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Individuals living with addiction often suffer alone. It makes sense then, that a group setting often aids the addiction recovery process. Most top alcohol and drug rehab centers place a special emphasis on the group dynamic, understanding that working with other recovering addicts can mean numerous advantages for the individual who has lived in silence with their problem for so long.
Benefits of Addiction Treatment in a Group Setting
As they saying goes, “there’s safety in numbers” and nowhere is that more true than in drug and alcohol treatment. Indeed, there are a number of benefits to group interaction during addiction treatment, including:
- Support. One of the main objectives of group counseling is that recovering addicts will help support one another through their most difficult times.
- Openness. When individuals are suffering from an addiction, they tend to lie – both to themselves and those around them. Because everyone is alcohol and drug rehab is going through similar circumstances, it is a chance for the individual to open up and be honest about their addiction. To take the point further, there is NO way that addiction treatment can work unless the individual is 100% honest about their situation.
- Knowledge. Listening to the stories of other recovering addicts, and learning how they overcame particular aspects of their addiction provides valuable knowledge that the individual can use in their recovery.
Women and Addiction Treatment in a Group Setting
Perhaps no group of people that benefits more from addiction treatment in a group setting than women. In recent years, a number of studies have found that women respond more positively to treatment for their substance abuse and addiction issues when they a) are enrolled in a gender-specific program that only treats women, and b) are given numerous opportunities to meet as a group with their fellow recovering addicts in the program.
As the more nurturing of the two sexes this makes sense. The more women have a chance to build a sense of community (not unlike a family) the more they will open up and begin to allow the lessons of addiction rehabilitation to sink in.
Different Types of Group Drug and Alcohol Treatment Programs
A group setting can be found in both of the major addiction treatment types: residential and outpatient. In a residential drug rehab center, group counseling sessions are a part of every day’s schedule. The group dynamic is enhanced in residential care, as the individuals literally live side by side with one another throughout the course of the program. Outpatient rehab also offers group counseling, but it is one the main chances for patients to form bonds with one another (as they all will return home or to a sober living facility at the end of the treatment day).
Court Ordered Drug and Alcohol Rehab
More and more, judges are handing down sentencing that includes ordered drug and alcohol rehab programs. Whether the individual is guilty of a DUI or public drunkenness, the end result is often thirty days in treatment – the hope being that they will learn important lessons about sobriety and break the addiction cycle in the process.
Co-ed Alcoholism and Drug Rehab
The majority of alcohol and drug rehab programs in the United States are co-ed. That means men and women living side-by-side (in the case of residential addiction treatment) during their recovery. While not everyone is comfortable with these arrangements, they are a reality at some of the top addiction treatment centers in the county. What are the Benefits of Co-ed Alcohol and Drug Rehab? There are a number of benefits to co-ed addiction treatment programs, including:
Mandatory Drug and Alcohol Rehab Treatment
While the majority of individuals who enter an addiction treatment program do so of their own volition (or with coaxing from an intervention) there are a number of people who have no choice in the matter. They are in alcohol and drug rehab as part of a mandatory court order forcing them to take part as an alternative to jail or other forms of punishment.
Community Drug and Alcohol Rehab Centers
Whether we live alone in a busy city, or in the midst of a huge family in a small rural town, we are all part of a community. America was created as separate but equal parts of a larger community, and despite efforts to isolate ourselves (the Internet) we still thrive in these types of settings. Community drug and alcohol rehab programs operate along this line of thinking. Individuals enter these residential addiction treatment programs, and gain strength and support from living side-by-side with other recovering addicts. It is a simple formula, but one that works quite well for those recovering addicts who respond favorably to the setting.
