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For most people, the thought of going into treatment is terrifying, it seems like it’s
overwhelming and it seems as thought you’re going to lose control of your life. The opposite
of that happens. What happens in treatment is that basically a person will go in to what’s
called detox or they will have medically supervised detoxification of the drugs and alcohol. It’s
very important that people be monitored when they’re coming off of the drugs or their
alcohol addiction. What happens after that is, a person is then placed in a community
of other people. It’s important to look for a treatment center that has age and gender
specific programs so that men are with men and women are with women, that you have adolescents
with adolescents, that you have young adults with young adults, that you have adults with
adults, and that you have some programs even now have programs for older adults. That’s
very important because people need to identify with other people who are experiencing the
same challenges that they have in their lives. Treatment is a very structured environment.
That’s important for people who are suffering from addictions because, what happens through
addiction is that people lead very unstructured lives and their lives become very chaotic,
so it’s important for people to relearn practical skills and to have structure and
a frame around their lives. There should be intensive therapy being done in treatment
and I want to stress this. They’re not a place to go to have babysitters watch you,
and they’re not a place to go to get spa services. They’re a place that you go to
do hard work so that you can have meaningful recovery in your life. It’s also important
that treatment facilities have a family component to it. We know that addictions do not occur
in isolation and that the whole family suffers, so we know that the whole family needs to
be involved in the treatment process. They were part of the problem, they existed in
the problem, they suffered as a result of the problem and they also need to be a part
of the solution. So, again, while treatment can seem very terrifying and very unmanageable,
it’s actually a very nurturing, very safe, very contained, very structured place where
you can begin to embrace your recovery, and start to have the life that you were meant
to have.