Other Substance Abuse Rehab

[Skywatcher]

Looking into substance abuse out patient intensives.

Any ideas of what works or recommendations to consider?

 

[ladee]

I went inpatient rehab. I don't think outpatient would have worked for me. but that's just me. That was almost 38 years ago so I made the right choice for me.

But proud of you for looking for help. Hope you find something that works for you. This PTSD journey is hard but we can't make much progress if we are using or drinking. Very proud of you for saving your own life.

 

[Roxx]

Looking into substance abuse out patient intensives.

Any ideas of what works or recommendations to consider?

Am sorry i can’t be the one to answer that, but i want u to know you are super brave and I personally am rooting for you and wish you the best! You can do it!
Roxx

 

[Skywatcher]

So sorry for the confusion. It is actually for my adult child who is struggling. Her therapist recommended one at his place, but it isn’t in our insurance. My kid had a pretty big trauma happen and could end up with ptsd, but it’s too soon to tell.

I guess I’m wondering if 12 step works for everyone. What if she doesn’t believe in God? What other types are there? What are signs that the place is bad?

 

[Dynamic]

Is there a Teen Challenge by you? It's not just for teens anymore.

 

[Rose White]

Teen Challenge

Is this Christian?

Sorry you are dealing with this @Skywatcher . I also have children with addictions and would love to put my younger son in inpatient but he would never go and his dad wouldn’t support it.

I would like to have one set up for in case I could ever get him to go, but I haven’t yet found one that seems helpful since we are not Christians (the low cost ones all seem Christian) and do not have money for something like a wilderness camp.

Hoping you find what you are looking for and I hope to follow along on your journey.

 

[Dynamic]

Oh yes Teen Challenge is Christian. Sorry if that's not helpful.

 

[Skywatcher]

Even though I’m Christian and my daughter is still connected to friends and the youth pastor in my church, she is unsure about beliefs. This especially came about with many churches rejecting the way God made her—as a bi-sexual person. She was a lesbian for awhile, and leans towards women. It’s really hard because she was very connected to our church and God before this realization came about. It really can destroy a person.

We are steering away from Christian programs. We have insurance, but trying to find in network out patient intensives.

 

[joeylittle]

@Skywatcher - I've no idea if this will be useful, but I stumbled across this link: Non-religious recovery (American Addiction Centers National Rehab Directory)

It mentions a few frameworks - the one that stood out to me was Women For Sobriety:

Women for Sobriety (WFS): This nonprofit organization provides support strictly for women. It is a program is based on 13 Acceptance Statements that encourage emotional and spiritual growth. With a focus on positivity, responsibility, and emotional growth, WFS helps women change negative thought and behavior patterns.

I know it sounds like it has religion in it, but I'm noticing that even many classic 12-step programs can encourage extrapolating the "higher power" concept into anything that is larger than oneself, or any way of understanding one's existence that is not merely...existential, aka life has no meaning, and we're all already dead.

Anyway...maybe that link will help with more ideas.

 

[Skywatcher]

I appreciate all of your help. Choices have been so limited on our insurance, but we can’t afford the out of network rates.

 

[joeylittle]

I hate insurance barriers. I'm sorry that's just making everything so much harder. I suggest this one a lot, but looking into your local NAMI chapter, and seeing what kinds of resource network they offer, can also be helpful - or at least, it's another avenue to look at and then check off the list.

Sitting with you.

 

[Friday]

When I was in school, working in medAdmin, I set up a social workers database of all the licensed substance abuse facilities, cross referencing by type (inpatient, dual-diagnosis, PHP, IOP, OP; tribal, womens only, under 18only, over 55; medically supervised, private, state run; Jewish, Christian, Islamic, Buddhist, atheist, secular; for medical professions, law enforcement, FAA, etc.).

In my state, alone, there were over 10,000… even though there were fewer than a dozen well known & well respected, and less than half that which were highly prized. It was an absolute nightmare of a project, but at least I was being paid to do it.

