At a drug and alcohol rehab program, the one of the most difficult tasks to achieve, is to realize the big picture about all the rules. The rules are not about any individual client or circumstance.  The rules are present to create a safe enviroment, physically mentally and removed from the temptation of drug and alcohol use. Unfortunately rules are like fishing nets, they may catch fish that you really don't want. 

For example, rules about not forming intimate realtionships during a drug and alcohol rehab program.  Quite often there are rules in place about male and female clients hugging each other, holding hands and other gestures of affection.  Is it possible to hug someone and it not be an intimate gesture?  Of course it is.  But it is impossible for the staff of a rehab center to tell the difference in many cases.  So in order to make the rehab a safer place we give up any form of hugging. 

Same with being behind closed doors.  It is very possible for people to be in a room discussing and supporting eachother? Yes, but it is also possible that they are being intimate with each other.  So we must give up one behavior to make the place safe from the other.  Parcels from home are another example.  Drugs can be smuggled into a center in shampoo bottles, shaving creme, and a myriad of other products.  In order for everyone to be safe is it not too much to ask giving up your favorite shampoo for a few months in favor of the one available at the drug and alcohol rehab center?

The rules in a rehab are only there to make things safe.  If someone didn't need a safe enviroment to change, they would have already done so at home before going to rehab.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 10th, 2007 at 7:21 am and is filed under 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.