There are many things to do in drug and alcohol rehab.  Sometimes with the number of issues and tasks to do in a rehab program, it may seem overwhelming.  This might lead to the tendancy of doing "good enough".  By this I mean doing just enough work to get by.  Doing just enough work at the rehab to get your counselors and family off your back.  Doing just enough in the rehab program to fell like you have tried.

There is always a price to be paid with doing "just enough".  Very often it means re-visiting a problem later again for complete resolution.  It is like if you have too much debt.  If you deal with the problem just enough to make all your minimum payments, it may seem to the world you are back in control.  No more late notices.  Perhaps you are even getting new offers of more credit.  But there is a problem still lurking.  If you are just handling the minimum payments you are not really paying down your debt.  Sooner or later you will be surprised by a new unexpected expense.  Then you start missing payments and you are back in the same boat.

Relapse in many instances can be traced back to just doing "just enough" in a drug and alcohol rehab center.  Just enough work on a relapse prevention plan, is not enough.  If you don't come up with some bulletproof pland for the first few months.  The work you do in a drug rehab is not like other work in your like.  A drug and alcohol rehab program is the same as building the foundation for a new building.  A poor foundation will not show up until there is a bad storm.  Then the house will break apart.  When a strorm arises in your life, without a well constructed relapse prevention plan, you will most likely get in trouble.  So "good enough" is really not.  Drug rehab deserves the best effort you can possibly come up with.

Every drug and alcohol rehab program has strong points.  The real core issues that need to be addressed in changing an addictive experience into a life well lived are not secrets.  Why then is it so difficult to change?  Why cannot someone simply stop negitive behaviors and move on to more positive ones?  In regular everyday life, why is so much of today's behavior simply a copy of yesterday with a new date on it?

It boils down to the power of distraction.  Instead of focusing on the real powerful and life changing things we can do today we simply get distracted by other stuff.  In day to day life we get caught up in paying the bills.  We get haircuts and wash the car.  We gossip and "solve" other people's problems.  We relive the past and rehash all the sins and mistakes others have commited against us.  Why?   I think it is because it is easier that doing the work to change.

This is where the true power of a drug rehab center lays.  It has removed 90 % of the distractions that keep us from the important stuff.  It also provides the stucture to force us to show up and do it.  However what is interesting is that even with 90 % of these distractions removed, clients still find distractions to keep them from change sometimes.  A real common one is the focus on changing the drug rehab program instead of changing themselves.  They look for what is wrong with what is being taught and what is wrong with the other clients instead of what is wrong with themselves.  They work to change the conditions in the rehab instead of the conditions in their life.

You can change your focus in a minute.  A great question will do it in  a second.  "What is the one thing I could work on right now that would make the greatest impact on my addiction?"  If you ask yourself this question several times a day, you will have an amazing life changing experience at drug rehab.

Alcohol and drug rehab programs spend great amounts of time preparing clients to return to the world for a great and exciting life.  I have talked a lot about the need to control stress.  Another key concept about dealing with stress is expectation.  For many people stress can be caused when the reality of their life, does not meet their expectation of what life should be.

What is necessary for a drug rehab program to be successful is for a reframing of expectation of what life should be.  Does this mean lowering your goals and accepting less from life?  Absolutely not.  Actually I would hope most clients would leave an alcohol and drug rehab with higher goals and expectations for their life then when they arrive at the center.

The reframing that is required is in the expectation of no problems and stress.  The interesting thing about life is that the moment you solve a problem or challenge in your life another one will immediately appear.  To expect that even when you do all of the goal setting, and learning and work, that life will be easy will lead to problems.  There will always be some part of your life that needs work.  There will always be some people in your life causing chaos. 

Expect challenges in your life.  Also expect that you have the talent and drive to solve them.  Solving problems and making life better is your real purpose in life.  After drug rehab there will be lots of problems and stress.  You will just be much better equiped  to deal with these and not get overwhelmed by it.  You cannot control stress and problems.  You can direct focus and control your response to them.

Drug and alcohol rehab programs are about a fresh start.  Spring is about a new beginning and new growth.  Spring is a great time for all of us to look at the changes we still need to make in our lives.  If you are having troubles with drug and alcohol abuse in your life, now is a great time to look at the options available to you.  Quality counseling is a great place to start.  Self help groups are an option for those with very limited funds.  Out patient drug rehab programs are very useful is your life is still somewhat under contol.  They are really designed so you can continue to work. 

If your life is out of control because of your drug and alcohol use, now is the time to consider a rehab program.  Think of the skills you would need to live a sober life.  Write out a list of these changes and then think of what would have to happen for you to actually get those changes.  Then look for a rehab center that has the abilities to teach you those skills.  Ask how the rehab center teachs those skills and make sure it matchs the core beliefs in your life. 

Out with the old to make room for the new is the motto for spring cleaning.  Spring is a great time to take on your addiction.  Why not make spring of 2007 the year you changed your life and moves past drug and alcohol abuse forever?

When you leave a drug and alcohol rehab center, a key component you will leave with is a relapse prevention plan.  This is the key to sobriety.  Uncontrolled stress is the silent killer of sobriety.  If you have uncontrolled stress consistently in your life, you will relapse.  There is only one way to truly control stress.  Its not like you can "will" stress out of your life.  Our urban lifestyle will only get more stressful.

The only true armour against stress is structure.  Daily structure in your life is like a buffer and foundation against the winds of stress in your life.  Structure grounds your life.  Structure grounds your emotions.

