Opiate Addiction Treatment & Rehab

Drug rehab works in treating a patient’s dependence on drugs. The rehabilitation process utilizes the expertise and skills of intake counselors, behavioral counselors, doctors, nutritionists, and even other patients to consistently create successful outcomes in the end. The drug rehab process is split up into four phases:

1. Assessment – Our evaluation team will conduct medical and psychiatric tests to determine the extent of your addiction and if you have any co-occurring mental health disorders. This is typically the first step in any addiction rehab facility to help determine what the addiction is. At The Recovery Village, we are particularly thorough during our new patient evaluation to make sure we understand the patient’s entire needs, including to identify a dual diagnosis. This will impact the treatment plan we create just for you.
2. Detoxification – While some patients come to us having already completed detox from opiates, most will need help getting opiates out of their system. This step is necessary to help the body get rid of toxins and the harmful drugs compounded in your system. Detoxification can be dangerous, so we take great care and measures in making sure the process is carried out in the safest possibly way. Any medical professional or addiction scientist will tell you it’s important to seek out an accredited detox center, such as The Recovery Village, so you can benefit from medical supervision and guidance during detox.
3. Rehabilitation – Each rehab patient at The Recovery Village has a unique treatment plan specifically geared toward their needs. All patient participate in a variety of therapies, including individual counseling, group therapy, non-traditional or alternative therapies, and some patients may even participate in family therapy sessions. Drug addiction treatment at The Recovery Village focuses on the “why” behind a patient’s addiction to opiates, understanding how it arose and what triggers cravings to use the drug.
4. Aftercare – Before rehab is over, our treatment team will work with you to create an aftercare plan that will prevent relapse. We will make sure you have a support network waiting for you at home following rehab. Our aftercare planning includes scheduling doctor appointments and drug testing with your primary care physician, sessions with a counselor, attendance at a Narcotics Anonymous meeting in your area, and possibly arranging room and board at a sober living home. This ensures the progress that has occurred at rehabilitation continues after going home, with a network of guidance and support along with steps in place to make sure you’re using the positive skills you learned at The Recovery Village.

Inpatient rehab is is a great next step following detox for someone who is still unable to control the intense cravings for opiates when left unsupervised. Here, clients will be trained to participate in The Recovery Village’s recovery program, developing valuable life skills, recovery skills and lessons from the well-known 12-step programs to dramatically improve their chances of living a clean and sober life.

Residential patients will benefit from comprehensive evaluation and treatment planning, an ongoing review of these treatment goals as the program progresses, and an opportunity to address challenges during treatment with the treatment planning staff.

Our inpatient rehab program may include features such as:

• Individual therapy with a primary therapist
• Group therapy addressing topics about substance abuse, grief and loss, sexuality, trauma survival, self-esteem, family patterns, assertiveness and interpersonal relationships
• Family therapy, as needed
• Alternative therapy, such as meditation and yoga
• Prescriptions for withdrawal medications, as necessary
• Pharmaceutical therapy and medication management from health care professionals multiple times a week

• Treatment of co-occurring mental health disorders
• 24-hour nursing supervision
• Aftercare and discharge planning
• Meals prepared by a nutritionist

Opiate addiction can rob people of their lives. Rehab will give them the opportunity to resolve these life-devastating problems and live a full life involving good health, relationships, finances and overall mental well-being. For this reason, it’s best to stay in rehab for an extended period of time. The minimum stay in inpatient rehab is 28 days, however studies show the longer a person stays in rehab, the more likely they will avoid relapse.

The Recovery Village staff is a highly qualified group of passionate addiction professionals, including doctors, clinicians and nurses who have spent years helping their patients maintain sobriety and get their lives back. With many years of experience in getting people back to their feet, the reason behind the passion is deeply personal as many of our own staff are in addiction recovery themselves. From our chef to our counselors and intake professionals, each person on our team is dedicated to helping your recovery in whatever way they can.

