Like any chronic health issue, the long-term aftercare that follows detox or inpatient treatment can be just as important as the initial treatment itself. If you look at recovering from addiction through the lens of a chronic condition, it is clear that long-term recovery requires similar steps to that of treating hypertension or diabetes: diagnosis, stabilization, continuing care, and of course, lifestyle changes.
Detox and Inpatient
The first step after seeking help might be to go into a medical detox or inpatient program for a period of time, where professionals can evaluate and observe you while withdrawing from a substance. During the inpatient portion of treatment, feelings, thoughts and behaviors will no doubt surface in the absence of the substances we use to escape these normally. This period of stabilization provides you with a solid foundation to begin addressing these issues as you develop your treatment plan for long-term aftercare.
Aftercare Planning
After receiving comprehensive inpatient or residential treatment, and you’ve chipped away at the physiological and psychological hold that chemical dependency can have on you, it is critically important to find the proper outpatient aftercare program for the weeks, months, and years ahead. Considering that recovery from addiction is not a single episode, enrolling into aftercare for groups and individual therapy sessions at an intensive outpatient or day treatment program significantly lowers the risk of relapse.
Relapse Prevention
Often times, people will complete a 28-30 day inpatient program with a renewed sense of self-efficacy, that “I got this” feeling, and will return home without seeking aftercare. As we touched on earlier, this period is intended to lay a foundation for treatment – it is not the end all, be all for recovery – and people are at the greatest risk for relapse and overdose following detox and inpatient programming. Research suggests that continuing care in an intensive outpatient program (IOP) produces the greatest outcomes for people following detox and inpatient treatment.
The statistics are widely known that approximately half of those who go through some type of addiction treatment will likely relapse at some point in their lives, but that number drops significantly among those who regularly attend aftercare treatment, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
Benefits of Aftercare
Aftercare or continuing care in an IOP presents incredible benefits for someone in early recovery: addressing trauma, developing coping skills, finding balance, connecting with our bodies, mending broken family ties, improving communication, etc. And in addition to these revelations in personal development, maintaining regular contact with recovery and healthcare professionals as well as engaging with a recovery support community with peers who are faced with the same challenges, help to set you up for long term success and recovery.
Why Roots?
At Roots Through Recovery, we understand the importance of finding a personalized aftercare plan that works for each person. We know that the inpatient treatment is a crucially important step, and it is the beginning of the long journey of recovery, along with aftercare or continuing care in an intensive outpatient program. Roots believes that no two individuals are the same, and neither are their journeys, so if we aren’t appropriate for you, we will ensure we find the right place to meet your individual needs.
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