Finding The Best Addiction Treatment California Has To Offer

Locating a quality drug rehab in California can be accomplished in a number of ways. Whether you decide to seek the advice of a physician or visit a directory support group, the options available are vast in number. In this entry, we will offer up a few tips to help you determine the best facility to best suit your individual needs.

Step 1 – Educate yourself in regard to addiction and recovery. Though many people associate addiction with alcohol and drug dependency, the subject matter stretches across a wide array of topics, including depression, sex addiction, self-mutilation and eating disorders. Some patients are required to attend 90 or 30 day drug rehab programs via family physician or court order, while others are persuaded to seek help through the process of intervention. Regardless of the circumstances surrounding treatment, the basics of recovery are largely the same.

Step 2 – Learn about in-patient treatment programs. Within an in-patient program, patients are required to live at a specified facility under the supervision of a team of physicians, counselors and specialists until the patient is deemed fit to re-enter society. Individual programs will differ, though the majority offer both group and individual therapy, detox programs alongside after-care and sober living resources.

Step 3 – Determine which treatment facility best suits the needs of the individual in question. Some facilities cater specifically to alcoholics, whereas others employ holistic treatments to treat eating disorders in women. Programs run from specific to general depending on the type of care you are hoping to locate. Choosing a program that is able to properly address the addict’s individual needs and goals is vital in ensuring the best possible outcome during and post treatment.

Step 4 – Locate and visit a local support group. There you can communicate with recovering addicts to obtain a better perspective on your available options. Do your best to speak with individuals who possess a minimum of 3 years of sobriety and inquire as to whether they were satisfied with the care provided to them. If you like what you hear, obtain contact information for the facility and call them up to schedule a tour. This will afford you the opportunity to ask questions pertaining to sober living programs, in-patient living arrangements, facility procedures and anything else you feel is pertinent to our decision-making.

Step 5 – If you require treatment for yourself or a dependent; call up your insurance provider to obtain a list of California alcohol rehab facilities. Be sure to provide your representative with information pertaining to the type of rehab facility you are interested in, as well as a brief statement regarding the situation at hand. This will help ease the financial burden associated with treatment, while narrowing your options into a pool to choose from.

Alcoholism and the Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde Effect

“He does absurd, incredible, tragic things while drinking. He is a real Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”-pg 21 from the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous

This is usually the sad truth behind alcoholism. Alcoholism robs people of pretty much everything good in their lives such as their jobs, families, friends, homes, and happiness and it doesn’t end until the alcoholic either surrenders and gets sober or until there are jails, institutions or death involved.

There’s no reason for alcoholism to have to end in jails, institution or death when there are rehab programs in California as well as Los Angeles rehabs that can help.

There is also support for family of addicts. There’s Al-Anon, and plenty of treatment centers willing and able to work with families to rebuild a broken relationship. When were in the midst of our disease it can seem nearly impossible to find a way out especially when the life of an alcoholic seems to become the only normal one to them. However many people have recovered from this thing that holds us hostage. There are several tools to aid us in our recovery. Through them we can be freed from the bondage of self. We can mend our broken relationships, make right what was once wrong, learn to forgive, love ourselves, our lives, and trudge the road of happy destiny.

Regardless of what we have done or how powerless we think we are there is hope for all of us if we reach out and ask for help and take it one day at a time.

Changing the Alcoholic Double Life in a 30 Day Rehab Program

“More than most people, the alcoholic leads a double life. He is very much the actor.” page 73 the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous

If you are at a point in your life where you are deciding or have decided that you are an alcoholic or an addict this quote might hit home for you. By the time we hit our bottoms there has often been many years of living two different lives just to be able to maintain our habits. Like a chameleon an addicted person will change in every situation as a means to protect themselves from losing things that they consider important to them i.e. family, jobs, ability to drink the way they want, houses etc this all stems from fear…fear of not getting what they want, losing what they have, or not getting what they “deserve”. This can continue on into sobriety if one does not have tools to cope or if they are doing it alone,  many people refer to this as “white knuckling it”. It’s not a pleasant or necessary experience there is plenty of help available that can be found in places such as 30 day rehab programs, drug addiction detox, and dual diagnosis recovery center Los Angeles. Whatever the path one may choose there is no wrong way as long as the destination is the same. Once we get sober we can stop living like actors, chameleons, or addicts and start living healthy, honest, and open lives. We can begin to allow people and ourselves to see who we truly are as well as opening ourselves up to be loved.

Dual Diagnosis Treatment Centers in California : What is it, and what makes it Beneficial?

Dual diagnosis is the process by which a treatment center finds 2 of the following: drug addiction problems, alcoholism, and mental illness. Up to 70% of drug and alcohol addicts are estimated to suffer from an undiagnosed and untreated secondary condition.  Because symptoms of drug abuse and mental illness are similar, diagnosis can be easily confused.  Drug treatment facilities are often ill-equip to deal with mental illness and visa versa. Luckily, Above It All treatment center is equipped for such a problem.

