatment
Mental health therapeutic services
Office-based opioid treatment
Opioid treatment programs
Partial hospitalization programs
Residential substance use disorder treatment

The only exceptions they explicitly state are aversion therapy and any unproven treatments.

Of course, coverage differs from plan to plan so what you’re entitled to depends on your specific plan.

If you’re among the many who’ve served or are currently active duty and are dealing with addiction, it’s imperative you get help with it because it’s not something that goes away on its own.

It builds and builds.

Eventually leading to this harrowing statistic; “suicide deaths among active-duty military and veterans exceed the rate for the general population. In 2014, veterans comprised more than 20 percent of national suicides, with an average of 20 veterans dying by suicide every day. In 2016, the suicide rate was 1.5 times greater for veterans than for non-veteran adults, after adjusting for age and gender”.

Reach Out to VRC Agua Dulce to Learn More About Addiction Recovery

At Valley Recovery Center at Agua Dulce, we’re honored to be a rehab center that takes TRICARE insurance and takes great pride in helping those who’ve served to get their lives back.

We can even help you determine exactly what you’re covered for.

Are Veterans Prone to Drug Addiction?

To say that life in the military is stressful is as obvious as saying the sky is blue. It’s a known thing and unfortunately, it just goes with the territory of serving.

Every aspect is taxing both mentally and physically from the rigors of training through to the harrowing experience of deployment.

It takes a toll. The whole thing. You don’t need a Hollywood biopic to know and sympathize with that.

Once you’ve decided to move on, the often difficult transition to civilian life awaits. While some folks are able to deal with it in a healthy way, others struggle mightily.

It’s not uncommon for men to develop a substance use disorder (SUD) to help them cope with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from what they’ve been through – particularly if they were in combat situations.

To that end, veterans with drug addiction are a real issue.

Do Veterans Suffer From Drug Addiction?

The short answer is yes. Yes, they do.

As the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) puts it, “Studies show PTSD and substance use problems are strongly related in people who served in the military and in civilians. Some people try to cope with PTSD symptoms by drinking heavily, using drugs, or smoking too much”.

The VA goes on to point out that “2 of 10 Veterans with PTSD also have SUD”.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), “among recent Afghanistan and Iraq veterans, 63% diagnosed with SUDs also met criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder”.

Additionally, as the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) says, veterans experience a “higher prevalence of pain and more severe pain than nonveterans, with young and middle-aged veterans suffering the most”. This led to an increase in opioid prescriptions for veterans as well as an increase in misuse.

Most troublingly is how this all leads to increased suicide rates among veterans. Rates that are notably higher than that of the civilian population.

Back in 2014, 20 veterans died by suicide every day as per NIDA.

In 2016, “the suicide rate was 1.5 times greater for veterans than for non-veteran adults, after adjusting for age and gender”.

A recent study didn’t mince words and put it in more straightforward terms saying, “in summary, veterans demonstrate high rates of SUDs”.

How Can Veterans Get Help with Drug Addiction?

Given all that those who’ve served have gone through and what they continue to go through long after they’ve served with respect to substance abuse and addiction, what can be done?

The first thing is to acknowledge that there’s a problem. You can’t fix what you don’t recognize as broken and getting your loved one to the point that they know they need assistance is critical to the success of the treatment.

The next step is finding a rehab center that is a good fit for them.

At Valley Recovery Center at Agua Dulce, for example, we specialize in treatment for alcoholism and drug addiction, with particular attention to opioids and benzodiazepines. Many of the substances veterans might turn to in their time of need.

Let VRC Agua Dulce Help You or Your Loved One Today

Once you’ve found the right place, it’s time to detox. Detoxification is imperative because it’s impossible to work through the mental aspects of addiction in residential inpatient care – i.e., talking through military experience in individual and group settings with trained and licensed professionals – without first breaking that physical dependency.

It may be comforting to know that our treatment center is a men’s only facility, something that could help your loved one feel more at ease about going to rehab.

If there’s a veteran in your life suffering from addiction, reach out to the Valley Recovery Center at Agua Dulce to learn about the steps you can take to help them.

All You Need to Know About Residential Rehab

sobriety is different. Among the most well-known paths to take is going to residential rehab or inpatient treatment as it’s commonly known.

