Types of Drug Rehab
Although there are many types of Drug Rehab, they all can be divided into three major groups. The third group actually is a combination of the theories behind the first two.
If you are having a short discussion on the types of Drug Rehab that are available today, the starting point is to divide them into two major groups. The dividing point is a matter of responsibility. One group operates on the principle that addiction is a matter of personal responsibility. The 12 step program idea that a person has lost control and must first admit this and then appeal to some higher power for help is the basis for this way of approaching addiction.
In this type of drug rehab, much is put upon the individual. It was them that got them into the problem, and it is going to have to be them that gets them out. They are responsible and the rehab counseling is directed toward helping them regain control over their life and accept that responsibility. The counseling is not the cure. It is, rather, a support system to keep them on track and encourage them to continued abstinence. This is seen as the only way to permanently control addiction. It suggests that once one is an addict, they will remain an addict; always one drink or drug use away from relapse.
More and more, recently, addiction is being seen as a medical condition. It is being classified as a disease and as such is treatable by medical methods. The causes of addiction are being seen as genetic disposition and chemical imbalance in the brain. When addiction is viewed this way, personal responsibility is relieved to some degree. Addiction is not so much something that one brought on themselves, but rather something they could not help. Counseling and medication are the cures that will control the disease and free the addict from the addiction.
Most modern drug rehab uses a third method that is a combination of these two concepts. It is usually called Integrative Therapy. It integrates the idea of personal responsibility and medical causation into a program for rehabilitation. This program stresses the idea that an individual is ultimately responsible for his addiction and thus for his control of it as well, but admits that medication can be helpful. It recognizes the advances of science in the area of understanding the chemical nature of what happens in our brains.
The 12 Step idea of rehabilitation is that one needs the help of a “higher power” to help control their life. True rehabilitation can not begin until this step is taken. The addict must admit they are out of control and actively seek this help. However, right from the beginning, this ‘higher power” has remained undefined. To some, it may be God and to others it might be medication that restores chemical balance. When viewed this way, Integrative Therapy does not seem a compromise between differing views as much as it is a true merging of them into an effective program.