For patients requiring drug and alcohol treatment, outpatient and residential treatment programs can deliver an essential level of care to achieve long-term recovery. But how does one know whether you or a loved one would benefit from a residential or outpatient program? Both types of treatment have distinctions which make them more or less appropriate for a patient's needs, depending on the patient's level and length of addiction.

Addiction is a serious disease that needs to be treated by professionals. Treatment for addiction differs from many other kinds of treatment in that it often requires a significant mental and emotional effort on the part of the addict in order for treatment to be effective.

Treating the root of the addiction, and not just the symptoms

What is recovery? Recovery is the process of re-covering all the things that are lost in active addiction. The tangible recovery is moving to a place of re-covering the finances, re-connecting and healing the damaged relationships and re-establishing a new professional reputation. The deeper re-covering is making choices that are in align with one’s values, thus restoring integrity.

Admission to an alcohol and drug rehab is a difficult and painful process, and often a very confusing one, as it stirs both negative and positive emotions. The experience is usually accompanied by shame, guilt and fear, but also relief.

Addicts attending a drug rehab in South Africa will often participate in group activities as well as individual therapy addiction counselling. Clients participating in drug rehabilitation are important to one another, as much can be learnt from the group interaction within a rehab.

Co-dependency is a serious addiction requiring specialised relationship counselling. Co-dependency is twofold. Firstly, it is the natural, behavioural reaction that is appropriated by one person in a relationship when the other person is involved in some kind of addictive behaviour.

It is quite common for two addicts or alcoholics to find themselves struggling with relationship addiction because co-dependency accompanied by a drug or alcohol addiction is extremely consuming to those involved.