Drug and alcohol rehab programs involve gaining access to a lot of skills.  Some of the ideas presented may be complex and involve practice and patience.  Others can be quite basic to understand and can be implemented immediately.  One of the most simple to start using is modeling brehavior of others. 

If you are in a drug and alcohol abuse situtation, an effective place to start is to find a mentor.  It can be someone who has experienced addiction or it can also be someone who hasn't.  The really fun and easy part of this is that it doesn't even have to be someone you know personally.  If fact the person doesn't even have to be alive. 

The only requirements are that the person has the skills and talents you want to learn.  The other is you have to repect what this person's skills and accomplishments.  If you are in a drug and alcohol rehab center, it can be someone in the program, or it can be a counsilor, or it can be someone outside the rehab center.

The great thing about modeling is it takes you to a great question to help you in making decisions.  Better decisions lead to better behavior.   When faced with a decision, start with, "What would my mentor do if he/she were faced with this situation?"  How would they react?  What would they say? 

If you want the things that others have, do the things that they do that allowed them to get them.  It is a really simple basis to changing behavior.  If you choose a mentor with very clear values it becomes really easy to predict how they would behave in a particular problem.  Any one in a drug and alcohol rehab center can use a mentor.  Pick or find one to help yourself today.

There are far more drug and alcohol rehab centers then there are detoxes.  I was asked recently why I thought more rehabs did not do drug and alcohol detox.  I thought there were three main reasons for this.  Number one is location.  Most drug and alcohol rehab centers are in more isolated areas.  Most times they are not close to a major center with a good emergency room.  A lot of rehab centers are far out in the country where the peace and quiet and lack of temptation are a bonus.

If you are going to be a safe detox center, being close to a really good hospital is great for safety for the cases that require it.  There is also another reason why it is difficult to run a detox center onsite with a drug and alcohol rehab center.  Finding staff for a 24 hour a day coverage.  most hospitals in major centers are having difficulties coming up with adequate nursing staff.   Finding quality nursing staff for a rehab center far from a major city is even more difficult.  Detox needs around the clock medical personel on site.

Thirdly you need a great physician willing come come several times a week to a center.  Most small towns are having a very difficult time holding on to their doctors.  Getting one willing to take time out of an overly busy schedule in next to impossible.

This is not to say it cannot be done in some cases.  My hat goes off to those drug an alcohol rehab centers that have managed to put this together in the more rural centers that a lot of rehabs are located.  We need more detox centers.  Alas as drug and alcohol detox is a medical issue, I don't seeing this happening soon.

Sometimes in a drug and alcohol rehab program we develop our own langauge.  Little short phrases that all start to become the culture of that program.  "12 step", "cognitive behavioral therapy", and "holistic program" are just a few of the many out in this field.  The problem is these phrases are intended for use by people who both know what they mean, to save time in conversations about drug and alcohol rehab programs and treatment.  The thing we all forget is that clients and their families seeking help in many instances do not know what these terms fully describe.  We assume that if people don't know the full meaning they will ask.

The truth is most people will not ask.  A lot of people in conversation who hear something they don't understand make the assumption that they are supposed to "know what it means", so they won't ask for fear of looking stupid.  If it is true when people first inquire about drug rehab, it is equaly true for people attending a drug and alcohol rehab center.  If the language of drug rehab is in use in the center, then the staff and clients who have been there a while will all be using it. This makes the transition in a drug rehab center even more difficult.  A new client fresh out of a detox is faced with new surroundings, new rules and a new language.  It keep new clients out of the "club" of drug rehab.

There is another issue with using terminology.  If we stay with simple clear meanings and sentences instead of catch phrases, there is repetition for the client's understanding.  This repetition is vital to learning a new concept.  Simply using a convenient term will not provide the foundation for learning something "like the back of your hand".  So here is a challenge.  Talk in simple language.  Think in simple langauge.  All the parents and friends and newcommers to drug and alcohol addiction will thank you.

I don't care which drug and alcohol rehab center you go to.  I don't care what is the style of program.  I don't care if it costs tens of thousands of dollars a month.  Wherever you go and whatever the drug treatment modality, there will be two groups.  The group divisions will have nothing to do with the sex of the client.  Race, age, intelligence, education or background will have nothing to do with how this group is divided.

The division of this group will be based on one thing and one thing only.  The results attained between the two groups will differ greatly.  Even though both groups will attend all the lectures and groups in the rehab program, one will group will do far better than the other.  The groups will differ in size.  One will most like be much larger than the other.  Unfortunately the group on the smaller size is usually the most successful.  Hopefully this will change though.

The only difference between the two groups is some of them will actually try to do the concepts presented.  They do more than just listen.  Listening is one form of learning.  But we remember very little when we just sit look and listen.  The group of people that reads the exercises, does the exercises and attempts to implement the ideas will do for better.  The only difference is in trying to see if the stuff actually works for you.  It see rather strange that so many people will pay for a book, cd series or even a drug rehab program and not even try to use it.  The really sad part is that usually this in the majority.  Just try the stuff, you never know, it just might work.

