Residential Treatment Center Information

Short-Term residential treatment facilities provide intensive but relatively brief residential treatment based on a modified 12-step approach. These treatment programs were originally designed to treat alcohol problems, but during the cocaine epidemic of the mid-1980, many began to treat illicit drug abuse and addiction. The original residential treatment model consisted of a 3 to 6 week hospital-based inpatient treatment phase followed by extended outpatient therapy and participation in a self-help group, such as Alcoholics Anonymous. Reduced health care coverage for substance abuse treatment has resulted in a diminished number of these programs, and the average length of stay under managed care review is much shorter than in earlier programs.

Residential treatment centers provides 24 hour day care, generally in a secluded setting. The best-known residential treatment center models are therapeutic communities, but residential treatment may also employ other models, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy. Residential treatment centers have planned lengths of stay of 30 to 90 days. Residential treatment facilities focus on the rehabilitation of the individual and use the program's entire "community," including other residents, staff, and the social context, as active components of treatment. Addiction is viewed in the context of an individual's social and psychological deficits, and residential treatment focuses on developing personal accountability and responsibility and socially productive lives.

Centers are highly structured and can include activities designed to help residents examine damaging beliefs, self-concepts, and patterns of behavior. Residential treatment attempts to adopt new, more harmonious and constructive ways to interact with others. Residential treatment facilities can be quite comprehensive and include employment training and other support services on site. Residential treatment programs are highly structured where patients stay at a furnished residential environment. Patients in residential treatment include those with relatively long histories of drug dependence, alcoholism and seriously impaired social functioning. The focus of residential treatment is on the resocialization of the patient to a drug-free, productive lifestyle. Compared with patients in other forms of drug treatment, the typical residential treatment program has more co-occurring mental health problems and more social interacting problems. Research shows that residential treatment facilities can be modified to treat individuals with special needs, including adolescents, women, those with severe mental disorders, and individuals in the criminal justice system. These types of rehabs have proven themselves to be a very successful form of treatment because patients are allowed to practice living a clean and sober lifestyle in a supportive, therapeutic environment.