Inpatient Substance Abuse Treatment Programs: What’s the Deal?
One of our most frequently asked questions by clients and their families is: how long do I need to attend inpatient treatment?
If you are considering inpatient treatment, the prospect of attending a substance abuse facility for longer than 30 days may seem like an unnecessary extension of time or prolonging a good thing, if you will.
If you are a family member or a loved one of an individual contemplating treatment, sending him or her off to a substance abuse facility for longer than 30 days may tug at your heart strings to the point of physical pain.
In this blog post, we will take you through the pro’s and con’s of a 30, 60 and 90-day inpatient treatment program to give you a better understanding of what these programs really look like and why they actually work.
Here is a brief outline of what we will cover in this post:
Why are there 30, 60 and 90-day programs?
What are the perks of attending a 60 or 90-day inpatient treatment program as opposed to a 30-day program?
FAQ’s about inpatient treatment
So, how long do you need to go to treatment?
At New Method Wellness, we understand and appreciate that one size of treatment does not fit all, and we support individualized treatment programs for all of our clients. That being said, these are broad generalizations in reference to the allotted time span of each client’s program as opposed to a reflection of each client’s individualized track.
If you would prefer to speak with our intake specialist regarding substance abuse inpatient treatment, feel free to call our 24-hour hotline 866-951-1824, or you can scroll to the bottom of this post and fill out our contact form. An intake coordinator will be with you as soon as possible.
Why Are There 30, 60 and 90 Day Programs?
Many individuals who are unfamiliar with addiction and alcoholism treatment may ask themselves: “What can a 60 or 90-day treatment program do that a 30-day program cannot?”
While we will not necessarily answer that question until the “What are the perks of a 60 or 90-day inpatient treatment program?” section, we can tell you that there is a purpose for implementing longer treatment programs: time.
Time is a precious commodity, which is why we understand that 60 and 90-day treatment programs may sound daunting.
But, in time also lies opportunity. An Opportunity to heal, an opportunity to understand, and an opportunity to let go of what was and look on to what could be.
While we comprehend commitments such as work, family, school, etc. provide a stressful emphasis on making the most of your time, notably, being present for such commitments, we also want to acknowledge that treatment does not provide an overnight solution to addiction and alcoholism.
For the aforementioned reasons, we want to provide our clients with the most comfortable, stress-free, and safe environment to tackle their substance abuse head-on.
Though 30 days seems to be an extended period of time, we ask potential clients to examine the duration of their drinking or using: did they develop a substance abuse problem in 30 days? Or, did it take years of practice?
Presumably, you or your loved one’s substance abuse problem did not develop in just 30 days, so we acknowledge that 30 days may not be enough time to develop and implement the necessary tools to combat substance abuse habits on a daily basis.
This is why we provide 60 and 90-day treatment programs, which tend to be our most common program lengths.
One of the primary focuses of our therapists is to identify triggers, disassociate each trigger with using a substance and create a safe environment to work through each trigger and its origin.
30 days away from potential may not be enough time for our clients to detach from triggers. Far too often, we see clients go home too early, only to experience a trigger, which leads to a relapse.
What Are the Perks of Attending a 60 or 90 Day Inpatient Program?
There are many perks to attending a 60 or 90-day inpatient treatment program, which would otherwise be nonexistent in a 30-day program.
- More time with our top-notch therapists. Each of our clients is designated a primary and secondary counselor in addition to participating in counselor-run groups. As with any level of care, the longer the duration of our client’s stay, the higher their chances of long-lasting sobriety as a result of a more thorough observation of the client’s history, personality, and deeply rooted problem areas.
- More time to develop a sober fellowship with other clients. With whom you choose to spend your time is a powerful determinant of the length of your sobriety. 60 and 90-day programs allow our clients to establish relationships with like-minded, sober companions with a desire to stay sober.
- A slow but effective integration back into everyday responsibilities. Our programs are structured to slowly integrate clients back into the responsibilities we talked about in section one. We have found that our clients who stay for 60 or 90-day programs feel more confident in their abilities to carry out their daily responsibilities as they have a stronger support system and a solid sober community every step of the way.
5 FAQ’s About Inpatient Programs
Question 1:
Will I be allowed to see my family, friends, or significant others during my stay?
Answer:
Yes. After detoxification, permitting the support of a therapist, our clients can utilize our weekly visiting hours to schedule a visitation. In addition, our clients have the opportunity to participate in family groups, during which family members and/or significant others are guided through a therapeutic session aimed to restore trust and understanding.
Question 2:
Will I be allowed to use my phone at all during treatment?
Answer:
Yes. During the detoxification process and stage one of our treatment programs, we like our clients to experience a distraction-free environment as to add to the effectiveness of treatment. However, there are phones placed in each of our homes which are available for clients to call their loved ones, permitting his/her therapist’s approval. Personal cell phones are returned to each client as seen fit by their therapist.
Question 3:
Where will I be staying at night?
Answer:
We currently have five homes, all of which are monitored by house managers around the clock. During medical detoxification, our clients will stay at our detox home. Once they have completed detox, our male clients will go to a men’s home run by male house managers, our female clients will go to our women’s home run by female house managers, and our clients over the age of 35 will go to our 35+ home, which is run by both male and female house managers. If our clients choose to participate in IOP (Intensive Outpatient Treatment) after inpatient treatment, they will be moved to our IOP home.
Question 4:
What does my day look like?
Answer:
Our 30, 60, and 90-day clients will go to the center Monday through Thursday for individual therapy, group therapy, lunch, and a variety of wellness activities (yoga, meditation, massage therapy, wilderness therapy, etc.). On Fridays, our clients have equine therapy, and on the weekend, our house manager’s typically schedule fun, group activities.
Question 5:
What if I don’t want to stay for 60 or 90 days after I have committed?
Answer:
Our clients are free to leave our program if they so chose, though leaving treatment before the designated exit date is strongly discouraged.
So, How Long Do You Need to Go to Treatment?
Each case is different as we understand that no two clients are exactly alike.
We suggest that you speak with our intake specialist to discuss you or your loved one’s specific needs and desires.
