8 Factors to Consider when Choosing a Residential Drug Treatment Center

Admitting that someone you love is an addict is hard enough. Then, getting them to admit that they need to seek help just adds to the problem.  Then, getting help simply isn’t all that easy. Where do you go? Where should you start?  Who do you turn to?  What questions should you ask about drug treatment programs?  Maybe this is the first time you’ve had to take these steps to help someone you love. Or perhaps you’ve been here before and you feel a sense of hopelessness in finding a residential treatment center that will work. The whole process can be frustrating and overwhelming.
           

Ultimately, you want your loved one back, free from drugs and living a healthy life.  Asking the right question when researching these eight concerns, your chances of finding the right drug rehab center will improve significantly.

1. Success Rate –
   How successful is the residential drug treatment center? Obviously, the higher the success rate, the more likely your loved one will succeed.  Ask to speak with graduates of the drug rehab facility or their families.  Get real opinions from real people. Don’t stop here, though – one person’s perfect answer may not be the right one for your loved one. 
   
2. Methods –
   What types of treatment does the drug rehab center use? Are they addressing all aspects of your loved one’s addiction? Will they attempt to discover what led the addict to do drugs in the first place? Facilities that only deal with one aspect of addiction are more likely to fail.  Remember addiction results from a combination of many factors, including a lessening of morality and integrity and an increasing burden of guilt and shame.  The life of an addict includes bad habits, poor health and difficulty facing problems.  After speaking with the facility, ask yourself if they are handling not just the psychological aspects, but also the physical and mental aspects of addiction as well.  Are they providing practical skills that will help your loved one succeed once the drug rehabilitation program is completed?
   
3. Services –
   What services does this drug rehab program offer?  Ask this not only for your loved one, but for you as well. Will they help with legal issues?  Do they assist in interventions?  What lengths will they go to make certain your loved one gets the drug treatment they need?
   
4. Staff –
   Meet the staff at the residential drug treatment center. Ask for their qualifications.  The best trained staff will have had experience with drug addiction.  They will not have learned about it in a book. Are they qualified for their positions?  What real-life knowledge do they have with drug addiction?  Why are they working in this field? 
   
5. Follow-up Program –
   What type of follow-up program does the residential drug treatment center offer?  This is extremely important.  Sending newly rehabilitated drug addict backs into the world without any follow-up is nearly always disastrous. Be sure that the facility has a follow-up program in place.  Good programs follow up with regular telephone contact long after one leaves the program.
   
6. Location –
   Where is the residential drug treatment center?  How is it protected? How easy is it for your loved one to leave, or wander off without being seen? This is vital, because many addicts try to leave drug rehab programs during the withdrawal stage.  Ensuring that leaving would be difficult, while not making the facility seem like a prison, increases the chances that the person will finish their rehab program.
   
7. Length –
   What is the duration of the drug treatment program?  Typically, a standard program is 28 days. The longer the program, the more likely your loved one will succeed. What’s more, if the residential drug treatment center allows your loved one to work at his or her pace, without imposing time constraints, your loved one has an even greater chance of overcoming drug addiction.  Vista Bay is just an example of a program that offers just that.
   
8. Price –
   How much does the program cost?  Before eliminating any program due to price, ask yourself this:  What are they offering? The more it offers, the more likely the price will be higher. However, your loved one may have a greater chance at becoming a healthy productive member of society if provided with more education and programs to make them well. Consider what programs the drug rehab center can truly offer to the one you love.  How much is that person worth to you?
   

By breaking the treatment selection process down into what is important, you will be able to make an informed choice as to which residential drug treatment program can best help you and your loved one. 

About the Author:
John Frank does research in the drug treatment field and has helped several individuals and families, including his own brother, find the right program and overcome addiction.