So you can believe me when I tell you… I know what an eye crossing $&@#£§ attempting to locate a facility can be.

***

A couple good cheats / things to know.

- Attend a couple/few al-anon & nar-anon meetings and ask for good facilities. You’ll probably only get a list of 2-3 places as most people in any specific area head towards the best known / most respected places meetings (AA/NA are overflowing wih people who have nearly all been to the same small handful of places, and by extension the al-anon/mar-anon). These same 2-3 well known clinics will often have 1 inpatient facility, and several satellite facilities on different sides of town, for their outpatient programs.

- Expect that IF there is a trauma history significant enough to have caused any disorder, beyond substance abuse, that most reputable treatment facilities will not take her; that she’ll either be turned away during the admission process, or exited from the program partway through… and referred to a dual-diagnosis &/or trauma-treatment program (welcome to reapply to substance abuse treatment after successful trauma treatment if & only if no medication is being used to treat any disorder or ongoing trauma symptoms), instead.

- Dual-diagnosis clinics are nearly all found in specialised psych hospitals, although some can be found in regular hospitals. Most large cities only have 1 or 2, at most. Dual diagnosis can be done on an outpatient basis, but it’s far more common to be 3-6mo inpatient followed by 2 years outpatient. Most (as hospitals) are also preferred providers for nearly all insurance.

- The BEST known facilities (nationwide) often accept out of state insurance, because they have brokered deals with the insurance overlords. Depends on the facility / this years politicking (whose CEOs are playing golf together, tax breaks, ad naseam

Spoiler: Aside

It would be an exaggeration to say that “going to treatment” was something that everyone in my old profession did, but I can say I was considered a freak for not having done so, for years. If whatever remaining family, the most recent wifey, or a court order hadn’t sent you at least once? You made the freak list.

I didn’t know ANY of the above, when I finally knuckled under pressure (boyfriend) and went for treatment. So when they kicked me out after 11 days telling me that drugs weren’t my problem, trauma was my problem? (I know, I know, once you finish laughing read on ) I now had a great big shiny avoidance tool for my trauma issues, and -also a little bit out of spite- did the super AA/NA thing, and remained sober for several years.

I learned a whole helluva lot, that was very good for me on several levels, and had an amazing sponsor (an LCSW that you meet with 5+ hours a week, go to concerts with, go hiking and rafting with, etc.? Is the kind of phenom treatment that cannot be bought, sadly enough); so it wasn’t time wasted… but it was yeeeeears after leaving the American-Abstinence program, and a helluva lot more trauma & incredibly predictable wreckage that follows untreated trauma (abusive marriage just the tip), that I finally started addressing root causes.

Which has become one of my gripes about AA/NA. As it used to be (decades ago) considered the last line of defense AFTER medicine & psychiatry had failed. IE people whose problems were self medicating undiagnosed disorders, grief, etc. weren’t told their only problem was substance abuse. Now? It’s become the first line of defense. To be fair, better treatment facilities attempt to steer people towards medicine & psychiatry, but there are a helluva lotta people like me, who are simply in too much pain &/or stubborn f*ckers to listen. And once you hit the meeting level of peer support. LMFAO, the LAST thing most people will tell you is that drugs/alcohol aren’t your root problem. Because, for them, it’s not. Or because that’s what they have been told, so many times they very much believe it. Don’t get me wrong, I very much believe there is tremendous value in both 12-step-stuff, and am grateful for my time there & the people themselves. But there are also downsides.

One of those downsides was never religion, in my area. Meetings were fairly equally distributed between all the major religions, agnostics, and atheists. Meetings were largely held in churches just because of the cheap rent, but were also held in libraries, bowling alleys, cafes, etc. who had a back room to rent, and usually someone with a sobriety coin who owned it. In bible-belt territory, this may be veeeeery different. But I’ve gone to meetings up and down the west coast, Chicago, and New England without it ever being religious beyond what one finds here on this site; where many members are religious, many are not, and most DGAF what your religion is or isn’t.

So that’s my novel.