Sometimes it is necessary in drug and alcohol rehab for both the husband and wife to go for addiction treatment. Living togerther with the same lifestyle, likely means the same result, often with an addiction to the same drug. This leads to the obvious need to seek treatment at the same time. If just one person seeks help and returns to their spouse who is still addicted the odds of relapse are very high. This leads to the question of is it better to go to the same center, or is it better to go to different centers.

Firstly, not all drug rehab centers will accept couples. The reasoning is that most rehabs have rules against relationships between male and female clients and having a couple presents a new set of problems with those rules. Some centers will accept couples, but only as two “singles”, and the couple must not sleep together, and must follow all the rules as everyone else. Thirdly there are a few rehab centers that will accept couples as a couple, and allow them to stay together, in the same room as they seek treatment.

Each of the three available options has some benefits and some drawbacks. Going to different locations has the benefit of allowing each person in the couple to seek unique treatment, without having to deal with the stress of maintaining the relationship during the rehab. They can concentrate solely on getting better and not have to worry about how the partner may be coping or doing on any particular day. The drawback is of course being apart. Trust issues may arise, as well as the worry of growing in different directions while apart.

The second situation presents the difficulty of being close to someone you love, but not being able to hug, kiss and touch as normal. Also it present the difficulty of being totally honest about how your relationship may be affecting your addiction treatment, with your spouse present all the time. If you are chosing this rehab situation, you must be confident you can support the rules. Being asked to leave the rehab because you broke boundary rules helps no one.

The last possible combination has the main advantage of having your spouse for support, as well as both knowing exactly what changes have taken place in rehab, and what you both have to do to prevent relapse. The downside is that issues in the relationship may overshadow getting sober, which is the main goal. Also it is highly unlikely both spouses will progress at the same rate, which when bunking together, may present another set of problems.

If both members of a couple are addicted, both should seek treatment at the same time. Please think long and hard before making your decision whether to rehab at the same place, or different centers.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 22nd, 2006 at 1:45 am and is filed under Drug Addiction, Drug Rehab. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.