Life After Drug and Alcohol Rehab: What to Expect

While your time in drug and alcohol rehab was highly structured and organized for you, life back in the real world looks very different and all responsibility is on you to manage your substance abuse disorder. It can be scary thinking about adjusting to life sober which is filled with many “what ifs”. However, there are a lot of support options for your drug or alcohol addiction in life after rehab. You just have to know what aftercare program is available and actually use it.

How Long is the Average Stay in Drug and Alcohol Rehab?

Every person’s rehab program is different and depends on their drug addiction needs. You can choose between short-term inpatient rehab and long-term inpatient rehab. The average time for short-term drug rehab is 28 to 30 days and long-term drug rehab averages around 90 days.

Rehab Discharge Planning: What to Expect When Leaving Treatment

Addiction recovery is a lifelong journey and completing inpatient rehab is a remarkable accomplishment but it’s just one step in the recovery process. After drug and alcohol rehab you go back to the real world and adjust your life to now sober living. This may include finding new friends if your old family and friends encouraged drinking or drug use, maybe a new career, and starting new routines. While in addiction recovery you learned many new coping skills and relapse prevention plans, but it can be a little difficult to actually apply those tools to real life. It is important to have a plan for continuing care before you leave the treatment facility so you can integrate the next phase of addiction recovery and avoid relapse. Halfway houses or a sober living home may also be a good choice if your current living situation is not conducive for you to maintaining sobriety.

Which Rehabs Have the Highest Success Rates?

Recovery programs that have the highest success rates are ones that will personalize treatment plans for you and offer several types of treatment. Every person’s substance abuse disorder is unique and finding the rehab facility that fits your needs will give you the highest probability of recovery success. If you are suffering from any co-occurring disorders, it is important you find an addiction center with dual diagnosis programs to treat both disorders simultaneously and increase your chance to maintain sobriety. Other important facets of a treatment facility you look for is if they offer drug detox, encourage 12-step programs, and relapse prevention programs.

How to Find Continuing Support After Drug Rehab

Once you complete inpatient rehab, there are several treatment programs for you to continue working on your alcohol and drug addiction recovery. Recovery programs usually offer several levels of care that you can work your way down, such as outpatient rehab and virtual rehab. There are support groups such as 12-step programs which include Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous in basically every city and town across the US which can offer continued support throughout your life. Individual therapy is also encouraged as part of your aftercare to address new triggers or stressors that come up once you are back to real life. Treatment medications can also help support your sobriety, especially in the first few months when relapse is more likely to happen.

Alcohol and Drug Rehab Aftercare

When you prepare to leave inpatient rehab, you should have created an aftercare plan with your addiction team. A sober living home can give you a lot of extra support by being surrounded by other people in recovery and also giving you some structure and rules to follow. Remember, to watch for any sign of relapse and if you do relapse, get back into treatment as soon as possible

If you or someone you love is struggling with substance abuse, TruPath has addiction treatment centers across the US that can help you develop long-term sobriety. Please give us a call today to learn more about our addiction treatment centers.

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