More Than Just Quitting: The Goal of Drug Addiction Treatment
Yes, the first part of drug addiction treatment is focused solely on helping you “kick” your habit. This is mostly accomplished through a medical detox and 24-hour care that serves the dual purpose of helping you avoid relapse and address your physical and psychological withdrawal symptoms. The rest of treatment -and arguably the most important part of drug rehab -addresses the psychological issues that were there before you started using drugs and alcohol as well as the issues that came up as a result of chronic drug abuse. Through this process, you identify problem areas in your life and learn how to deal with them more effectively as you continue to work on healing from them. Aftercare services provide you with support as you continue to learn new coping skills and put them into practice daily.
But there’s more to it than that. Drugs and alcohol provided you with something intangible, comfortable and safe. You must be able to find that experience elsewhere before you leave rehab or it’s only a matter of time before you relapse.
Drug Addiction Treatment and Spiritual Goals
Fighting drug addiction is not a textbook process: every single person will need something different from rehab and will have a unique experience. You can’t get the help you receive at drug addiction treatment by reading a book that outlines the principles of treatment or having someone tell you what to do. It is a spiritual process as well, and effective drug addiction treatment programs provide room for spiritual growth and exploration. Without a little self-knowledge in the area of spirituality, no treatment program will stick for long. The escape and comfort found in drugs and alcohol must be found elsewhere, and most find it in spiritual exploration.
Drug Addiction Treatment and Replacement Therapy
Some people keep their spiritual side hidden deep, deep down. That’s not to say that anyone is non-spiritual by nature or won’t find benefit in exploring that area of thought, but many keep it a lot further from the surface and have a difficult time accessing it in early treatment. That’s okay. You are not doomed to relapse if you can’t come up with some semblance of a spiritual life in the first few months of treatment. Bottom line, what you need to remain clean and sober is something that isn’t drugs and alcohol that can provide you with whatever it is that got from drug abuse: comfort, a release for anger, an escape, entertainment, et cetera. For some, this is exercise and serious working out. For others, it means returning to school in pursuit of a certificate or degree that can help them change careers. For others, it’s throwing themselves into a new hobby like photography or wood working. Whatever you choose, you should be very interested in the activity and wake up excited about doing it.
Though it doesn’t serve as a replacement for continued psychotherapeutic services or developing a strong support network, it can work in concert with these activities to help you create a strong new life in recovery.
