If you or a loved one is seeking a better life in recovery, many options for rehab exist in the southern California area. Rehab centers in Orange County offer an unparalleled recovery experience. Although drug and alcohol dependency presents complications for many families, hope remains with the possibilities opened by treatment.
Blue Coast Behavioral Health offers a comprehensive outpatient drug and alcohol rehab center in Orange County. Our addiction counselors and treatment staff combine years of industry experience to bring an individualized experience to all of our clients. So how exactly does outpatient treatment work?
Getting Clean & Sober Comes First
First and foremost, individuals need to have a period of sobriety under their belt before entering outpatient treatment. Several reasons motivate this general rule. The first is that detoxing from chemical dependency presents a difficult and sometimes dangerous experience. Alcohol and benzodiazepines (such as Xanax, Librium, Ativan) detox in particular can lead to fatal symptoms such as seizures and delirium tremens. This means that detoxing happens in a clinical environment, such as the one we provide at our detox/residential facility that operates under the name New Start Recovery. Detox typically lasts 7-10 days.
Residential offers the next phase of treatment and typically lasts 30-90 days. In residential care, the individual still lives on the premises and attends daily group therapy. They will regularly receive individual therapy and weekly family sessions. Residential care also presents scheduled outings that help instill new sober habits. These outings work to rebuild neural connections between normal life and feelings of satisfaction (as opposed to chemicals linking to satisfaction). This is a critical time because relapse rates remain high for the first few months after getting clean and sober.
Transitioning to Independent Life
Once residential care concludes, individuals typically move to a partial hospitalization program (PHP) or intensive outpatient program (IOP). Case managers work directly with clients to transition smoothly from residential care to PHP/IOP. These describe similar levels of care, but PHP has more frequent programming. The biggest difference when moving from residential care to PHP/IOP shows up in the living arrangements. Addiction treatment clinicians highly recommend that individuals transitioning to PHP/IOP reside in a structured sober living arrangement. Sober living provides accountability through rules like curfews and random drug testing. Anyone who relapses in sober living must move out immediately, so this ensures that the environment remains stable. Sober living homes also have a house manager who has a longer period of sobriety to help keep things running. This gives the other housemates accountability and ensure that rules are followed consistently.
Outpatient treatment should also include aftercare plans as well. Addiction counselors assist with this process to minimize relapse risk after leaving treatment. Aftercare plans involve crisis management and plans to continue going to meetings/sober events with a sober network. By building a circle of clean and sober friends, the sober lifestyle is more likely to stick long term after treatment concludes.
If you or someone you love is seeking help for a substance abuse problem, our counselors are available 24/7 by phone: 855-997-4702