Getting Treatment
If you or a loved one has an addiction or psychiatric issue, you have likely tried many ways to get help. Counseling, group therapy, outpatient programs, and hospital detox may be some of the treatments you have tried. If these short-term treatment options have proven to be inadequate, the next step is usually residential treatment or drug rehab. There are many types of treatment centers throughout the country, and sometimes it can be confusing to figure out which type is best for you or your loved one.
Here are some of the primary types:
Addiction Treatment Centers: also known as alcohol or drug drug, most addiction treatment center specializes in the treatment of alcohol or drug abuse. However, there are also beginning to be a number of even more specialized treatment programs such as those that treat sex addiction, gambling addiction, or Internet addiction.
Eating Disorder Treatment Centers: these are specialized residential programs that treat eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, binge eating, compulsive overeating, and related eating problems. These can range from acute care (when the client’s BMI is very low and they require a feeding tube) to a more traditional rehab setting for those who are stabilized or within an appropriate, safe BMI range.
Trauma Treatment Centers: as clinicians have become more aware and have a better understanding of the impact of traumatic experiences, they have developed residential programs for those who have had a trauma that is interfering with their ability to live a fulfilling life. Trauma treatment centers focus on special modalities such as EMDR and equine-assisted therapy, which are known to be very helpful in helping clients resolve trauma.
Sex Addiction Treatment Centers: for those with compulsive sexual behaviors, also known as hypersexual disorders, there are only a handful of residential programs qualified to treat these issues. It is usually advisable to choose a gender-specific program for the treatment of sexual addiction. Sometimes a good choice can be a rural location, especially in cases of Internet porn addiction, where access to triggers can be limited while the client works through the underlying reasons for their destructive behavior. Because the vast majority of those seeking this type of treatment tend to be married men, any quality treatment program will offer a family program to help the spouse or significant other set boundaries and understand their needs apart from those of the client.
Depression Treatment Centers: sometimes individual counseling and psychotropic medications are not enough for the patient with persistent, life-altering clinical depression. Depression treatment can be in an intensive hospital setting where suicide might be a risk to a more traditional residential setting where the client is not at risk for suicide, but needs to take time away from the daily pressures of life to develop strategies and methods to deal with depression. During this treatment the client can be accurately assessed and a more effective treatment plan can be developed.
