Inpatient Rehab vs. Outpatient Rehab

Your decision or your agreement to receive rehab treatment for a drug or alcohol problem is the best first step that you can take toward rectifying your drug or alcohol addiction. That decision, however, involves additional steps that can have a direct effect on the success or failure of your treatment. One of those steps is whether you will participate in inpatient or outpatient treatment.

Inpatient Rehab vs. Outpatient Rehab

The differences between inpatient and outpatient treatment go beyond just living at a rehab center versus living at your own home. No two rehab facilities and no two treatment programs are identical, regardless of whether they are offered at residential or drop-in centers. Rather than selecting the first program you run across, you should ask for recommendations for several different programs and familiarize yourself with those programs before you select the one that will provide your treatment. If you have an option of inpatient or outpatient rehab, you should consider their similarities and differences before you make your selection.Both inpatient and outpatient rehab will generally mandate that you go through a detox program to get all drugs and alcohol out of your system before you begin rehab. Detox can last for a few days or several weeks, depending on the severity of your addiction, and rehab programs will not be structured to offer the medical care and monitoring that you may need during detox. Inpatient and outpatient rehab programs will also both require your commitment to continuing group therapy, communication with community social services, consultation with medical caregivers, and participation in vocational and recreational activities that will offer alternatives to your using drugs or alcohol. The differences between inpatient and outpatient rehab usually boil down to cost and duration. Inpatient programs can be more expensive, particularly if you enroll in a luxury facility, but because they offer intense daily treatment and therapy, you may be released from inpatient rehab after as little as thirty days. Outpatient rehab programs are less expensive, but can last sixty days or more, and occasionally as long as a year. If you have health insurance, you will want to determine what types of programs and costs are covered before you make your selection.Both inpatient and outpatient rehab can be equally effective, but the effectiveness of any specific program will be directly related to each addict’s or alcoholic’s specific personality and tendencies. Your physicians and counselors will be better able to determine if you are better suited for inpatient or outpatient rehab. If you live in a neighborhood that presents you with multiple daily exposures to triggers for drug or alcohol use, for example, your counselor will probably recommend that you enroll in inpatient therapy to remove you from those triggers. Alternately, if your counselor perceives that your family will actively participate in your rehab, he may recommend that you pursue outpatient therapy to give your family a greater opportunity to help you stay drug and alcohol-free.Whether you enroll in inpatient or outpatient rehab, your therapy will be most effective if you remain committed to getting away from drugs or alcohol and to achieving true sobriety. If you believe that a particular program is not working for you after you have made your decision, you should fall back on your commitment to get sober and find a different program that will work with your problems and your personality.

Please contact the Last Resort Recovery Center near Austin, Texas, at 512-360-3600 if you need help in making your selection or if you have other questions about the relative benefits of inpatient and outpatient rehab therapy. We can assess your specific situation and recommend a rehab program that best suits your needs.