There’s no silver bullet for beating addiction but taking part and investing yourself in the process of recovery with trained, licensed and dedicated addiction specialists gives you a solid foundation upon which to build the rest of your life.

But what exactly is residential rehab?

Residential Rehab: Explained

Residential rehab can be broken down into two main types: long and short term. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) does a wonderful job explaining the concept of both.

“Long-term residential treatment provides care 24 hours a day, generally in non-hospital settings. The best-known residential treatment model is the therapeutic community (TC), with planned lengths of stay of between 6 and 12 months. TCs focus on the “resocialization” of the individual and use the program’s entire community—including other residents, staff, and the social context—as active components of treatment”

And,

“Short-term residential programs provide intensive but relatively brief treatment based on a modified 12-step approach…the original residential treatment model consisted of a 3- to 6-week hospital-based inpatient treatment phase followed by extended outpatient therapy and participation in a self-help group”.

It’s fairly straightforward, the idea being that immersive treatment, without distractions and triggers from home, allows you to focus all your attention and energy on conquering the physical and mental aspects of addiction.

What Happens When You Go to Residential Rehab?

Before entering rehab, you’ll go through detoxification to break your body’s physical dependency on drugs or alcohol. To put it differently, fighting the mental side of addiction is impossible if your body is still deeply craving the substances.

Once you’ve detoxed, the next step is developing a personalized treatment program. All reputable rehab facilities will start with an initial evaluation that seeks to understand you. Taking into account your medical history and substance abuse issues, an individualized plan is developed based on your specific needs.

A one size fits all approach is a definite red flag when looking for a rehab center.

Once you’ve landed on a treatment facility that makes sense for you and have solidified a plan of action and the length of your stay – at Valley Recovery Center we offer 30-, 60- and 90-day residential treatment – the work of recovery begins.

Naturally, the more severe your addiction, the longer you would be advised to stay in rehab because change doesn’t happen overnight as they say.

Rehab is often centered on individual therapy sessions with master’s level therapists as well as group counseling sessions. The goal is to dig deep into the source of your substance abuse and work from there to change your thought patterns. Additionally, there’s a big emphasis on developing healthy coping mechanisms for the triggers you’ll encounter once you reintegrate into your normal life.

Why You or Your Loved One Should Go to Residential Rehab to Treat Addiction

The journey to recovery is rarely an easy one. From withdrawal to cravings to triggers, these things are hard to beat on your own, especially if you or a loved one has been struggling with a substance use disorder for a long time. You haven’t felt “normal” in so long that it might feel alien at first.

Therefore, treating addiction in residential rehab, under the care and guidance of professionals who’ve seen it all before, can truly be a gamechanger in your pursuit of a clean life. A place where the building blocks of sobriety are all laid out before you and you can piece them together at your own pace.

To learn more about our program and philosophy at Valley Recovery Center, reach out to us.

The Unspoken Epidemic – Veterans Addicted to Painkillers

War is like hell.

And as a nation that’s been at war for decades now, there are far too many veterans suffering from the effects of it.

Couple that with the meteoric rise of opioid use over the last 20 years or so and what we have on our hands is an unspoken epidemic. One buried within the broader opioid epidemic.

Veterans addicted to painkillers.

Taken on its own, our national battle with opioids is already a tragedy in its own right, but when it’s happening to those who’ve sacrificed and given so much to the nation – to the ones who put their lives on the line for the freedoms we enjoy – it hits differently.

What Is a Painkiller Addiction?

The most commonly prescribed and used painkillers are opioids and chances are you’re very familiar with these names:

OxyContin
Hydrocodone
Morphine
Fentanyl

It just so happens that these are also highly, highly addictive substances and can lead directly to what’s known as an opioid use disorder (OUD). Defined as, “chronic use of opioids that causes clinically significant distress or impairment. Opioid use disorders affect over 16 million people worldwide, over 2.1 million in the United States, and there are over 120,000 deaths worldwide annually attributed to opioids”.

In the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “over 70% of the 70,630 deaths in 2019 involved an opioid”.

Why Are Veterans Addicted to Painkillers?

Pain is a part of war and the training for it.