Structured outpatient treatment typically involves regular meetings with an addiction professional and includes counseling and therapy sessions. The goal of counseling during this time is to instill a sense of autonomy in the patient and enable them to explore their perspective of the opiate abuse problem. Our counselors may use motivational interviewing, cognitive behavioral therapy, multidimensional family therapy and contingency management during your outpatient treatment.

At The Recovery Village, outpatient treatment contains the following services:

• Individual counseling
• Group therapy
• Psychiatric care for those with anxiety, depression and other co-occurring disorders
• Nutritional counseling

The Recovery Village ensures each patient, regardless of which program they are enrolled in, benefits from group therapy sessions. This gives each patient the best possible chance at succeeding in their recovery once treatment is over. While individual therapy is a more customized plan to meeting your goals, group therapy is a collaborative approach, involving more than one therapist facilitating many people at the same time.

We find group therapy to be extremely useful in the rehab environment because many patients face the stigma of addiction. They feel ashamed, embarrassed and have a low sense of self-worth. By sharing similar experiences with others and keeping patients together, patients can realize they are not alone in their feelings or experiences. The “in it together” mindset is a common thread among the group and helps promote healing faster. Overall, the group therapy process has shown to effectively assist in healing.

Group members can motivate others and encourage proper communication about their experiences, and then learn to process their reaction to these experiences publically. Many profound friendships are formed during group therapy because many members relate to each other during this challenging time. It also helps individuals gain a greater sense of awareness of any possibly buried hurts they may harbor and expressing these thoughts out loud can be extremely cathartic.

Group therapy topics can cover many areas including education on addiction, stress management, coping with triggers and cravings, relapse management, forming healthy habits and relationships, managing medications and dealing with mental illness.

At The Recovery Village, we have many different types of group therapy sessions. Some group formats we use include:

• Support groups, which provide mutual encouragement, feedback and a safe environment for patients to voice their frustrations, improve their communication skills and improve clarity.
• Educational sessions, or psychoeducational groups that teach clients about the nature of addiction and relapse. From learning the science behind addiction, we remove the stigma and fear surrounding addiction. Having this full understanding often helps patients tackle their own experience with addiction better.
• Cognitive behavioral groups help patients change their mindset surrounding addiction. When negative thoughts and mindsets are triggered, perceptions of the world can be dark and dreary. CBT’s sole mission is to help change this mindset so patients can continue the recovery journey in a constructive and positive manner.
• Skills groups teach patients to face their triggers with sober living skills. When faced with triggers, clients are used to reaching for drugs to ease the issue. The skills group, however, focuses on providing new tools and strategies for dealing with challenges in life. For those who are unemployed, we also teach job-seeking and budgeting.
• Experiential groups are similar to skills groups, in that experiential sessions involve patients practicing the skills they’ve learned in a public setting. From dining out at restaurants to shopping, many situations are placed before clients to help them practice what they learn to ultimately reach their goal to living a clean and sober life.

Group therapies can also involve the client’s family members and loved ones. Family therapy and counseling sessions help both parts of the family experience understanding, compassion and forgiveness.  

Some common co-occurring mental illnesses that happen alongside opiate addiction include:

• Depression
• Conduct disorders
• Anxiety disorders
• Other substance abuse disorders
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Bipolar disorder
• Schizophrenia
• Eating disorders
• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

The Recovery Village is dedicated to treating each patient’s addiction to the fullest extent. We know that this is not possible, however, without addressing a dual diagnosis. In some cases, opiate addiction causes another mental illness to start. In other cases, a mental illness can lead to the onset of opiate use disorder. For example, you may feel depressed and use opiates to experience pleasure and joy. Or, conversely, you may feel depressed about your opiate use disorder and continue using the drugs to help you cope.

Our treatment plans start with a thorough evaluation to determine if you are facing a co-occurring disorder. From there, we can tailor a treatment plan to address both your opiate use disorder and the dual diagnosis.

In the instance that insurance does not cover the entire cost, there are other methods of paying for treatment, including private loans, public loans or scholarships, employee assistance programs and selling personal assets. While it may seem burdensome, what matters is for you to get the specialized care and support you need to fight the addiction and be on your journey to recovery.