Achieving Higher Success With Non 12 Step Rehabs

It has become more widely known over the last decade that non-12 step drug rehab centers produce far greater success rates than the traditional treatment centers do. One of the few drawbacks to these non-12 step rehab programs is that because they have only recently started to become recognized as far superior to their original counterpart, there are far fewer of them in the United States. Another aspect that can seem intimidating is that this type of recovery takes significantly longer than the traditional 28 day treatment. However, traveling a little farther than expected and spending longer than one might want to, are minor inconveniences when comparing them to success rates of more than 70%. This means that long term sobriety without relapse is the norm rather than the exception in these centers.

Experts believe the increased success rate has several different factors, but there are five main points that warrant an extra look:

1. Taking more time – No one turns into an addict overnight, and someone does not fully recover with just 28 days either. There are underlying aspects that play an important role in forming addiction. Long-term inpatient treatment dedicates the time necessary to get to those deep rooted issues. This means that the approach is not simply focused on helping someone sober up and sending them on their way, but providing them with insight into their addiction and how the resident can make smarter choices in the future. This greatly helps them avoid relapse. Any program that promises 'immediate' results should be looked at with skepticism.
2. One-on-one approach – Though group therapy may allow someone to share their feelings with others, it has little to no benefit when it comes to addressing the problems associated with a persons' addiction. When working in a group, there is not enough personalized attention to the individual. How could there be. It is impossible to give everyone the attention they need when there are many others to attend to at the same time. The reason that people turn to drugs or alcohol in the first place is unique for each person. Even when two individuals of the same city, same age, same sex, same family makeup, with the same addiction enter into rehab, there is no guarantee that they will have the same reaction to the same type of treatment. When someone receives dedicated personalized attention, the program focuses on THEIR needs; not the other way around.
3. Extended holistic physical detox – One of the most difficult aspects of recovery is dealing with the actual cravings and physical discomfort of no longer consuming alcohol or drugs. These new approaches provide a detoxification process that can last for weeks and end up removing all of the toxins that are still stored in the body. Once these toxins are removed, the physical need to use dramatically decreases and so does the cravings. This doesn't mean that all a person has to do is detox and their problems are solved, but it certainly makes their journey towards living a life free of addiction substantially easier.
4. Finite purpose – Unlike the traditional rehab program, these new treatment options place recovery on a finite time line. This means that there is a beginning and an end to the rehabilitation process. This is different from the standard approach that suggests someone in recovery is on a lifelong continuum. The distinction between being a 'recovering addict' and someone who once struggled with addiction but is now cured is an important one. Giving someone an obtainable goal to strive for, to look forward to, only helps when it comes to providing motivation. Having an end goal means that it is possible to measure success, something that is missing in the traditional approach.
5. Hope – Perhaps the most notable difference between the traditional program and these non-12 step methods is the fact that these alternative rehabs do not insist that the patient accepts the idea that they have a disease or are incurable in any way. These methods instill the belief that a person is in control of their own actions, and that they succeed or fail on their own merit and not by someone else's. Whereas one philosophy moves away from individuality, the holistic alternatives believe in empowerment.

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12 Step Rehabs Report Much Lower Success Rates

Even though 12-step treatments have occasionally released their own studies, there have been no generalizable, scientifically valid studies that advocate the use of such recovery methods as Alcoholics or Narcotics Anonymous. There have been no longitudinal studies with matched comparison groups, no comparison groups given other treatments, zero no-treatment control groups, and no random assignment of subjects. Given how long these groups have been around, one might assume that if the program does work, it would be in their best interest to document the results.

Alcoholics Anonymous, especially, hasn't been subject to a number of non-generalizable and uncontrolled studies. Those that champion the 12-steps love to claim anecdotal evidence and provide these outcomes as evidence that their program works. But the truth is that there is no scientifically valid evidence of their effectiveness.

As mentioned previously, even the success rates for 12-step treatments reported by the group themselves are abhorrently low. Statistics show that more than half the individuals are no longer with the program a year after enrolling and reported recovery rates of not much more than 10% at best. This means that even if we give these facilities their best estimates, more than 80% of attendees do not recover. Surprisingly, these disappointing numbers are considered the norm for AA/NA based rehabs.

Perhaps this should be considered the primary reason that 12-step programs refuse to talk about long term success rates. A doctor that cures one in five patients at best would not find himself with new patients for long. When you start your journey with the belief that any type of long-term success can't be maintained, it doesn't set a good example for those that follow. These twelve-step followers believe that addiction is disease based and incurable. They thereby dismiss the notion of a success rate for long term or permanent recovery. Understanding that addiction is an incredibly difficult problem but can be overcome, it just seems strange to enroll in a treatment method that doesn't believe in itself to accomplish this.

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