The Brookings Institution summed it up well, saying, “by virtue of service to our country, especially in a period of ongoing war, veterans report higher rates of severe pain and chronic pain than the general population. Those realities create an environment where opioid therapies can become widespread and lasting. For veterans who are also disproportionately likely to experience mental health conditions such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)”.

With respect to pain, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) puts some specific numbers to it, noting “two-thirds [of veterans] report they experience pain. More than 9% reported that they experience severe pain, compared to only 6.4% of non-veterans, putting them at higher risk for accidental opioid pain reliever overdoses”.

NIDA also reported that in 2009, military physicians wrote 3.8 million prescriptions for main medication – 4 times more than in 2001.

Perhaps even more troubling is that suicide rates, which are already 1.5 times higher for vets than civilians, may be linked to the intensity of pain according to a study by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

The Best Way to Get Help With a Painkiller Addiction

Among the most effective ways to beat addiction to painkillers is to seek professional, individualized help.

Opioids are intensely addictive and benefit from treatment by those who have seen it before and can therefore guide you through the process better. At Valley Recovery Center at Agua Dulce, treatment for opioid addiction is one of our core specializations. We understand that world more thoroughly than most.

We’ll work with you to create a dedicated and customized rehab program that first works to get you off of the painkillers safely and securely. From there we’ll pull from a wide variety of treatment techniques to craft a plan that’s built around your unique needs as a veteran.

The core of the program often revolves around group and individual therapy and is complemented by things like psychoeducational lectures, art or music therapy, yoga classes, anger management therapy and more. Whatever you need.

We only take 6 men into our programs, meaning that treatment truly does revolve around you.

If painkillers are controlling your life, reach out to us at VRC at Agua Dulce because as a vet, you deserve the best life possible.

It’s Time to Address Veterans Mental Health Issues

The saying goes “freedom isn’t free”.

There’s a cost to it.

We’re not talking about the financial burden of the defense and security of the nation – no, the cost is human.

It’s tallied in the flesh and blood, bodies and minds tasked with defending the country, going to battle for it and vigilantly being on guard for it.

It’s counted in the casualties, the breakdowns and the suicides.

The cost of freedom is indeed exceedingly human.

Unfortunately, those paying the price are frequently left behind in a sense and veterans’ mental health issues are woefully under-cared for; those that deserve our support most often get the least.

Chances are damn near 100% that you know someone who’s served, they may be family, friends or neighbors so it’s time to address the issues they face head-on.

What Does It Mean to Be A Veteran?

Per the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), it’s a straightforward definition, “a person who served in the active military, naval, or air service, and who was discharged or released therefrom under conditions other than dishonorable”.

Additionally, they add that “a Reservist or member of the National Guard called to Federal active duty or disabled from a disease or injury incurred or aggravated in the line of duty or while in training status also qualifies as a veteran”.

Plain and simple, that’s what defines a veteran.

As a nation that’s almost perpetually at war, the number of veterans is by no means a small group, data from the VA shows that there are nearly 20 million living veterans today.

Why Are Veterans Prone to Mental Health Issues?

The nature of why veterans are prone to issues with mental health has to do with the nature of combat itself. War isn’t a picnic and neither is the preparation for it. Being enlisted in the armed services is mentally taxing in ways that those who haven’t served would find difficult to relate to.

Moreover, there are issues unrelated to combat which cause problems. The VA notes that 23% of women reported sexual assault in the military and 55% experience sexual harassment (38% of men).

This creates an environment ripe for something like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to metastasize. According to the VA and broken down by era, the rates of PTSD for those serving are:

Operations Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Enduring Freedom (OEF): About 11-20 out of every 100 Veterans – or between 11-20%
Gulf War (Desert Storm): About 12 out of every 100 Gulf War Veterans, or 12%
Vietnam War: About 15 out of every 100 Vietnam Veterans, or 15%, were currently diagnosed with PTSD at the time of the most recent study in the late 1980s. It’s estimated that about 30 out of every 100, or 30%, of Vietnam Veterans have had PTSD in their lifetime.

By comparison, according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the lifetime prevalence of PTSD among all adults is 6.8%.

Depression is also a big issue among the veteran community with 14% of veterans being diagnosed with it.

Without proper care, this leads to a homelessness rate that sits at 3.7% and a markedly elevated risk of developing a substance use disorder (SUD).

