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Addiction to drugs or alcohol can be challenging to manage if you don’t receive treatment quickly. In many cases, the effects of addiction worsen over time, which makes it even more difficult for people to seek treatment after being addicted for a lengthy period. Regardless of the substance, you’re addicted to; treatment can help you get through the initial withdrawal symptoms and understand why you became addicted in the first place. While there are many treatments for you to select from, you may want to enter an outpatient treatment program, which is ideal for individuals with a less severe addiction.
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What Is Outpatient Treatment?
This is considered a non-residential treatment that centers around therapy and aims to help people manage their addictions. Outpatient treatment is unique because it doesn’t include housing arrangements while the treatment program is ongoing. Instead, patients will be able to attend treatment 3-6 times per week. These treatment sessions can last for several hours, which means that people who obtain outpatient treatment should still maintain their work or school responsibilities.
Before you enter one of these programs, you should know how they work. Any treatment program begins with an initial assessment, and this assessment is designed to identify the types of therapies and treatments you might need during the recovery process. There are typically six components to the evaluation, which include:
- Focus on past experiences with substance abuse and withdrawal
- Study a patient’s medical history
- Study a patient’s mental health issues, emotions, and thoughts
- Identify how eager the individual is to make the necessary changes
- Study how the patient has continued using drugs or alcohol while also identifying the risk of relapse
- Explore the patient’s living situation and recovery process
Once all this information has been gathered, and an assessment has been made, outpatient treatment can begin. This assessment is also essential because it allows the medical professionals at Long Island Treatment Center to provide you with comprehensive care and tend to every issue affecting you.
Benefits of Outpatient Treatment
If your addiction to drugs or alcohol is relatively minor, outpatient treatment may be the perfect solution for you. Keep in mind that different types of outpatient treatment are available, which means that the benefits of this treatment depend on the exact program you enter. As mentioned previously, one of the core benefits of attending this type of treatment is that you will be able to maintain employment and school responsibilities.
Some outpatient rehab programs only operate in the evenings or during off-hours, which allows you to tend to your everyday responsibilities. If you’re the primary breadwinner for your family, taking off work for an extended period to attend inpatient treatment may not be feasible.
When you seek outpatient treatment, another advantage of doing so is that the costs are significantly lower when compared to inpatient treatment. Since you won’t need to stay in a residential facility on a 24/7 basis, you can save thousands on total treatment costs. However, keep in mind that the costs associated with this form of treatment can differ depending on location, amenities, medications, treatments, and the type of center administering the treatment.
Another oft-overlooked benefit that you may find appealing is that outpatient programs accommodate family therapy more effectively than inpatient ones. Your family can provide you with an additional support system that could prove helpful while you progress through treatment. During this form of therapy, your family members will also learn about the psychological, medical, and behavioral consequences associated with substance addiction.
Why You Should Obtain Treatment from Long Island Treatment Center
When you sign up for the outpatient rehab program at Long Island Treatment Center, you’ll receive comprehensive care that takes all of your needs into account. The treatments and therapies you can receive during outpatient treatment include:
- 12-step study groups
- Individualized treatment plan
- Relapse prevention program
- Individual counseling
- Group therapy
- Family therapy
- Nutritional counseling
- Aftercare planning
When you seek treatment via an outpatient program at the Long Island Treatment Center, we’ll help build a treatment plan that suits your needs and fulfills your recovery goals.
Types of Outpatient Treatment Available to You
There are three possible outpatient treatment options to select from: a partial hospitalization program, an intensive outpatient program, and a general outpatient program.
A partial hospitalization program is designed to help patients move from an inpatient program to an outpatient one. If your addiction was severe enough that you had to enter an inpatient program, you might want to transition to an outpatient program to make sure that your recovery process remains on track. This is the most intensive form of treatment available in an outpatient program. In most situations, patients will be tasked with attending treatment five hours per day for six days each week, which amounts to a total of 30 treatment hours per week.
Intensive outpatient programs are designed to help patients step down from a partial hospitalization program, which means that this program is somewhat less intense. If you attend an intensive outpatient program, treatment usually lasts three hours per day for 3-5 days per week.
The least intensive form of treatment available to you in an outpatient setting involves a general outpatient program, which is aimed at helping patients prepare for long-term recovery that they will continue even after the treatment program is concluded. A single session in this outpatient program can last for around 90 minutes and may take place 1-3 days per week.
These programs can continue for an extended period until the patient, their family members, and their therapist agrees that additional treatment isn’t needed. Even though these treatment programs can be put together to create an extended level of care, they can also be used separately, depending on your needs.
Therapy Sessions You Might Attend
When attending an outpatient program, several different forms of therapy could be administered to you, the primary of which include group therapy, individual therapy, and family therapy.
Group therapy sessions are designed to show patients that other people are going through the same struggles and hardships. These sessions provide patients with the opportunity to speak about their experiences and behaviors in a safe environment.
Individual therapy sessions are meant to allow patients to explore their addiction with a licensed and professional therapist. You’ll be able to look at the reasons for your addiction, which should help you understand why this addiction occurred in the first place and how you can manage it in the future. In general, these sessions are designed to help patients learn about themselves, which could aid the recovery process.
Family therapy sessions allow patients to get in touch with their families and address some of the problems that the addiction may have caused. Family therapy can strengthen the foundation for recovery. All of these therapies come together to bolster the recovery process and reduce the possibility of relapse.
Use of 12-Step Program
Most patients who attend an outpatient program will also progress through a 12-step program. This program includes 12 distinct principles that can guide individuals suffering from an alcohol or drug addiction through the recovery process. A core tenet of this program is admitting that you are addicted to drugs or alcohol. Along with attending 12-step meetings, these programs also require attendees to find a sponsor to help them progress through the 12 steps.
Outpatient vs. Inpatient Treatment
Even though the therapies and treatments administered in outpatient and inpatient treatment are essentially the same, you should be aware of some key differences to these programs. The costs of inpatient treatment are considerably higher than the ones you’ll pay for entering an outpatient program. If you want to keep costs down and believe that your addiction is relatively minor, an outpatient program may be right for you.
Another notable difference between the two programs is that inpatient treatment requires people who enroll to remain in a residential facility on a 24/7 basis. On the other hand, outpatient programs only take place during the day and last for 2-5 hours. Treatment can also occur around 1-5 days per week, depending on the exact outpatient program you enter. Both outpatient treatment and inpatient treatment have their benefits, which is why you should research each option before deciding which treatment program fits your situation.