Alcoholism Treatment Choices
More than 700,000 Americans will receive alcoholism treatment today. There are many types of treatments for many different situations. The most common addiction treatment is the 12-step program advocated by Alcoholics Anonymous. The most effective method is inpatient treatment, where the person recovering from addiction alcoholism checks into a facility and pledges to get sober. They’ll be surrounded by like-minded individuals, in addition to learning useful life skills and coping mechanisms.
The most common alcoholism treatment is the 12-step program advocated by Alcoholics Anonymous. This approach emphasizes self-help, focusing on mental, physical and spiritual recovery from alcoholism. The first step is admitting that alcohol has rendered the drinker powerless over his or her own life. The alcoholic comes to understand a higher power and sense of purpose. The drinker takes a moral inventory and assesses the nature of his or her own defects. The person will make amends to those wronged or hurt by alcoholism. The 12-step programs aim to change one’s way of thinking so alcohol abusers become more honest with themselves, more spiritual, more introspective and more outwardly giving. Recent studies from the Department of Veteran Affairs indicate that as many as 45% of the inpatients were abstinent one year after being discharged from the 12-step AA treatment.
Another kind of alcoholism treatment involves checking into a long-term treatment center where one can undergo a process of breaking alcohol related addiction, get some life coaching and build skills. Some addiction treatment facilities are considered a “lock down,” where patients cannot leave; while others allow greater freedom, encouraging personal responsibility. In long-term facilities, patients must stay in the facility until passing several stages of success, while short-term facilities pack a lifetime of counseling into just four weeks. A treatment center like Desert Canyon in Sedona, Arizona focuses on a whole-person model, rather than a disease-model. Alcoholics are introduced to a bio-nutritional program, family therapy, spiritual training, career development and hobby cultivation. The aim is to make the recovering alcoholics “well” with themselves again by focusing on multiple psychological areas. There is an overall focus on self-esteem, empowerment, saying “no” to unhealthy behaviors and “yes” to healthy choices. These facilities are more home-like than institutional and people are taught powerful techniques to use in every day life to eventually wean them from group therapy dependence. This is considered the most comprehensive and effective treatment, but is also the most costly. For instance, four weeks in a place like Desert Canyon can cost $26,000, which insurance companies may or may not subsidize. Health One Financial or other independent healthcare services may offer financing plans.
One’s first year of alcoholism treatment is particularly crucial to recovery. “Getting help early and getting enough help early is a key factor in recovery from alcohol problems and in reducing mortality,” and “the initial year is critical,” confirms Dr. Christine Timko from the Veterans Health Administration in Palo Alto, California. Generally, if a patient meets with failure, then the drinking will only worsen during relapse. Timko adds that what type of addiction treatment a person undergoes is not nearly as important as the fact that they sought out some sort of treatment. She believes the more options people have the better. Her study found that those who underwent treatment were significantly less likely to die from alcoholism over the next 15 years.
For help and more information about alcoholism and how to stop drinking, visit Alcoholics Anonymous.
By Healthy Relationships Editor
