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Drug Abuse Treatment: Making absolutely the
right choice
Drug abuse treatment: How do
you choose the most appropriate drug abuse treatment program?
 Once
you've decided that you're ready to choose a drug abuse treatment program, you
may find that it is a frightening and vulnerable time. Try to find some
experienced guidance and be prepared to find that the going will not always be
easy. Focus on the goal of stopping the addictive behavior and starting a new
life. The following are some of the things you should think about as you now
begin to think seriously about entering a drug abuse treatment program:
Before you enter drug
treatment, make a list of your personal characteristics and current problems.
Remember that your personal characteristics will have some influence on the type
of drug abuse treatment facility that you choose. The problems that you should
list will include those that need to be dealt with before or while you're
dealing with your drug abuse problem. You should put this list in front of you
as a reminder of why you have entered drug abuse treatment. It’s always best to
find at least one individual that you can really trust to talk to and help you
along the way. You must be honest with yourself and them and hold nothing
back.
You should now think about
the duration of the drug abuse treatment that you are interested in. Expect it
to take much longer than you originally expected it to and beware of the many
promises for quick resolution of your problems. Although a single interview
with a good counselor may have some impact, it will not usually eliminate your
drug abuse problem. You should look at long-term results. Long-term freedom
from your addiction problem should always be the goal of your drug abuse
treatment program.
Consider the person you
believe you can trust to assist in your drug abuse treatment. It doesn't always
have to be a professional. Sometimes, an individual who lacks professional
training, but who “has been there” will be very helpful. That person should be
someone who can give you a sense of hope that the drug addiction can be beaten.
Listen to their story and try to understand what worked and if you are in a
similar situation. If the information seems to fit your circumstances, then
you're probably on the right track.
You should also consider
your psychological-mindedness as you enter a drug abuse treatment program. This
refers to your ability to consider who you are and what motivates you to do the
things that you do. Psychological mindedness also refers to seeing the
relationships among your thoughts, feelings and actions in order to discover the
meanings and the causes of your experiences and behaviors. If you see yourself
as psychologically minded, you may find psychotherapy to be an especially
appealing part of your drug abuse treatment program. However, you don't have to
be highly psychologically minded to benefit and receive drug treatment.
However, you should probably at least be somewhat open to exploring feelings and
thoughts to benefit from psychotherapy. Your next step will probably be in
deciding when to start your drug abuse treatment program.
Information from Addiction
and Recovery for Dummies by Brian F. Shaw PhD, Paul Rivto PhD, and Jane Irvine
DPhil
Information and webpage by
Paul Susic
MA Licensed Psychologist Ph.D.
Candidate
(Health and Geriatric Psychologist
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