2 of 10 vets with PTSD has a SUD
1 of 3 vets who seek treatment for SUD also has PTSD
1 in 10 of the returning vets from Iraq and Afghanistan has a problem with drugs or alcohol

Add that all up and you have a suicide rate that’s disproportionately higher for veterans, roughly 1.5 times that of the civilian population.

A recent study on the topic ended with this, “in summary, veterans demonstrate high rates of SUDs. There is a clear need for the development of novel, more effective, evidence-based interventions to address the health care needs of our veterans and their family members struggling with SUDs”.

How We Can Help Veterans Today

Helping veterans first and foremost requires recognizing their unique issues and circumstances. It means continuing to destigmatize mental health and that it’s ok to seek help and not a sign of weakness.

Most importantly it’s creating and giving access to effective treatment options, addiction experts and mental health specialists.

At Valley Recovery Center at Agua Dulce, our mission is to help men take back control of their lives, regain their sobriety and get back to feeling like themselves again mentally.

If there’s a veteran in your life suffering in silence, reach out to us and let’s discuss what you can do to help.

Is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Used for Substance Abuse?

There’s an understandable reluctance to seek treatment for addiction. Perhaps you see it as an admission of defeat or that having a problem you can’t control feels embarrassing to acknowledge.

In reality, rehab for alcoholism is empowering and it’s the opposite of losing control. In fact, conceding that you need help in overcoming an addiction is the first step in regaining control of your life and charting a new, sober path forward.

Alcohol rehab in Thousand Oaks, CA is the place to start that journey.

Signs I Need to Go to an Alcohol Rehab in Thousand Oaks, CA

How do you know when is the right time to go?

When does your drinking go from recreational to problematic?

While there is no clear line in the sand, there are plenty of signs to look for that would clue you in to a need for professional help:

Health problems related to drinking

Heavy drinking over a prolonged period can lead to significant health issues, most notably liver damage but it doesn’t end there. Alcohol affects your entire body, the brain, heart and pancreas as well as being linked to various types of cancer.

Your main priority is alcohol

If you’re spending a disproportionate amount of time getting or drinking alcohol, to the point that it’s all-consuming, that’s a clear sign it’s taken over your life.

Alcohol is creating problems with friends and family

If alcohol has indeed become your core interest, there’s a likelihood it has put a strain on your relations with your family and friends. Whether that arises in the form of arguments about your drinking and how you think you have it in control or just tension from dealing with things like hangovers. The more you prioritize the drink, the deeper the rift becomes.

Work, school and/or home responsibilities are suffering

As you fall further into alcoholism, the consequences seep further into your life and affect your professional life and responsibilities. If your ability to make a living or get through class is suffering, it may be time to ask for help.

You’ve tried to quit before with no success

This is a big one, if you were able to recognize before that you had a problem with your alcohol consumption but couldn’t get it under control on your own, that’s a surefire indication you need outside help to overcome it.

Other indicators to look out for are:

Skipping activities of all types so you can drink
Having strong cravings for alcohol
Finding yourself in dangerous situations like drunk driving
Needing to drink more to get the same effect
Experiencing withdrawal when you stop drinking

What Happens When You Go to an Alcohol Rehab?

The first thing that happens is detox.

Addiction may be classified as a disorder and to treat the mental side, you must first break the physical dependency and detox is the process of ridding your body of alcohol to do just that.

Once you’ve gotten through withdrawal, it’s time to tackle the underlying cause of your addiction in rehab. Depending on the severity of your addiction that’s either done in residential inpatient care or outpatient care.

The difference is that with inpatient care, you live at the facility which eliminates all distractions and allows you to focus squarely on defeating your alcohol use disorder. Outpatient care is meant for less serious addiction and involves coming into rehab for scheduled sessions while you live at home.

How All American Detox Can Help You With Your Alcohol Addiction

At All American Detox in Woodland Hills, California our personalized, evidence-based programs are administered in our luxurious Southern California treatment center.

We can help you find freedom from alcoholism by being an all-in-one solution that takes you from detox through to aftercare planning services that ensure you’re able to safely transition into your newly achieved sober life.

Don’t hesitate to contact us to learn more about what we offer.

The Best Alcohol Rehab for Men

The best rehab is ultimately the one that works for you.

