5 Ways to Know if You’re Selecting the Wrong Drug Rehab Program

For many years, the constant complaint in finding a drug rehab program, was the lack of drug rehab programs.

Today, drug addiction has become a part of modern life. Drug addiction, once taboo, reserved for back alleys and seedy corners of the word is now an open topic in residential areas, schools, and the business world.

Drug addiction has been crippling modern society for many years now but things are starting to change. There are addiction treatment center resources for everyone. Through provincial health authorities, private assisted living centers, and outpatient counselling services, we are in the middle of a major rise in available services.

Whether you are a family member, medical practitioner, friend, or employer looking for appropriate resources for your loved one, patient, or employee, the first action usually is to find the best drug rehab centers.

Here’s the problem with searching for the best drug rehab centers. The problem is that if you call a short list of drug rehab centers, they are all going to tell you that they are indeed; the best drug rehab center.

So instead of looking for the best drug rehab center, I have written 5 ways to know if you’re selecting the wrong drug rehab program.

Being aware of the warning signs that you are selecting the wrong drug rehab program, does not mean that it is a bad drug rehab program or an unethical drug rehab program. It just means that the drug rehab program you have selected is not appropriate for you or the addicted.

5 Ways to Know You’re Selecting the Wrong Drug Rehab Program

1. The intake coordinator is too pushy.

If you work in addictions, chances are you life at one point was affected by drug addiction. So in most cases, when you are speaking with a drug rehab program, the intake coordinator has been around. They take their job very seriously, and to them addiction can equal death so in many cases it’s easy to confuse their passion as aggression. That being said, they should never be too pushy. That should set alarm bells off. Their job is to present information to you in order for you to make an educated decision not to push you into selecting their drug rehab program. You just need to trust you gut here and know the difference between passion, care, and pushiness.

2. The center is not licensed.

Every Province is different when it comes to licensing standards. Instead of going through each and every Provinces and municipality licensing regulations, which would be an article in itself, just put this on the list to ask the treatment centre if they are licensed according to the standards of their municipality, and ask to see that licence.

3. Too many beds.

It is our experience that any one drug rehab program that offers more than 15 beds in one location is too many beds. The reason for this is client to counsellor ratio. The ratio should be, at 1 to 3. That’s 1 counsellor for every 3 clients. If you are speaking to a treatment centre that houses 30, 50, 100 or more beds for clients, in our books it falls instantly into the wrong drug rehab program category. It’s not that their program is bad or unethical, it’s just impossible at that level to offer a 1 to 3 clinician ratio, and the client typically gets lost in the shuffle. The bigger the drug rehab program is, the easier it is to hide in the shadows and not do the work.

4. It’s Co-Ed.

This point is not intended to lambaste co-ed treatment programs. There are many incredible, world class co-ed programs. However, in our experience, the co-ed system always leads to problems. It leads to drama, relationships, and it acts as one gigantic barrier for the client to feel safe, get honest, and engage with their group. This has nothing to do with ethics, or credentials, or program curriculum. It has to do with addicts in recovery being distracted by the opposite sex. The argument from co-ed programs is always going to be that a discreet non co-ed program is a bubble, a fantasy because at some point, the client need to reintegrate back into reality and they need to interact with the opposite sex. While that is true, the presence of the opposite sex in most cases creates a barrier, an obstacle to honestly and sincerity. A bonding process between group and counsellor must be forged and forged fast and in our experience, a co-ed centre becomes more like 90210 that a healthy, healing, safe, bonding environment, which is the environment clients need in order to recover.

5. Poor group relatability.

Many counsellors will argue this point and say that there is always something to learn in any group and the demographics of the group should not matter. WRONG! As a client, you only have so long in treatment. At 30 days, usually your head is just coming out of the clouds and if you can’t relate to your group, you will usually alienate yourself from that group, not fit in, not feel safe and not engage in therapy. Relatability is imperative to recovery. Especially when you have a short window to complete treatment. Less barriers, the easier it is to engage and recovery. Group demographics change all the time, so just ask the intake coordinator what the current group dynamics looks like. For example; If your loved one is a 72 year old women with an alcohol problem and my group consists of 20 young men under 30 who use crack and heroin, it’s gonna be a problem. Again most therapists and 12 step groups are going to kill me over this becuase all walks are welcome, which we whole hardheartedly believe and embrace but for inpatient drug and alcohol rehabilitation, it’s a cold-hard fact. If you can’t relate it’s the wrong drug rehab program.

So there it is. 5 ways to know if you’re selecting the wrong drug rehab program. I hope this helps you in your selection process. All treatment is not created equal, so although you may be faced with crisis and urgency, just make sure you find the best drug rehab centers because if you select the wrong drug rehab program, one that is not appropriate for your needs, it can easily lead to relapse, worsen to problem, and prevent recovery from happening.

Namaste!

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