What is an outpatient drug or alcohol rehab?
Outpatient drug rehab consists of someone attending treatment sessions at a center, clinic or hospital, and then afterwards returning home to regular life after they have participated in treatment sessions. Outpatient differs from inpatient rehab as at inpatient the person actually lives at the facility where they are receiving treatment, and do not usually leave the facility expect in some special cases for other treatments.
While both inpatient and outpatient treatment programs have strengths and weaknesses, most individuals in recovery will get engaged in outpatient treatment at some point. This is even true for people who have been in an inpatient recovery program for a long time. The reason is that inpatient rehabs are made to deliver intense and specialized treatment for short amounts of time. They are pricey and require a large number of professional resources for them to be implemented. Outpatient drug rehab can address most of the needs of a person in recovery and results in less expense.
When is outpatient treatment NOT preferable?
When clients must be monitored for severe withdrawal syndromes
In some instances, people who have substance use disorders and are in the early phase of recovery are presented with serious withdrawal symptoms, and in some cases, these can be dangerous and even life-threatening, for example in the case of withdrawal from benzodiazepines or withdrawal from alcohol. In these cases, an outpatient management program is not the preferred choice. It is more efficient to instead have the individual in a residential program where it is possible to have them monitored 24/7, and have any emergency situations monitored carefully. Usually, when people are stabilized or have gone through the withdrawal process, they are then released into an outpatient program.
When clients have toxic home environments
Within this context, toxic environments is referring to any situation that is either dangerous for the person or will significantly interfere with the individuals chance of success in the early stages of recovery. These include situations such as an abusive relationship in the home, an environment where there is significant substance abuse and environments where there are other significant stressors.
Individuals who have had many unsuccessful attempts at recovery
In some cases, people who have gone through many attempts at recovery and had many relapses will benefit from a period of time in a residential treatment program. They will, however, have to transition to some form of outpatient care. However, getting a firmly established recovery in an inpatient program is often helpful.
People who have medical issues or severe mental health problems
People who have severe medical problems or serious mental health disorders should initially go to an inpatient care unit. Individuals who are suicidal or who have serious cognitive impairment will be better served within a residential treatment facility until they can be stabilized, or more suitable arrangements are made for them outside of an inpatient rehab program.
Clients who have other conditions
A good recovery program follows established principles and aims to adjust these to the needs of any person, so any number of important considerations or conditions might indicate that a person would get along better in a residential drug treatment program, at least to start with.
Outpatient treatment services
With only a few exceptions, outpatient drug programs can provide the full gamut of treatment services that can be provided by residential treatment units. These include:
The majority of medically assisted treatments. Most medically assisted treatments that are recommended in the use of recovery from drug abuse are able to provided on an outpatient basis. People can also be prescribed medication during recovery and take them on an outpatient basis.
All manner of psychosocial interventions. These are basically no types of therapy, support group, complementary and alternative medicines that can only be provided to a person on an inpatient basis. People can receive all of these interventions as an outpatient. It just depends on the offerings of the rehabilitation program which is chosen.
Psychoeducational services include lectures and skill build shops that do not qualify as therapy. These can also be provided on an outpatient basis just as efficiently as they can be provided as an inpatient basis.
Wrap
We hope that this guide to outpatient drug rehab has been informative and will guide you to the right choice for your rehab.