Florida inpatient rehab
We’ve all heard the term “rehab,” but what is it and how do you know if it’s right for you or your loved one?

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, understanding your options for treatment can be challenging and may be a significant barrier to seeking help. Knowing what rehab is, how people decide if inpatient treatment is right for them, signs of substance abuse, what to expect and what the costs might be can relieve anxiety and help in deciding which treatment option is right for you.

What is rehab?

Rehabilitation is the process where people heal, whether from substance use disorders or other mental and physical illnesses. Rehabilitation facilities enable people to learn coping mechanisms that will help them return to their lives as healthier and more resilient people.

Rehab is the abbreviation that people often use when describing inpatient rehabilitation treatment programs for substance abuse. In rehab, people with drug or alcohol abuse problems receive supervised care that gives them the tools and support to start their recovery journey and maintain sobriety. Rehabs are often useful for those who want an abstinence-based program and a safe, drug-free space, rather than treatment in a community setting (such as Alcoholics Anonymous meetings).

The purpose of rehab

The purpose of rehab is to provide a treatment program that will help people enter recovery. Long-term studies show that treatment works. These studies found that treatment results in a vast decrease in compulsive substance use and relapse episodes that are less frequent and less severe (if relapse occurs at all).

While each person who enters rehab will have their own long- and short-term goals, the American Psychiatric Association states that all substance abuse treatment programs should have 3 main objectives:

  1. Reducing substance abuse so that the person can choose to have a substance-free life
  2. Helping the person to maximize their day-to-day functioning and quality of life
  3. Minimizing the chances of relapse and, if the person does relapse, reducing its frequency and severity

Different options exist, such as inpatient versus outpatient treatment programs, but they all share the aim of facilitating recovery. “Recovery” is a term that seems to evade a simple definition, but the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration considers recovery to have 4 main dimensions:

    1. Health: overcoming or managing one’s disease(s) or symptoms, and making informed, healthy choices that support physical and emotional well-being
    2. Home: having a stable and safe place to live
    3. Purpose: conducting meaningful daily activities, such as a job, school, volunteerism, family caretaking, or creative endeavors, and the independence, income, and resources to participate in society
    4. Community: having relationships and social networks that provide support, friendship, love, and hope

Each person has a unique recovery journey and there is not a one-size-fits-all treatment plan. There are a lot of things to consider when deciding which rehab treatment center will be a good fit for the individual. Rehab is an important part of the patient’s recovery and it is important to choose a treatment center based on their physical and mental needs rather than cost or convenience, if possible.

The importance of rehab

Those seeking help for substance use will often have complex problems that make their day-to-day lives dysfunctional. These can include:

Treatment programs need to facilitate personal growth and help the person to re-enter society and improve their quality of life. Some ways to achieve this are by:

Signs you or a loved one might need to seek inpatient rehab

Watching a loved one with a substance use problem can be heart-wrenching and it can be challenging to find out how best to help and support them. Although only healthcare providers can diagnose someone with a substance use disorder, some of the common signs that someone should seek professional help include:

What to do if your or a loved one needs rehab

The motivation to go to rehab and make changes in their life may be different for each person, but there are often similarities in how they came to this decision. Prochaska and DiClemente compared 18 different models of change and tried to condense them into a single model that incorporated a person’s biological, psychological and social motivations to change substance use behavior. The result was the Transtheoretical Model of Change, which has six stages:

  1. Precontemplation (“no”): The person has no thoughts of changing their behavior and may not even consider substance use a problem.
  2. Contemplation (“maybe”): The person is still using substances, but has started to think about reducing or stopping substance use.
  3. Preparation (“preparing and planning”): The person is still using substances, but has started to plan or make preparations to stop substance use.
  4. Action (“do”): The person has chosen a strategy to stop using substances and is actively making the changes required to alter their behavior.
  5. Maintenance (“still doing”): The person has entered recovery and is sustaining abstinence.
  6. Recurrence (“relapse”): The person has relapsed and returned to an earlier stage. They may lose motivation and leave the cycle here, but they have also gained valuable insights about their triggers and coping mechanisms. When they re-enter the cycle, they may move through the stages more quickly.

Sometimes people can move past stages, such as going directly from recurrence to action, without having to rationalize why they need to stop a behavior, so this model can be viewed as continuum and a basis for understanding change and how people motivate themselves or others.

Types of rehab

There are many interventions and treatment options for substance abuse – including drug and alcohol inpatient and outpatient care. The National Institutes of Health suggest that health care professionals use the process in the diagram below,to help inform which intervention would be most beneficial for their patients:

Rehab Evaluation Process

Rehab treatment facilities often offer both inpatient and outpatient treatment. Residential or inpatient treatment offers the most intensive level of care. Outpatient care is often recommended only after a patient has undergone detoxification and residential treatment. Both residential and outpatient addiction therapy programs, like the ones at Lakeview Health, may utilize a combination of evidence-based addiction therapy and holistic addiction treatments.

Inpatient treatment

Residential or inpatient, drug and alcohol treatment, like that offered at Lakeview Health, provides on-campus lodging, meals and access to a holistic and integrative treatment program. Drug or alcohol inpatient rehabilitation treatment is an excellent option for people who will benefit from a stable, recovery-centered living environment.

By gradually allowing people to re-enter society without the weight of drug and alcohol use looming over them, patients are able to rediscover joy in the things they once loved. Patients in residential treatment programs should have access to therapists, clinicians and medical doctors.

Outpatient treatment

Transitional housing, such as a sober living house, offers patients a safe and supportive housing option. Outpatient addiction therapy services are less time-intensive and allow patients to return home each night.