With any type of addiction problem there is often a dual diagnosis with depression; so even after the treatment for addiction the depression will remain. Without treatment for depression as well as the addiction the likelihood of relapse increases tenfold.  Several other mental illnesses are often self-medicated with drug and alcohol addictions, like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Most of these problems can be managed with therapy and prescriptions thereby ensuring a mostly normal life, as opposed to having a higher propensity towards suicide. Alcoholics are about 7 times more likely to commit suicide even after treatment without proper therapy.  50 % of all people who commit suicide were not in therapy beforehand. Having a drug and alcohol treatment center that can support a dual diagnosis paradigm is very beneficial to sober living for the rest of your life.

There are three main benefits of dual diagnosis: you get two treatments at the same time, you learn coping skills, and you are able to plan to try for the future. Dual treatment ensures that both would be far more successful than either would be alone. With the coping skills, you no longer become a slave to your addiction and psychological issues.  And by planning for the future, it becomes possible to do stuff that an addiction makes impossible. A certified drug rehab center, such as Above It All treatment center is such a place where treatment such as dual diagnosis is possible.

“We Aren’t a Glum Lot”

“ … we aren’t a glum lot.” – The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, pg. 132

In the lives of many alcoholics and addicts who have begun the path to sobriety and a new life are many fears. One of them is often that we will never enjoy ourselves again.  This question, “How will I ever have any fun without a drink or drug in hand?” is based on our reliance of substances to provide for us things we think we have been without.

For many there was, once upon a time, the feeling of instant invincibility and the idea that we could be friendly and fun, attractive and well-liked when we had that drink of drug and now, without that drink or drug, we believe we would never be able to feel comfortable enough to have fun and let loose again.  In effect, we began to use drugs and alcohol as a way to treat this symptom, the belief of an inability to fit in. We believed that drugs and alcohol allowed us to suddenly become the vision of who we so wanted to be. Finally, we thought, not only do we fit in but the lampshade on our respective heads amused everyone around us.  Or so we thought.

The truth is that through our newfound and ever-evolving sobriety, we learn more and more that fun is there for the taking.  Maybe we always wanted to engage in an activity to which we were drawn but never sober enough to follow through on to even make the attempt.  In sobriety, all doors open to us, we are able to seek our heart’s desire and enjoy ourselves along the way.  We learn how to throw our heads back and laugh.  In the dawn of our Recovery, we begin to realize we have a bond with others who suffered in, possibly, the very same way.  The staff at this Los Angeles drug rehab understands the root of this fear and teaches us that enjoying oneself is paramount as well as shows us how to do just that.

Laughter and joy are waiting for you on the other side of the darkness to which alcoholics and addicts have become so accustomed.  We move together, meeting new people all along the way who encourage us on our journey into our new life where we will find ourselves happy, joyous and free.

On Studying the Twelve Steps

“Many of us exclaimed, “What an order!  I can’t go through with it.”  Do not be discouraged.  No one among us has been able to maintain anything like perfect adherence to these principles.  We are not saints.  The point is, that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines.  The principles we have set down are guides to progress.  We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection.” – The Big Books of Alcoholic Anonymous, pg. 60

There are many times we strive to do things perfectly.  We set those around us and ourselves up for a failure of magnificent proportions based on our idea that whatever it is we’ve set out to accomplish will be performed nothing short of perfectly.  When this happens, many times, after the first major mistake, we shy away from any action remotely resembling the initial failure.  In effect, we are being paralyzed by our fear of getting it wrong or doing whatever it is we wanted to/meant to do less-than-perfectly.

One of the problems with this is that our subsequent fear of failure creates this idea that if it can’t be accomplished without a flaw it shouldn’t be attempted in the first place.  This pattern of inaction keeps us at the bottom of the river, wearing cement boots & drowning in our own expectations.

As we move forward in our Recovery, we learn that making mistakes is par for the course.  That, not only is it expected, it is actually okay.  We learn not to set ourselves up for the unattainable, which is based on our expected ideal of a failure-free action.  Through these moments of trial and error, we actually learn and grow.  Our mistakes become our teachers and our ideas of perfection shift to actions of progress.  With this, we move ever closer to our goal of being an effective, valuable member of society

CA Drug Rehabs Save Lives

A California drug rehabilitation center knows that being an addict is one of the hardest things a person can go through during their entire lifetime. But, seeking treatment to come out of it sober and healthy can seem even harder to someone who has lived this life for as long as some addicts have. Even though substance abuse has taken away part of a person’s life that they can’t get back, they can build a new one that can be better because it will be free of drugs and alcohol.

If you are thinking it is time to make the step to becoming a clean and sober person who takes control of their life, looking in to a California drug rehabilitation facility is going to give you the confidence you need to finally make the right choice. Being able to be amongst the trees, scenic mountains, far removed from the preconceived notions you might have of California and relaxing while learning how to recover from the addiction is going to help you maintain the clear and level head that you need while still reveling in the beauty you might have missed while on drugs or abusing alcohol.

