I am a recovering addict; this information is from my own personal experiences. I did not get sober the first time in treatment, or even the second, I went to various types of treatment over a span of about 12 years, everything from outpatient to long-term residential. This is example is of a basic 14 – 28 day program. I have also had the great pleasure of working in a residential treatment center, so I have the added information to why things are structured the way they are.
The goal of residential treatment is to get out of the habit of being an addict, and becoming a contributing member of society. Everyone from millionaires to homeless people go to treatment, for a variety of different reasons. We will look at the different people and their reasons for treatment later. This is simply an overview of what an average day is like.
Rise and Shine
Early rise: Usually around 6 am. Addicts have usually changed their lifestyles to fit their addictions, so to get back into the flow of an average “normal” person, the day start early.
Many clients will fight this early day with a million different reasons, they are tired from detoxing, they work midnights, they don’t like it, it doesn’t matter. The staff has heard all the different reasons. Their usual response will be: “If you had to get up at 6 am for your addiction would you?” or “Are you willing to go to any length to get sober?” It is only for a few weeks, so suck it up and save your arguing for the more important things.
Remember I am using general times, they may vary but they are pretty consistent in the various types of treatments centers.
Routine
Before 9 am. You will have to get cleaned up, shower, clean your room/area, eat breakfast, and do some chores. Everyone will have chores. Usually a client, based on seniority or by votes will be in charge of a list of chores and assigning said chores to different residents. Things like, wiping down the tables in the eating area, clean up, trash, etc. Nothing any normal healthy person can’t do. These are not a big deal, but people will fight it, clients will fight everything, they are learning how to live a new way, and don’t like it.
Readings
There will also be some morning readings from AA material or other recovery related books. Usually a daily reading from 3 or 4 different books on the subject of self-improvement, self-discovery and all around affirmation material is read from while the rest of the residents listen.
The Day
The rest of the day will be broken up into separate sections, varying in length from an hour to two hours. There will be breaks in between classes and groups of 10-20 minutes or so, and breaks for meal times.
Informative classes about drugs and their effects on your body physically. Informative classes about the effect of drugs on you psychologically
Spiritual type classes – not usually affiliated with any one religion unless the treatment center and its program are religiously involved.
Parenting classes – the relationship issues of addicts and alcoholics and their children are different than that of “normal” people, they have their own unique problems and addressing them can be difficult.
Health classes –addicts have many diseases and other health issues to deal with that they probably haven’t dealt with during their using. Once a person becomes sober, the consequences to their bodies appear. Often because the person hasn’t taken care of themselves, but also because of the risks of using.
Group therapy is common in treatment centers. It is an excellent form of therapy for this population. Addicts are usually quite accustomed to lying and manipulating people in their lives. This group atmosphere allows others to communicate with honesty and without judgment and guilt. Addicts have all hurt and used the people in their lives. Group therapy allows them to look past what they have done wrong, to why the did it, and to begin working on the problem from a different point of view.
One-on-One therapy is a more intimate therapy between the addict and a therapist and/or counselor, usually one with specific training in the area of addiction and familiar with the problems addicts face.
Gender therapy is great for discussing the issues of a particular gender with out the fear of embarrassment from the opposite sex. It allows for more open discussions about more personal issues and problems of addicts. Many addicts have pasts that include abuse, physical, mental, sexual, etc. It can be very uncomfortable to discuss these issues as it is, having a gender specific group can alleviate some of the reasons that people choose not to talk about their own particular lives.
One day at a Time
At the end of the day, there is usually a 12-step meeting to attend, those who have never attended are introduced to “meetings”, this also usually allows outside people (former clients and people from outside the center in recovery) to come in and introduce clients to 12-step programs. Not all treatment centers follow 12-step guidelines, and 12-step meetings don’t work for everyone, but they are well-known and popular. AA and other meetings are a great way to meet other people who are in recovery, whether you choose to follow up with the 12-step process after treatment or not, the basic guidelines can be quite beneficial, especially in early recovery.
Routine
Before 9 am. You will have to get cleaned up, shower, clean your room/area, eat breakfast, and do some chores. Everyone will have chores. Usually a client, based on seniority or by votes will be in charge of a list of chores and assigning said chores to different residents. Things like, wiping down the tables in the eating area, clean up, trash, etc. Nothing any normal healthy person can’t do. These are not a big deal, but people will fight it, clients will fight everything, they are learning how to live a new way, and don’t like it.
Readings
There will also be some morning readings from AA material or other recovery related books. Usually a daily reading from 3 or 4 different books on the subject of self-improvement, self-discovery and all around affirmation material is read from while the rest of the residents listen.
The Day
The rest of the day will be broken up into separate sections, varying in length from an hour to two hours. There will be breaks in between classes and groups of 10-20 minutes or so, and breaks for meal times.
Informative classes about drugs and their effects on your body physically. Informative classes about the effect of drugs on you psychologically
Spiritual type classes – not usually affiliated with any one religion unless the treatment center and its program are religiously involved.
Parenting classes – the relationship issues of addicts and alcoholics and their children are different than that of “normal” people, they have their own unique problems and addressing them can be difficult.
Health classes –addicts have many diseases and other health issues to deal with that they probably haven’t dealt with during their using. Once a person becomes sober, the consequences to their bodies appear. Often because the person hasn’t taken care of themselves, but also because of the risks of using.
Group therapy is common in treatment centers. It is an excellent form of therapy for this population. Addicts are usually quite accustomed to lying and manipulating people in their lives. This group atmosphere allows others to communicate with honesty and without judgment and guilt. Addicts have all hurt and used the people in their lives. Group therapy allows them to look past what they have done wrong, to why the did it, and to begin working on the problem from a different point of view.
One-on-One therapy is a more intimate therapy between the addict and a therapist and/or counselor, usually one with specific training in the area of addiction and familiar with the problems addicts face.
Gender therapy is great for discussing the issues of a particular gender with out the fear of embarrassment from the opposite sex. It allows for more open discussions about more personal issues and problems of addicts. Many addicts have pasts that include abuse, physical, mental, sexual, etc. It can be very uncomfortable to discuss these issues as it is, having a gender specific group can alleviate some of the reasons that people choose not to talk about their own particular lives.
One day at a Time
At the end of the day, there is usually a 12-step meeting to attend, those who have never attended are introduced to “meetings”, this also usually allows outside people (former clients and people from outside the center in recovery) to come in and introduce clients to 12-step programs. Not all treatment centers follow 12-step guidelines, and 12-step meetings don’t work for everyone, but they are well-known and popular. AA and other meetings are a great way to meet other people who are in recovery, whether you choose to follow up with the 12-step process after treatment or not, the basic guidelines can be quite beneficial, especially in early recovery.