We felt that structure and relapse prevention are so important we decided to write a book on it.  It will be available in 6 weeks to 2 months.  Anyone dealing with addiction or that has been through a rehab program and is still struggling to stay sober will find it a very useful tool.

During a drug and alcohol  rehab program there is a new plan for life.  Commitments are made to change.  New dreams are thought up and a new reality is hoped for.  So what is the dfference between those who make a change for a new life and those who slide back to the way it has always been?  What is the most powerful element of change we all have at our disposal?

The power we all have at our disposal is the power to decide.  But what is a decision?  It is not simply an idea.  A decision involves new action and new direction.  If you make a decision that truly invloves a new direction you will end up at a new destination.  Of course we would all like to have a new distination and not have the discomfort of making change.  A real change and a real decsion involves discomfort.  If it is entirely comfortable then it is not really anything different from what you are doing and then it isn't a real decision.

If you choose a new direction and a new path it will be fearful for a while.  But if you don't, isn't it more fearful to stay in the place you are?  The real value of a great decision is that it forces you to take action.  When you move to a new city you are forced to adapt and change.  When you take a new career or go back to school your life will head in a new direction.  A great decsion involves to a certain degree an element on "no turning back".  A grat decision forces you in a new direction.  Going to a rehab is a great decision.  You had to change your behavior.  Use the power of a great decision to change your life.

An important skill to learn in drug and alcohol rehab is boundry setting with other people.  People in an addictive experience most often arrive at a rehab center with very poor boundaries.  The deterioration in boundaries is usually a gradual process.  It is also a learned process.  Most often people are introduced to theft, crime and prostitution by other more street wise or experienced users.  So much like addiction itself these poor habits are learned from others in similar circumstances. 

So if it is possible to learn poor boundaries, it is more than possible to relearn good and clear boundaries.  Part of boundaries involves pressure from those in your social circle.  Those around you can try to convince you to use again.  However they can also convince you to stay clean and change your life.  You get to choose which group you want in your life.  In a drug and alcohol rehab program you will get the opportunity to practise resetting firm boundaries in a safe situation.  This is why drug and alcohol rehab programs have rules about intimate relationships.  It is to provide a safe enviroment to reform clear and hard boundaries.

While in drug rehab you will spend time thinking about what you ultimately really want in life.  Then you will think about the skills you will require to achieve what you want.  The skills and talents required to get what you really deserve, involve boundaries.  What type of boundaries would a person who has what you desire, have?  What habits would you have to cultivate to have clear and firm boundaries?  By clearly defining what you want and practicing while in the safety of a drug and alcohol rehab program will give you a great head start on rebuilding good fences around your life.

Would it be possible to do a drug and alcohol rehab program through a self Study program?  Are there any really good rehab programs availavle like this.  There are two main advantages to a true self study drug rehab program.  The first would be cost.  It would be much more inexpensive to take any program of theis sort.  The second is the ability to keep one's identity secret.  A lot of people wish help but are fearful of others finding out they are seeking help.  Self study, especially on the interent would address the cost and identity issues at the same time quite well.

The main weaknesses of a self study program, are number one of stil being in your enviroment of drugs and alcohol being readily available.  Self study also requires more disipline.  You also have to have basic reading skills.  The isloation that addiction brings would not be dealt with in self study.  It would be easy to feel you are the "worst" ever as you never hear anything from others going through the same thing.

It would seem then anyone seeking a true self help study for drug rehab would be wise to seek out at least a counselor or group to chat with weekly to get the feedback of some other individuals.  However for people on the path to major trouble in their lives over alcohol and drug abuse, self help might be a viable solution.

Drug and alcohol rehab may not be cheap, but is it really that expensive?  Sometimes it is just hard to figure some things out. I had the pleasure of attending St. Patricks Day in Ireland recently.  Ireland is a beautiful country and Dublin is an incredible city.  The food was delicious and the parade and entertainment were all very top notch.  The parties and celebrations in the hundreds of pubs and bar was quite beyond description.  Wall to wall crowds and absolutely packed body to body, standing room only.  Large lines formed outside every establishment, and any occupancy rules were totally thrown out the window.

Alcohol was served at an absolutely dizzying pace.  At approximately 8 to 10 dollars a drink teams of very skilled bartenders could not keep up the pace to serve the thirsty crowds.  I make no comment about the people drinking.  They have every right to enjoy their celebrations to the maximum.  I only comment on the massive amount of money available for the purchase of alcohol.  The price seemed to have no effect on the rate of consumption.  My only question is why cannot a resonable percentage of this cash flow be diverted into programs to assist those with addictions to alcohol. 

How can so much profit be made from a product and yet so little be made available to those for whom it becomes a problem in their life.  I truly doubt anyone would have drank significantly less at 11 dollars a drink, and yet that extra dollar made available consistenly to those programs with the greatest effectiveness would have a huge impact.  There is always money for the party, why don't we insure there is enough money to clean up the mess afterwards.

After attending a drug and alcohol rehab program there will be many challenges.  There are many things you can do to make your life safer.  You can choose friends that support your sobriety.  You can choose regular safe activities, to add to your life.  You can exercise.  All of the things you can control are the easy things.  It all the things you cannot change that provide the most challenges when you leave a drug and alcohol rehab program.

A compulsory work function where alcohol is offered.   The fact it is impossible to find a place safe from the reach of drugs.  Unpredictable curves that life will throw you that cause stress and unset.  Change you have no control over.  These are things you can prepare for.  You can role play some of them.  Some of them will always be a surprise.  Remember you are always in control of the defination you give these events in your life.  Look for meanings that support your long term goals and your sobriety.  Make sure your real life is a great life.