You’ve accepted your addiction. You’ve taken steps to get help. You’ve entered and completed a substance abuse treatment program, which is no small feat.
But completing a drug rehab program doesn’t mean you’re in the clear. This is a dangerous miscalculation that underestimates the seriousness of this disease. Although you made it through the most difficult part of addiction treatment, recovery is a lifelong journey that doesn’t end when you check out of rehab.
This begs the obvious question: What comes after rehab?
What Happens After Drug Treatment in a Rehab Center
The next step depends on the individual’s depth of addiction, the progress made during inpatient rehab, and how much support the individual needs to continue with recovery and avoid relapse.
Outpatient treatment allows the patient to receive treatment with minimal disruption to their everyday lives.
Some people recovering from addiction will move to a less intensive treatment program. Of course, the most obvious benefit of outpatient treatment is that it allows the patient to live at home and receive treatment with minimal disruption to their normal, everyday routine and lives. They can go to work, rebuild relationships with family and friends, and follow a 12-step program.
Another option is a partial hospitalization program (PHP), which typically provides more intensive treatment than an outpatient program without requiring an overnight stay. In addition to various types of individual and group therapy, PHPs offer medical monitoring and treatment.
Transitional living programs do exactly what the name implies. They help a person recovering from addiction transition back to society and resume a productive, happy life. Housing in a transitional living facility is essentially an apartment where the patient lives full-time while having access to onsite treatment and therapy.
Although a transitional living environment is less structured than inpatient rehab, there are still rules regarding behavior and responsibilities. You’ll be expected to maintain your living space, cook for yourself, and pay your rent.
The Maintenance Phase of Recovery
Without a strong commitment to post-treatment maintenance, the risk of relapse increases. The goals during the maintenance phase of recovery are to build on the progress made and apply the behaviors learned during earlier stages of treatment.
One of the biggest challenges at this stage is complacency. There isn’t as much structure. You have more freedom. After a period of time, the passion you might have felt about overcoming addiction can subside. You might even think a minor relapse is no big deal.
Another challenge of the maintenance phase of recovery is that you’re returning to the stresses of life, real-world exposure to triggers, and the temptation to return to harmful ways of coping. Ideally, the behaviors learned in treatment have become second nature and you’ll be able to develop new strategies for avoiding triggers and controlling urges.
The stresses of life, triggers, and the temptation to return to harmful ways of coping are major challenges.
This is why ongoing individual therapy and support groups are important to staying sober. Staying engaged with your counselors, peers, and support network can help you stay on the right track by keeping the lessons learned in rehab fresh in your mind.
DetoxLA Can Support Your Post-Treatment Maintenance
The DetoxLA co-ed medical detox program at our detox center in Los Angeles is the first step to a sober life. As you enter the maintenance phase of recovery, we can help you choose what type of treatment program makes the most sense for you. We can then provide the ongoing therapy and support you need to stay on the right path.
Contact DetoxLA today to learn more about co-ed medical detox and how you can rely on us during your lifelong recovery journey.