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Top 6 Characteristics of a Good Rehab Program

Looking for the best addiction treatment program can sometimes become a real hassle and overwhelming. It can become even more daunting if you don’t know what services you need to look for in the rehab program that addresses your needs. For one, you must ensure that the rehab program you choose is the right one for you or is a good match for your loved one. But then, it is also essential to note that not all rehab programs are equal. Plus, not all programs provide the same addiction treatment services. Therefore, if you intend to select the right Alcohol Rehab Los Angeles program to enroll into, you must know precisely what the rehab programs need to entail. The services that will help you towards sober living and fighting your addiction problems effectively.

This article provides you with specific attributes that can help you define and determine the best rehab program to go for

  1. Frequent individual & group counseling sessions

Rehab programs need to have frequent individual counseling sessions for their patients. And that goes for both the inpatient and outpatient treatment programs. Excellent rehab program facilities have individual counseling sessions with their patients a minimum of once a week. More sessions can be arranged if requested by the patient.

The program counselors can use one or more therapies to help their patients uncover the behaviors that are counterproductive and unhealthy to a good, sober life. The counseling sessions help both parties realize these behaviors and work to develop strategies that can help cope with these feelings and prevent negative behaviors.

Group therapy is also good to help patients that struggle with relationships to come together and learn to socialize. This, in turn, helps these patients to come together and learn to support each other in their recovery processes. Group therapy helps reduce the isolation feeling that addicts feel. Some patients even end up building life-long bonds here.

  1. Have a clinical director with a master’s degree or higher learning

It isn’t uncommon to find rehab programs that are run by sober people without any advanced degrees in behavioral sciences. But then, you realize that these programs usually offer treatments that aren’t evidence-based. You need to look for a rehab program that has a clinical director/s who know what to do and have the medical know-how to back them up. Evidence-based treatments that are also well-researched are more effective compared to the ones that are not. Therefore, only go for the rehab programs that have personnel that have either a master’s or doctorate. These guys will know how to handle your case and effectively get you the right addiction treatments.

  1. Long-term approach

Studies show that the recovery rates of addiction patients improve significantly when rehab programs use a long-term treatment approach. Therefore, if you truly want to rid yourself of your addiction habits and live a sober life, then go for a program that offers the long-term treatment approach. The 30-day program, for example, only exists to accommodate the insurance companies. They don’t help patients who are in need of addiction treatments. For that, you might need to stay in the rehab program for at least 90 days. The best rehab program facilities offer all the support programs needed by the patients under one clinical treatment team.

  1. Nutritionally focused

It is essential that you also only select the rehab program that is nutritionally focused. Remember, the food you get served in the rehab centers means a lot more than just good taste. Addiction harms the patients’ body and brain. It also weakens the patients’ immune system. It is, therefore, imperative that the rehab program you select provides the best nutrition to revitalize the body. Nutrition is also part of the treatment in this case. Go for the rehab centers that practices Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT).

MNT helps to:

  • Nourish and heal the patients’ body
  • Minimize cravings for drugs and alcohol
  • Work towards healing the body from the results of the drugs or alcohol used before
  • Reduce stress and stabilize the patients’ mood
  • Educate the patients about nutrition and self-care

In almost all instances, you find that addiction always goes hand-in-hand with poor eating habits. This can, in turn, leave the addict underweight, overweight, or even with bad skin. But proper nutrition can help to reverse all of these conditions and also improve the individuals’ physical appearance as well.

  1. Exercise

Good rehab programs also prioritize exercise as part of their treatment programs. Evidence-based treatment programs help to provide different benefits to the addict patients. Take aerobic exercises like running, for example. They can help to increase the neuron reserves in the brain. Particularly the section of the brain that’s responsible for learning.

Also, regular exercise helps to relieve stress and tension from the body. This is also essential at helping addict patients in releasing any negative emotions that they may have. Regular exercise also helps to release endorphin hormones which are nature’s ‘feel good’ hormones. These hormones help provide the patients with a natural high which is free and also free of any negative risks of drugs or alcohol.

Enough exercise also helps to provide patients with optimism and self-confidence. Not to mention also provide the patients with lower rates of anxiety and depression.

  1. Evidence-based therapies

Rehab programs and facilities use many different types of therapies to treat mental disorders and substance addictions. However, the best rehab programs offer therapies that are evidence-based. By this, we mean that the specific forms of treatments these rehab programs offer have been well-researched and proved to be effective.

Select the rehab centers that use programs that have proved to have positive outcomes after high-quality research. You will be sure to get the best addiction treatment sessions here and come out sober. Therefore, when looking for the right rehab program, you also want to ensure that the therapy sessions they use are research-based.

Final thoughts

To get the most out of the rehab program that you choose, it is essential that you also do ample research on the best program to enroll to. And the characteristics mentioned above are precisely what you should be looking into if you intend to come out of the rehab facility sober. At the day’s end, we do hope that you break the addiction chains and live a sober life. Good luck!