Alcohol & Drug Abuse Centers

Many people seeking help for drug or alcohol addictions gravitate towards alcohol and drug abuse treatment centers. There are many different types of treatment facilities, ranging from the types that treat addictions to those that cater to people seeking certain styles of treatment. Facilities can also vary by the ages of those people seeking treatment.

Intensity

• One consideration when researching drug and alcohol abuse treatment centers is the intensity of the treatment. There are highly intensive programs that are residential or inpatient--individuals actually live at the treatment facility while receiving treatment. There are also day-treatment facilities, where you go to for a specific number of days such as three or seven. There are outpatient treatment centers, too, where individuals go to solely for individual and group therapy sessions a few times a week.

12-Step Programs

• Made popular through Alcoholics Anonymous, the 12-step program is a well-known method of treating addiction. While still popular today, it has fallen into disfavor with certain members of the addiction treatment community. However, many drug and alcohol abuse treatment centers still subscribe to this method of treatment. The 12-step program outlines a course of action for the addict, which, according to the theory, must be followed explicitly to achieve liberation from addiction. Some of the steps involve admitting there is a problem and helping other addicts with their recoveries.

12-Step Alternatives

• Due to the backlash against 12-step programs, many centers offer alternative methods of treating addiction. Many of these facilities are religion-based and offer a spiritual and psychological approach to eliminating addiction from addicts' lives. Unlike 12-step programs, these alternative therapies do not follow the ideology that addiction is an incurable disease.

Teens

• There are different therapies directed toward teenagers because of the developmental differences between teens and adults. Many of the treatment centers offer wilderness camps, which involve camping and other outdoor activities. There are also art therapy drug and alcohol addiction treatment centers and a combination of art and wilderness camp for teens.

Drugs

• There are many different kinds of drug addictions. Treatments exist for prescription medications, opiates such as heroin, hashish and opium, cocaine, crystal methamphetamine and more. There are treatment centers that will treat patients for any of these drugs, while other centers specialize in one or more types of drugs. There are also facilities that specialize in treating alcoholism.

Cost

• Most private drug and alcohol treatment centers are covered by insurance under a dual diagnosis treatment. This means that the center treats an individual for his or her addiction as well as the addiction's underlying factors, such as social anxiety or bipolar disorder. Without insurance, most treatment centers are expensive out-of-pocket. Most cities have low- to no-income government-run treatment centers that can be of little or no cost.