When you are looking in to a California drug rehabilitation treatment center to possibly bring someone you love, the objective you have is saving their life. You have watched them spiral downward and out of control for who knows how long, and all you want is for them to get better. Having medically trained professionals on staff who have the expertise and knowledge to not only take care of your loved one physically by helping them to get off of drugs and alcohol, but also treat them mentally to prepare them for becoming productive members of your family, friends, and the society in which they want live soberly should be make a great case for why this person should check themselves in.

No matter what substances you or your loved one may have been abusing, the one universal truth about all of them is that you cannot quit alone; you need help to become healthy again. Admitting that is the first step and getting therapy in a California drug rehabilitation clinic is the second. The third and final step is to take the teachings that you have learned from everyone you encounter inside of the treatment facility and putting them in to practice in the real world.

A California rehab is the best of all worlds: a beautiful location, amazing physicians, remarkable therapists, and people just like you or your loved one who are seeking to live a life free from the chains of addiction. California rehab centers save lives; as many as they can. Every time someone enters a clinic they are given the same opportunity to live a healthy life that the last person who walked through the doors was, and the next person to come in will. What they do with it is up to them and their loved ones.

Prioritizing Sobriety

In the beginning stages of sobriety, it can be very easy to become quickly overwhelmed when faced with more than one task at a time.  To know which direction to go first can be very confusing.  As we move through our lives, while sober, we begin to learn where to place our energies and attention.

Prioritizing is a learned skill.  When the focus has been simply obtaining alcohol and/or drugs and then imbibing them, for most of us, that was the one and only priority to which we centered our attention.  Our lives were solely propelled by our addictions.  We needed nothing more than the substance(s) to which we were beholden.

Now, as we begin rebuilding our lives, we have tasks to accomplish; there is have work to be done; activities in which to participate, etc.  We begin to live our lives, lives that extend far past just the drink and/or the drug(s).  Learning what needs to happen in what order can be confusing, overwhelming even.

Thankfully, at this California alcohol rehabilitation center, the staff helps us learn how to build our day.  We are given a schedule and that schedule then becomes the outline by which we see what needs to happen when during the course of each day.  As we transition from living in a drug rehab in Los Angeles, to living in our respective environments, be it our own home or a shared sober living program, we have to learn and eventually know how to structure our day.  If we need help knowing what to do when, we learn to ask for guidance.  We do not have to become paralyzed by the prospect of more than one thing to do at one time.

What comes first in preparing for the day?  If we make our bed every morning, many times the rest of the day falls into place.

The Alcoholic Addict and Hitting Bottom

We may hear the phrase “hit bottom” more than once as we begin our journey into the world of sobriety.  What does “hit bottom” mean?  Maybe we have a preconceived notion about what hitting bottom looks like.  Is it someone clutching a bottle of the cheapest booze, half propped up on yellowed newspapers against a rusted out dumpster in a rat infested alleyway using a cardboard box for shelter?  There are bottoms that do, in fact, look like that however many more bottoms do not resemble that particular image.

The fact of the matter is that our “bottom” isn’t really about how awful our life may or may not look outside of us.  There are bottoms that people have hit where they did not lose their jobs, their places to live, their cars, had their children taken away, divorced or split from their partners, lost their businesses, etc.
What “hitting bottom” actually means is that we get to that place where we feel ever-so-lost, writhing in agonizing emotional pain, empty, and very, very alone.  What we may have done, be it drank, took drugs, numbed ourselves out in some way, no longer keeps that soul-suffering at bay.  We are wholly and totally broken, from the inside out.

In this California drug rehabilitation center, the staff is able to help us see how our outside differences are not the defining factor when it comes to measuring our respective bottoms.  Instead, they show us it’s that misery which we can tolerate no longer that is the binding factor between us.  We are now at a place where we can no longer ease our way by drinking alcohol and/or using drugs.  Our stories may differ about how we arrived but our sense of utter hopeless desperation is the same.  This is hitting bottom.

Learning to Control our Emotional Natures

“… we couldn’t control our emotional natures…”  The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous pg. 52

What does controlling our emotional natures mean?  Have we run rampant over others, without any regard for them, due to our feelings?  How has this been magnified when we’ve been drinking and/or using?

Let’s consider how we’ve reacted to people when we’ve felt emotionally challenged while under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol.  When we’ve been angry, have we responded by shouting or screaming, name calling, or even physically lashing out?  Maybe we’ve taken the other route; being sullen & silent, behaving in a passive aggressive manner with the attempt at manipulating situations to try to wound the other person without every stating we were upset.

Now, while getting sober, it may be even more of a challenge to learn how to contend with our feelings while not defaulting to and relying on how we’ve reacted previously.  It is in the best interest of all for us to be willing to be reeducated, so to speak, in how we respond; recognizing and becoming mindful of how our reactions affect others.  The staff at this Los Angeles drug rehab has intricate knowledge of how to not only recognize when an overwhelming reaction is building up but to also quickly diffuse the emotional component of the situation.  In the moment, they offer a new view to what may be happening and a possible way of how to respond while still being in touch with our feelings, instead of allowing those feelings to be our only reaction.  This is, more often than not, a learned skill and simply because it might not be easy or even understandable, it can be acquired and honed over time.