Every person working in a drug and alcohol rehab center would be wise to attend some form of continuing education courses.  We are no different.  I attended one a few days ago.  It was a very interesting experience.  The interesting part wasn't that there was new information at this particular course.  It was a basic one day course and I had heard all to the subjects before.  I had practiced them and used them for many years.  What was interesting was even though I knew them well, I still had more to learn about them.  I still had a long way to go to master them.

The point I'm suggesting is, that you can't hear some things too many times.  If it is good solid information, every time you hear it you will understand it just a liitle bit better.  Sometimes it may be frustrating in a drug and alcohol rehab program if somethings are covered several times from several different angles.  This is the only way to head towards mastering something.  We all need to hear things more than once and work with them more than once to really get our heads wrapped around a subject.  Sobriety and the direction of your life are just too important to leave to chance. Repetition is absolutely essential in drug and alcohol rehab.

Sometimes in life and drug or alcohol rehab, it all boils down to details.  We all know the big stuff is important, and yet sometimes all the big things can get unravelled over the small repetitive but important things in life.  If you don't put gasoline in a car, it doesn't matter how well tuned it is or how expensive it was, it will not run.  For you to get what you need from a drug rehab program you need to take care of the details.  Getting up for breakfast.  Reading your assignments before going to class or group.  Showing up for you sessions on time.  Getting enough sleep.

Those are the obvious details.  Here are some of the not so obvious ones.  Doing your laundry, so you have clothes ready to wear when you get up.  Haing a shower and getting dressed in something that is ready to go will make for a stress free start to your day.  Walking or exercising EVERY day.  This is a sure fire way to get a better sleep.  Spending 10 minutes a day meditating on what you are grateful for in your life.  Spending 10 minutes every day entering and going through a day timer.  All little things, but for the important things like sobriety and a great life, very essential things

The keys to relapse prevention in drug and alochol rehab lie in stress prevention and management.  A large degree of stress management lies in expectation.  We all live in increasingly complicated and busier lives.  Add in a drug or alcohol addiction and life gets very very complicated.  Once you remove an addiciton you may expect life to get suddenly much much smoother.  Here is a common mistake that we all make.  It is in the expectation of life getting smoother.  Life is not meant to be smooth.  Not in real life and not in a drug and alcohol rehab center.

Expectation is a real and useful resource.  It is how you define expectation that will affect your stress level.  Do not expect things to go perfectly.  Instead expect life to be unpredictable, and expect to have the resources and talent in yourself to handle these bumps and turns along the road of life.  Expect to learn new skills with these bumps and turns.  When you get what you expect, you have a lower stress level.  So when you expect to learn new skills from detours from the schedule you had originally planned, you are simply in the learning groove.  You are not at the mercy of all the chaos in the world.  Take the time while ou are in a drug and alcohol rehab program to define your expectations to support your growth.  Most importantly do not expect life to be perfect once you stop abusing drugs and alcohol.  Life is better without addiction, but it sure ain't perfect.

Every day we recieve e-mails asking for the name of a drug and alcohol rehab center that can "lock-up" a client for a period of time.  They are from a frantic and worried family member.  Then genuinely fear for the safety and health of their loved one.  Unfortunately this is a legal issue that cannot be addressed by a drug or alcohol rehab.  Only the courts have the authority to issue this kind of edict.  The vast majority of clients in a drug rehab are there on a voluntary basis.  People are not forced to stay.  When they demand to leave, we have to honour their wishes.  It is frustrating to all concerned when a client leaves before they are ready.  If you want to attempt to forcibly put a family member in a rehab you have to talk to a lawyer in your locality to see if it is even possible.

For the record, most clients to are given no choice but rehab seem to do much poorer.  That said, if you really feel that it is a life and death situation you have to take action.  Remember the legal system is slow, so you may be better served by dealing with a professional interventionist if time is of the essence.  The short answer to the question is that if the person you are worried about is the legal age in  the state you are in, it is quite difficult to force them into drug or alcohol rehab for any predetermined period of time.

Drug and alcohol rehab centers are there to help those who have seriously damaged there life through alcohol and drug use.  It would be nice to prevent the need for drug rehab.  In a lot of instances that might be possible if we get to the problem before too much serious damage is done.  One possible solution for some people might be Moderation Management.  Their concept is to control problem drinking before it becomes destructive drinking.  If you are wondering if alcohol is starting to control your life an you want to deal with it now, check this site out here.

Today I just walked around our drug and alcohol rehab center and just watched.  I didn't ask many questions.  I didn't participate in any of the discussions.  I just watched.  It is amazing to watch a group of people working at making their lives and the lives of those they love better.  It is easy to criticize and blame.  It is easy to claim the high moral ground and judge others.  It is a lot more fun to just watch people grow.  Watching people transform their lives is a gift.  I am grateful for the opportunity to say we helped a little bit.  I am grateful for all the gifts our clients have taught us.  Watching their growth and struggle makes me love and appreciate all the gifts I have in my life even more.  Many times I have been told that the world needs more people like me to get more rehab facilities open to help others.  Actually the truth is I'm the lucky one.  Being able to watch people choose a new direction and succeed in that direction pretty much makes me the luckiest guy in the world.  And I get to do it every day.