Residential Alcohol Rehab

Students are having outside dinner at residential rehab

When a person is trying to recover from addiction to alcohol, it can seem like the whole world is threatening them. Every neighborhood has its local bar or tavern. Every grocery store has a wide selection of liquor or beer. Alcohol ads appear in print media and even on billboards. And movies and television make the act of drinking so real that an addicted person can taste and smell the alcohol being poured. Alcohol is almost everywhere.

Making a complete recovery from alcohol addiction is often greatly benefited by residential alcohol rehab. In a residential facility, a person in recovery is not faced with alcohol at every turn. There is around-the-clock supervision as well as isolation from all these sources of alcohol. This is merciful as well as providing an opportunity for a dedicated focus on rehabilitation.

Choosing the Right Alcohol Rehab

Woman researches residential alcohol rehab

In many cases, it’s the family that searches for a residential alcohol rehab for a loved one. However, some people who recognize that they have a problem with alcohol will do their own research. If they do, their families, employers and friends will usually rally around their decision.

Whoever is making the search should carefully review the steps of the rehab program and make sure that they seem sensible. These steps should also seem to add up to the result of a person developing the ability to remain sober after leaving.

A residential alcohol rehab program in a new environment is what many people need to get started on a new, sober path. They are separated from the people they drank with and the locations where they purchased alcohol. There are no hidden stashes of alcohol in the residential rehab, either.

First Step: Alcohol Detoxification

An alcohol detox can be hazardous for a person who was drinking heavily and constantly. This person will usually need to come off the alcohol in a medical facility specially set up to provide this care. Alcohol detox can trigger fever, seizures and even delirium and can even be fatal in the worst cases. A medical examination and taking a history of the person’s health and drinking habits can help medical personnel come to a determination about the kind of care the person needs.

For those who do not need a medical detox, they can arrive directly at a residential alcohol rehab. The first days will be spent going through withdrawal, with supervision and assistance with symptoms. It’s the same at one of the many Narconon residential alcohol rehabs around the world. Here, with plenty of nutrition to assist detoxification and one-on-one support from staff, they can get close monitoring and attention while all the alcohol they have been consuming is neutralized by their body.

Sauna

In most rehabs, the individual would then mix with other clients and begin program steps. At a Narconon residential alcohol rehab, each person goes through another, detoxification step. The Narconon New Life Detoxification Program combines time in a low-heat sauna, moderate exercise and nutritional supplements to help the body flush out residual toxins from alcohol or drug use. Many people talk about having more energy, fewer cravings and a brighter viewpoint about life when they are done with this step of their rehab program.

Focusing on the Present and Future

The past is no friend to the alcoholic. That’s where all the pain, losses, accidents and arguments are. That’s where jobs were lost and divorces occurred. Leaving the past behind and gaining a positive viewpoint about the present can be hard-to-impossible for the person addicted to alcohol. After all, it seems that’s what alcohol is for—to blot out all that pain and loss.

To help with this transition, the Narconon residential alcohol rehab staff guide each person through a series of unique exercises that help them begin to focus on the present. During these exercises, each person gradually learns how to exert more control over their actions and choices. These abilities are essential for a person who wishes to learn how to maintain sobriety after rehab.

Better Life Skills for Better Environmental Control

Narconon staff helping a student read materials

Lasting sobriety requires each person to weather the changes and challenges of life. A fully-featured residential alcohol rehab will offer services that result in these improved life skills.

Some people spent so long addicted to alcohol that they have lost their life skills. Instead, they relied on lies and manipulation to manage their families and employers. Now they have to get honest. They have to restore their own integrity and ability to overcome setbacks. They are going to have to clean up ruined relationships at home and learn to be honestly productive again. These skills and many others are developed in the life skills portion of the Narconon residential alcohol rehab.

Careful Monitoring of Quality, Every Step of the Way

Regaining sobriety is challenging. Each person making this journey must receive close supervision to ensure they are actually benefiting from the rehab program they are doing. Too many people do not take this task seriously which frequently means that they may need to return to rehab for a second time.

Man at home after rehab is talking on a phone

There is no set time limit for this rehab program at a Narconon facility. Each of these students of sober living progresses at their own rate. The staff monitors their completion of the lessons and exercises to ensure that the skills that will be needed after graduation are really and truly achieved. There is more follow-up after the student gets home so that their questions can be answered and any needed advice can be provided.

Choosing Sobriety, Choosing Health and Choosing Life

Every type of drug abuse is dangerous and damaging to health. But alcohol presents serious and unique dangers that get worse the longer those high levels of consumption go on.

Alcohol has been shown to be the cause of seven different kinds of cancer: mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, colorectum, liver and female breast.1 For that reason, it is very wise for a person to get control of their alcohol consumption as early as possible. And, according to the National Toxicology Program, part of the National Institutes of Health, in four of these types of cancer, “the risk of cancer increases with increasing [alcohol] consumption level.”1

In addition, more than 30% of all traffic-related deaths involved a driver who was impaired by alcohol use.2 The sooner a person who’s addicted to alcohol can get help, the better their chance of avoiding serious repercussions like these. At the same time, the more enjoyable and brighter life can look. And that’s the real goal.

Sources:


  1. National Toxicology Program. “Alcoholic Beverage Consumption.” NTP, 2000. NTP ↩︎ ↩︎

  2. National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. “Drunk Driving.” NHTSA, 2021. NHTSA ↩︎