Benefits of Outpatient Treatment

If you have only just started abusing intoxicating and mind altering substances or you have been diagnosed with a mild addiction, outpatient treatment might be the right solution for you.

This form of treatment would also be ideal if you have already been through an intensive inpatient drug rehab program. It would allow you to make the transition back to everyday life without risking a relapse.

Understanding Outpatient Treatment

There are many benefits to gain from outpatient treatment. In fact, research has shown that it can be successful in dealing with a substance use disorder. This is irrespective of whether you take it as your main program of recovery or as a continuum of care after checking out of an inpatient rehabilitation program.

This type of treatment is ideal if you need help overcoming your substance use disorder without having to stay in an inpatient rehab or a hospital. It is effective and affordable, especially if you are new to addiction or have a mild substance use disorder.

You only need to participate in the rehabilitation program several times every week, a couple of hours every time. During your treatment sessions, you will receive support, education, and other recovery services to help you overcome your addiction.

The main thing to keep about in mind is that outpatient treatment comes with many different benefits and goals. It can, for instance, stop your use of intoxicating and mind altering substances. Further, it can provide you with new education and skills to improve your outcomes in recovery. Lastly, outpatient treatment might be ideal if you need to prevent yourself from relapsing back to your old drug and alcohol related habits.

That said, outpatient drug rehab is not:

• A replacement that you can use in place of inpatient treatment
• Low quality rehabilitation
• Subpar treatment

Who Benefits from Outpatient Treatment?

As we mentioned earlier, outpatient treatment is an effective and affordable form of addiction rehabilitation. However, it might not be ideal for you if you:

• Are deemed to be dangerous either to yourself or to others
• Have a severe substance use disorder
• Have relapsed in the support, meaning that you may need more support and supervision than might be found in an outpatient treatment center
• Might face temptations to use drugs and drink alcohol on a day to day basis, such as because your family members or housemates take these substances
• Need round the clock medical care, support, and supervision which you can only find in an inpatient drug rehab

This type of treatment is particularly useful if you are in the early stages of your substance use disorder. This is because it can offer you new techniques to deal with your addiction and overcome it before it is too late.

However, the first signs and symptoms of a substance use disorder might be difficult for you to spot. If you are fortunate enough to identify these signs and symptoms, you should enroll in an outpatient treatment program immediately.

That said, this form of treatment may be beneficial if you have already recognized the fact that you have an alcohol or drug related program. It would also work well if you have adequate motivation to learn how to overcome your addiction.

Outpatient Treatment as a Continuum of Care

At times, outpatient treatment is offered as a continuum of care. This effectively means that it will be part of a longer term recovery plan that will take place over multiple stages and phases.

Through this continuum of care, you will receive the healthcare services that you need over the long term. Treatment will also be offered at different stages and levels to increase your chances of achieving full recovery from your substance use disorder. Further, treatment will provide you with continuity with respect to the quality of rehabilitation and management services that you need to deal with your addiction.

To this end, it would be in your best interests to pick a drug rehab center that can offer you the comprehensive treatment services you require, and not just one type of rehab or the other.

In particular, the continuum of care that includes both inpatient and outpatient treatment might be suitable irrespective of the type of substance use disorder that you are struggling with. It would also be ideal if you have co-occurring mental health and medical disorders that have been managed on an inpatient basis alongside your addiction.

Addiction Treatment Services

When you choose outpatient treatment, there are different types of recovery services that you will receive. These services are all equally useful and valid to you as an individual. This effectively means that there is no single service that would be deemed to be superior to the others.

The services, however, are only useful when they are offered on a continuum of care. That said, the level of treatment and intensity of rehabilitation will not have any bearing on the care that you receive.

For example, most outpatient treatment programs will be useful if you have a mild or new substance use disorder. Residential and inpatient treatment, on the other hand, could help you overcome your severe addiction.

The main goal of any outpatient treatment would be to ensure that you achieve full recovery and sobriety from your addiction. To this end, it will be offered in different stages, each of which will come with unique attributes.

Some of the services that you can expect from an outpatient drug rehab program, to this end, include but are not always limited to the following:

1. Intervention

For starters, you might receive intervention services from professional interventionists and medical professionals. Your family and friends will typically use this intervention as an opportunity to confront you on your substance abuse and addiction. They would also urge you to check into an outpatient treatment center.

In many cases, interventions are useful in helping people in your situation address their substance abuse. Typically, a group of friends, family, and other loved ones will gather around you. During the session, they will communicate with you about the adverse effects of your substance abuse. Further, they will try to get you to accept drug rehab services.

2. Partial Hospitalization Programs (PHPs)

If you are struggling with a substance use disorder and you need a higher level of care than you would typically find at an outpatient treatment center, a partial hospitalization program might be ideal for you.

Typically, you would be required to check into such a program (also known as a day treatment program) for anywhere between 4 and 6 hours several days a week. During this time, you would receive various hospitalization and medical services to help you overcome your addiction.

Partial hospitalization programs are ideal if you already have a reliable system of support and love back at home. Your living environment should also be stable enough to ensure that you do not relapse when you check out of your chosen treatment center.

3. Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOPs)

You can also check into an intensive outpatient program if you require ongoing access to medications and other medically managed services. While struggling with a substance use disorder, you might want to enroll for IOP services.

By so doing, you will continue living at home and only go for treatment during the designated times. These rehabilitation services will also be provided during the day - meaning that you can still continue meeting your responsibilities and obligations after you are done with your treatment.

At night, you can either go back home or check into a sober or transitional living facility. The latter would be ideal if you are afraid that going back home could present you with new challenges to your recovery.

4. Regular Outpatient Treatment Services

Lastly, there are regular outpatient treatment programs. These programs offer treatment that is less intensive than you would find in an inpatient, partial hospitalization, or intensive outpatient program.

It might be the right solution if you have already been through any of these programs. However, you can also choose outpatient rehabilitation if you are struggling with a relatively new or mild substance use disorder.

Irrespective of the reasons why you chose outpatient treatment, it might be ideal if you need more support in your recovery. This is because you will be able to attend treatment several times every week for a couple of hours every time.

Benefits of Outpatient Treatment

There are many reasons why you might want to choose outpatient treatment. All these reasons are linked to the benefits that you stand to gain when you enroll for this level of care to deal with your addiction. They include but are not limited to:

• Choosing outpatient treatment means that you can still keep up with your responsibilities at home, work, and school
• It can enhance your spiritual life
• It can prove to be as effective as inpatient treatment
• It is more affordable, in the long term, than inpatient treatment
• It offers psychiatric care, individual counseling, and group counseling
• It will allow you to continue keeping your job so that you can earn a living
• It will allow you to start building a reliable support system
• Most insurance providers cover outpatient treatment
• The program will offer learn skills to help you reduce your risk of relapse
• You can still maintain your typical daily routine while enrolled in outpatient treatment
• You will receive education on addiction and how it is like any other disease
• You will receive outreach resources

If you would enjoy any of these benefits, you should consider enrolling in an outpatient treatment program as the first line of defense or as a continuum of care for your substance use disorder.

CITATIONS

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00365584

https://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.pn.2015.11a16

https://www.jstor.org/stable/3768330?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4152944/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16565638

https://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/fixing-the-system/features-and-news/2335