Residential Treatment
Residential treatment for Drug Abuse and addiction has existed for 40 years. Residential
treatments, also known as therapeutic communities, are located in residential
settings. They use a hierarchical model, with treatment stages that reflect increased
levels of personal and social responsibility. Peer influence, mediated through
a variety of group processes, is used to help individuals learn and assimilate
social norms and develop more effective social skills.
Residential treatment is
different than other treatment methods in many ways. Individuals are able to
leave their destructive environment and enter into a clean and sober atmosphere.
Their "reminders" of drugs, such as the cabinet where they kept their
alcohol or the drawer where they kept their stash are no longer a temptation
reminding them of their Drug Addiction. Additionally, individuals are able to
associate with others who share their same goal of addiction recovery 24 hours
a day, 7 days a week. This availability of individuals and staff at any hour
is invaluable when a person is going through residential drug treatment.
The idea behind residential
treatment is that the individual suffering from Drug Addiction is able to live
in an environment that is drug free. They begin to see how to live life without
drugs and alcohol through their time spent away from their previous environment.
As time progresses, they are able to handle more and more responsibility within
the residential treatment facility and are expected to be part of the community
in which they live. This means helping those who are just beginning as well
as others around them.
The Drug Abuse Treatment
Outcome Study (DATOS), the most recent long-term study of drug treatment outcomes,
showed that those who successfully completed residential treatment had lower
levels drug use, criminal behavior, unemployment, and indicators of depression
than they had before residential treatment vs. other treatment methods..
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