At Valley Recovery Center at Agua Dulce, we think we’ve crafted a treatment facility and addiction recovery program that can be downright transformational for you or the man in your life that’s struggling with alcoholism.

There isn’t an award for the “best alcohol rehab” – nor should there be because it’s not a competition – and, truthfully, the only award we aim for is the long term sobriety and lasting recovery of all the gentlemen who come to us for treatment and helping them become positive, productive men. The reward is the phone calls, visits and emails from past clients telling us about what they’ve done with their newfound freedom from substance abuse.

What Is an Alcohol Rehab?

Not every treatment center concentrates on the same addiction or treats them in the same way.

While addiction, as per the National Institute on Drug Abuse, “is a chronic disease characterized by drug seeking and use that is compulsive, or difficult to control, despite harmful consequences”, there is still nuance in the treatment approaches and methods. Some rehabs focus on particular addictions and others may utilize different types of treatment to achieve their results.

An alcohol rehab, in the most straightforward terms, is a facility that specializes in guiding those with alcoholism towards sobriety and sustained recovery. The staff, clinicians, addiction specialists and therapists all have deep and specialized experience helping specifically those with an alcohol use disorder.

At VRC Agua Dulce, alcohol addiction is a core focus.

Why VRC Agua Dulce Is the Best Alcohol Rehab

There are a number of attributes that make VRC Agua Dulce a terrific option for alcohol rehab.

Our Environment

Agua Dulce, located north of Los Angeles and nestled away in the hills of Southern California, is a quiet escape from the hustle and bustle of the city. Our spacious and luxurious facility is designed to feel home-like and not remotely institutional in any sense of the word.

While there are plenty of shared spaces like the gym, game room, pool & hot tub area and more to build camaraderie, you have your own private bedroom to have some privacy and get away from it all if needed.

Small Group, Focused Care

To keep the quality of care up to our exacting standards we only take in a handful of men at a time. Smaller groups mean that the attention you or your father, brother, uncle, son or other man in your life receives is second to none. No one should feel forgotten, especially in rehab, and at VRC we ensure that won’t happen.

Having fewer men in the facility also means you’ll be able to create closer bonds and cement those crucial, meaningful friendships with sober-minded men.

Gender-Specific Treatment

For some people, being in a mixed treatment center with men and women is fine and doesn’t have a negative effect on their care. For others though, being in the presence of the opposite sex can throw a wrench into their system. We remove that possibility by being a men’s only rehab facility.

Being surrounded by those who have a shared lived experience can be hugely beneficial in terms of increasing your comfort level and ability to participate and internalize the treatment.

Detox to Inpatient

There’s just a certain reassurance and trust that comes with being able to detox in the same place you do your inpatient care. The people that helped you get through withdrawal successfully are the same ones who guide you through your program, after all.

VRC Agua Dulce Is Here to Help You Overcome Addiction Today

If alcohol has taken over your life or that of a loved one, reach out to us at Valley Recovery Center at Agua Dulce and learn more about our alcohol rehab.

Drug Treatment Facilities Near Me

Treatment for a substance use disorder, be it drugs or alcohol, comes in many forms. You can’t unlock every door with the same key after all.

Just like the situations and circumstances that drove a person to addiction are distinctive, so too are the solutions. On top of that, because rehabilitation happens along a continuum, some facilities specialize and handle different parts of that process while others can guide you from start to finish.

Some treatment centers are purely evidence-based while others may incorporate more alternative methods.

To that end when asking yourself, “what drug treatment facilities near me?” it’s important to understand where you are with your addiction and what would be best for you as far as treatment goes. Thankfully, with so many options available these days, with a bit of research, you can find a recovery center that’s well suited to your needs.

Signs and Symptoms of Addiction

Before treatment can start though, there needs to be an acknowledgment that an addiction is present. It’s hard to solve a problem if you don’t believe there is one and that realization is often a challenge to come to terms with.

It’s natural for you to deny there’s an issue and it’s equally natural for family members or friends to live in a state of denial too. Nobody wants to believe they’re an addict or are enabling one, so excuses get made until the evidence becomes overwhelming.

That evidence comes in the form of signs and symptoms.