Partial hospitalization programs meet for at least six hours per day, five days a week. Some partial hospitalization programs also offer outpatient detox services. Intensive outpatient programs typically meet for two or three days per week.

What is rehab like?

When thinking about what rehab is like, remember that inpatient rehab programs create safe and supportive spaces where patients can gain sobriety and enter recovery.  Inpatient care often focuses on abstinence and creates a stable and drug-free environment. They are also highly structured and involve taking up residence at the rehab treatment center.

A change in people, places and things is often recommended to maintain sobriety and this is where people can really make the most of inpatient treatment programs. For example, individual and group counselling in combination with 12-step meetings give patients the opportunity to discuss their addiction in a non-judgmental, safe environment. Read more about what to expect in rehab here.

Feeling anxious, uncomfortable, or perhaps even resistant to trying an inpatient drug rehab center is normal; almost everyone has some level of trepidation before they enter treatment. It’s a big step. It might be one of the most significant events in their life. Whatever state the individual arrives in, an experienced treatment center will go out of its way to make the transition to treatment as smooth as possible.

The team at Lakeview Health works hard to ensure that time spent at our facility is healing, welcoming, and productive. From arrival to heading home, the team will help patients to understand what to expect at Lakeview Health and in their new life in recovery.

How long do people stay in rehab?

Again, each recovery journey is unique, but the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) recommends that treatment is most effective if it is a minimum length of 90 days. Treatment periods of 3 months or more are often a predictor of successful recovery in the long term.

Not all of this time will be as an inpatient, but research indicates that good recovery outcomes are linked to more time in a supportive, safe, and professional treatment environment. NIDA views substance abuse problems similarly to a chronic illness, so it is not only important to maintain longer treatment periods, but also to provide outpatient and aftercare support.

Each rehabilitation treatment center will have their own programs, but rehab generally starts with detoxification (“detox”) and then includes different forms of therapy. Detox helps to manage withdrawal and other aspects of physical dependence, while later steps focus on helping the person to work on their personal growth and to find new, healthy coping strategies to live a healthier, better life. This is usually followed by an outpatient and aftercare program.

What to look for at a rehab treatment center

There are many types of rehab treatment centers and the facilities and treatment programs that they provide are important in considering which rehab is right for the person. All types of rehab aim to facilitate recovery, but which treatment center is the best fit may differ slightly depending on factors such as:

Men and women may also have different traumatic experiences and triggers or different ways of expressing emotions. Traumatic experiences are prevalent among people suffering from substance use disorders, and it is important to address the impact of those experiences in therapy. The trauma experienced by different genders may vary and so do the social constructs of how to cope with it. Gender-responsive rehab programs take all of this into consideration and should influence the type of rehab selected.

Lakeview Health offers a variety of addiction treatment programs for those struggling with substance addiction and provides gender-responsive programs.

Lakeview Heath’s rehabilitation treatment programs include:

What to bring to inpatient rehab

When deciding what to bring to inpatient rehab, remember that each inpatient facility is different, but it is probably a good idea to prepare a packing list that includes some of the following:

What not to bring: prohibited items
Again, this will vary by facility, but the following items are not allowed at Lakeview Health and may be discarded or shipped home if they are brought on campus. Based on the nature of the item, it may be possible to store it until the person leaves.

Knowing what the patient will and won’t have on a day-to-day basis will help their transition. It might be hard to leave some things behind, but the time spent in inpatient treatment is valuable and short (as compared to the rest of an individual’s life). The items each facility allows are carefully selected to prevent distractions from what matters most: successful recovery.

Feeling well-prepared may also ease anxiety and trepidation about joining inpatient rehab.

The admissions team at Lakeview Health is always available to answer any questions that you may have, so feel free to contact us at 866 704 7692 or reach out online.

What are the criteria for inpatient rehab?

Although each inpatient rehab will have slightly different criteria, most will need:

Can I leave rehab?

The short answer is: if they are legally an adult, yes. Depending on country or state, laws may differ, but, even if the person is in rehab by court mandate, they are allowed to leave whenever they choose. However, this is a decision that should not be made lightly.

In many states it is a felony to leave rehab if it has been ordered by the court and there will be legal repercussions. Even if someone entered rehab by choice, it is important to reflect on why they want to leave. Do the immediate benefits outweigh the potential reward of successful recovery? Only the patient can decide.

Can my family visit ve in treatment?

The family program is one of the most important parts of rehabilitation at Lakeview Health. When families understand the nature of a loved one’s addiction, the whole family can begin to heal. Family support teaches participants how to establish healthy boundaries and enhance communication skills. Family visits and counseling are offered at the Lakeview Health inpatient treatment center, but this may vary depending on the treatment center. Family programs offer the tools and insight to help families heal and this is something that should inform the decision of which rehab treatment facility is best for the patient’s long-term well-being.

How much does rehab cost?

Treatment costs for rehab will vary based on each person’s length of stay and their insurance coverage or ability to pay out of pocket. Lakeview Health works with most major health insurance providers and our team does everything they can to ensure the insurance verification process is simple and stress-free.

If the patient does not have insurance coverage, the admissions team can work on a payment plan. Providing treatment is the main priority.

Lakeview Health accepts most major insurance carriers including:  

If you or a loved one is looking for substance use treatment, please reach out to Lakeview Health’s admissions team today. Learn more by contacting us at 866 704 7692 or reaching out online. The admissions team will be able to answer any other questions you may have about a day in treatment at Lakeview Health.

If you need to get treatment for yourself or a loved one, call our admissions team at 904 531 3505 or fill out this form. Or use our general contact form for any other questions:

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