Sometimes you come across statements that are so obvious they make you laugh. You kind of giggle and say to yourself, “Now why would anyone bother to write something so self-evident”. Then common sense can take over and you remember, just because it is obvious, it doesn’t mean it’s easy. Lot’s of things that someone needs to do to stay sober are like this. Obvious and easy to understand, but not so simple to implement and do.

One of these statements are that happy people are healthier that unhappy people. Wow that is a shocker. In fact a study proves it. Here’s the link: Click and see. Although it is obvious, it does raise something anyone struggling with addiction is well aware of. The unhappiness and damage to self worth addiction causes damages your health in more than one way. The drug abuse and alcohol take their toll, and the unhappiness takes it’s toll as well. Happiness is a byproduct of many decisions and behaviors. So interestingly enough is health. It seems theythey both walk hand in hand.

Drug and alcohol rehab is all about doing whatever it takes to get clients to change their lives. It involves creating the safe enviroment for change. It requires a treatment program that makes sense and is based on sound research. It involves caring counselors that are willing to be intrusive and push clients to go through the uncomfortable moments of change. It requires an element of fitness and goal setting. It is about change. To make change as effective and rapid as possible, the drug rehab center should have a client monitoring system in place.

This isn’t just to make sure the program is being delivered. It is a visible measurable method of charting progress. It needs to be far more than just how many days has a client been sober. Change is difficult and sometimes it is taxing to stay motivated and stay the course. This is where visible, measurable ways of marking progress are necessary. If a client is able to clearly see the progress they are making, they are far more likely to continue to work at the drug rehab program. If the methods for measuring progress are not visible and clear, it is far easier for a client at a rehab to become disillusioned and quit. Pep talks from a counselor are not enough.

If someone tells you that you are looking more fit, that is nice and we all like it. It you have records from the past, you can see the change in your weight. As well as a measured increase in the ability to run and lift more weight. If you can exercise longer than before, this is a far more valid and motivating method of reinforcement.

Weekly test scores on various indexes of depression and anxiety can provide similar proof of change. Journeling provides tangible proof of change. In treating addiction in adrug rehab, good monitoring is another vital component of success.

Telling the absolute microsopic truth is an essential skill in curbing drug and alcohol addiction. Sometimes this is a difficult process. Especially when lying and manipulation have been in place for a long peroid. When confronting, untruthful behavior a common techique used by people in addiction is deflection. This is when instead of discussing their untruthful or addictive behavior, they delfect to someone else’s behavior.

A simple example of this is when someone gets caught speeding down the expressway. When confronted with their behavior the driver complains about the people that were going faster them him and why weren’t they pulled over? By pointing out others behavior they deflect away from their own behavior.

Many times this is used to put whoever is confronting the behavior on the defensive. Don’t fall for it. Don’t get drawn into a discussion about other people’s behavior. When you are given a deflection type comment, respond with ” we will discuss that later if you want and now we will discuss your behavior.” Stay focused on confronting the specific behavior or lie. Keep going back to it. Don’t let deflection put you on the defensive.

I have been asked on several occations if we could treat someone with an addiction outside our normal area of expertise. For example could someone with a gambling addiction come to a drug rehab for help. In essence this might seem plausible. The core components of the compulsive behavior might be the same. A lot of the exercises would be beneficial to someone who had either addiction. Cognitive distortions are present in both types of clients and the treatment and education of either individual would be very similar. I have however always declined to treat addictions outside the drug and alcohol area.

The reason is simple. While the treatment of all addiction might be similar, the definition and creation of a safe enviroment for each type of addiction is vastly different. Most drug rehabs have computers available for clients to e-mail with family and to find information on the internet. While they cannot be used totally unsupervised it is a very low risk activity for them. People with a gambling addiction would find unsupervised internet very dangerous and one can easily gamble for hours on-line. Having snacks avilable all day long would likewise be very dangerous to someone struggling with compulsive eating. It is not easy to create a truly safe enviroment for someone trying to stop an addiction. If you are dealing with multiple different addictions it would be very, very difficult indeed to create a safe enviroment for everyone. I’m not saying it is impossible, as some facilities are treating multiple addictions. I personlly felt clients might be better served by going to a facility that deals just with their type of addiction.

Uncontrolled stress is the enemy for all types of addiction. Stress leads to relapse. Plain and simple. It has been my most common refrain in this blog and I will continue to speak it. I’m always on the lookout for more tools to help with stress. Especially free tools. Drug and alcohol rehab is about learning as many ways as possible to understand stress and control it. Addiction feeds off of stress. It is our number one enemy. Found another good site with lots of explanations and tips about stress and mental health. Explanations about coping with stress, the stages of stress and the stress response. All good stuff if you want to elimenate the effects of stress on your addiction. Check it out here.

Drug and alcohol rehab centers can be a lot of things, but ususally it is never dull. There are most times some issues with someone at any particular moment. Rehab is about trying new ways to deal with your problems. Some of these will work and some of the will not. There will be friction between clients as well a times when news from the outside world will disrupt a client. In rehab all of these so called problems are actually teaching moments. They are chances to sit down with staff and counselors and try out the problem solving methods advocated by the rehab program.

Knowledge by itself is mostly useless. If a client does not feel confident in using the methods to handle stress and life taught by the drug rehab program, not much change in their life is likely to occur. So every issue or diasagreement, or problem is a chance to try out these new skills. Take advantage of this opportunity while you are in addiction treatment. Don’t assume that you know it and have it down pat. You need to practice, practice , practice. The staff at the rehab will help you through role modeling these problem solving skills in their day to day interactions. Look for them and use them. The teaching moments in rehab will lead to control of your emotions and theis is a major key to staying sober.

In drug and alcohol rehab it is essential to have a fitness program. The benefits of physical activity while dealing with addiction are enormous and varied. The anti-depressant quality of exercise is well documented. The structure provided by regular scheduled firness activities are a core and basic element of any relapse prevention plan.

However, what can you do if you are at a small rehab with limited or a small amout of fitness equipment? What if the rehab center you are at doesn’t have a fitness trainer, as they are trying to keep the costs minimal to the client? As always there is a lot of great help on-line. Even if the rehab you are at has a fitness trainer it doesn’t hurt to do some extra reading about the subject so you know some of the best ways to get and stay fit and minimize the chances of injury. Here’s a great site to check out, before, during and after drug rehab. Tons of information that can help you find the fitness component in your move away from drug and alcohol addiction.

The issue of relationships in drug and alcohol rehabs keeps coming up. In running a rehab facility it is one of the common boundary issues that has to be dealt with on almost a daily basis. Constantly we are confronted with, “people are adults“, “leave them be” and “they aren’t hurting anyone“. I have written several posts on the dangers and the safety issues that arise out of relationship and sexual issues in a rehab. It is extremely difficult to keep a rehab center safe for everyone if intimate relationships are formed and acted apon in a rehab.

I came across a great little article on this, talking about if marriage can survive addiction. I think it is an elequent example of the problems of embarking on a relationship in rehab or shortly after rehab. Notwithstanding the safety issues it gives more ammunition to the arguements against forming relationships while trying to become sober. Click here to have a look.