As far as diagnosing a substance use disorder goes, and for the sake of consistency, clinicians use the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition or DSM-5. The criteria, or signs, of addiction as summarized from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) are:

Taking the substance in larger amounts or over a longer period than intended
Inability to cut back or quit despite genuine efforts to do so
Spending inordinate amounts of time getting, using and/or recovery from usage
Strong cravings
Failure to fulfill obligations at work, school or home due to substances
Continuing to use despite the clear relationship problems it’s creating
Skipping or giving up on social, occupational or recreational activities in favor of using
Using despite it putting you in physical danger, i.e., drunk driving
Continued use despite the physical or psychological problems it’s causing or making worse
A tolerance develops, as in you need more to achieve the same effect
Withdrawal symptoms develop when you stop using and you continue to use to relieve them as

Different Types of Drug Treatment Facilities to Go To

Fortunately, whenever you do reach that psychological tipping point, where you recognize the need for treatment, there are options.

Detox

This is the process of flushing the toxins out of the body. In addition to the mental stranglehold drugs and alcohol have, they also create physical dependency which needs to be broken. That’s what detox is all about.

Residential Inpatient Care

This is where the real work of rehabilitation happens. Inpatient care is a type of treatment that is generally for more severe addiction and can last from a few weeks to many months depending on how heavy the substance use disorder you’re dealing with is.

With inpatient care you live at the facility and are immersed in a treatment regimen, removed from all distractions like work, school, friends, family, etc. so you can concentrate all your attention on recovery. The focus is on psychoeducation and psychotherapy which goes deep into the root causes of your addiction by way of one-on-one and group therapy. Guided by a trained addiction specialist of course.

Outpatient Care

The type of treatment you get with outpatient care is similar to what you get at an inpatient facility. The main difference is that you don’t live in. You’re able to carry on with your regular life and you come in for regularly scheduled sessions. Outpatient treatment is ideal for those with less severe addiction or for people who are transitioning out of inpatient rehab.

VRC Agua Dulce Is Here to Help You With Your Addiction

Be it alcohol or drugs like opioids or benzodiazepines, at Valley Recovery Center in Agua Dulce, we offer highly-structured and customized therapy with a holistic focus on your overall well being. Get in touch with us today to learn more.

What Are the 12 Steps of Recovery?

Even for those uninitiated in the world of recovery from substance abuse, the idea of a 12 step program is familiar. It’s crossed over in a sense and has become a generally understood concept across society.

As is commonly said, recovery is a lifelong journey, meaning that treatment is just the beginning. Once you complete a rehab program, be it inpatient or outpatient based, the work of maintaining that hard won sobriety starts. Life is full of triggers and situations that might drive you to relapse and use again so actively engaging in staying sober is a must.

A 12 step program helps you do just that and is a type of support group for those on the journey of recovery.

What Are the 12 Steps of Recovery?

The concept of 12 steps was started decades ago by another familiar name in recovery from substance abuse, Alcoholics Anonymous. AA was founded back in 1935 with the initial writings that now make up the 12 steps starting to take shape around 1939.

While the history is interesting, the more common question that comes up is, “what are the 12 steps of recovery?”. As per AA, they are:

We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.
Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him
Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

You’ll no doubt notice the heavy religious/spiritual nature of the steps but being religious is in no way, shape or form a prerequisite for finding value and guidance in the process. Support groups that utilize the 12 step model are first and foremost about the support you find within them.

How Are 12 Step Groups Incorporated Into Rehab?

12 step groups are incorporated at the later stages of rehab and thereafter. If you move to a sober living home, for example, participation in a 12 step group may be required as a condition of your stay.

The integration of a 12 step group is based on the idea that a great way to stay sober is to have a support system of people who know what you’re going through. A group that is free of judgment and intimately knows the depths of addiction themselves.

12 step programs, and any other type of support group for that matter, are a place to develop camaraderie and friendship of like-minded people who are on the same path as you and therefore understand what you’re going through. The mentor/mentee relationships that are formed also create a sense of accountability that helps people avoid relapse.

Get Help With Addiction at Valley Recovery Center Agua Dulce Today

At Valley Recovery Center Agua Dulce, we firmly grasp the imperative for continued care after your treatment with us is complete which is why we make sure to help you with aftercare and develop a relapse prevention plan. Reach out to us to learn more about what we offer or to get more information about 12 step programs and how they help heal addiction.