Choosing to attend an aftercare program after your formal treatment has ended can actually make an incredible difference in the success of your heroin addiction recovery. Many individuals choose to forgo this option, but transition is a necessary part of recovery, so much so that it can actually protect you from relapse. Consider choosing an aftercare program for many of these reasons, and you will find that your recovery is much stronger than it would have been without it.
We can help you find treatment. Call 888-646-0635Who Answers? toll free anytime.
A Variety of Options
According to the NCJRS, “Aftercare, considered necessary to prevent relapse, typically consists of” several different possible options. These include
Transitional living like
Sober living houses
Halfway houses
12-step meetings/support groups
Periodic group or individual counseling
Vocational counseling
Any of these aftercare types can begin after a regular treatment program and can make a profound difference to a former heroin user. One of these options is usually chosen based on what the individual needs the most.
For example, if the person is struggling with finding a job but not a safe place to live, vocational counseling will be very helpful to them. In the opposite situation, they may want to consider staying at a sober living house. In almost any situation, some kind of continued therapy or support group meeting will be beneficial and, in many cases, individual therapy sessions are supplemented with regular 12-step attendance at the therapist’s request.
Any of these possible options, however, will be much more beneficial than if the individual has no transitional help at all.
We can help you find treatment. Call 888-646-0635Who Answers? toll free today.
Preventing Relapse
A study from the NCBI states, “In recent years, relapse prevention has become a vital part of most treatment effects, learned during the intensive stage of treatment and practiced during aftercare.” Heroin has a very high relapse potential because the drug is so addictive, and many individuals struggle with the issue for years after their treatment program has ended. Others attend multiple programs, turning back to treatment whenever they relapse.
Aftercare helps people maintain their commitment to recovery and strengthen their foundation in recovery.
However, when a person attends aftercare in some kind of capacity, it makes them less likely to relapse. Whether this means they choose a drug-free environment in which to live or a consistent meeting schedule that serves as a constant reminder of their drug addiction, aftercare helps prevent the issue of relapse for heroin abusers.
What’s even more beneficial, programs like these help recovering addicts avoid fatal overdose. Former heroin addicts who do relapse have lower tolerances than they had while abusing the drug; therefore, they often take too much and end up overdosing. In fact, “most opiate overdose deaths occur in persons who have just withdrawn or detoxed” because they have not continued with the appropriate treatments (NLM). This can be true of those who forego aftercare as well.
Those individuals who decide to attend aftercare as a part of their heroin recovery learn many more ways to fight their cravings and avoid their triggers. They can also put these lessons into practice while still retaining a safety net through whatever program they choose. Aftercare can keep recovering heroin addicts on the path treatment set for them by slowly transitioning them back to normal life.
Everybody faces challenges in their lifetime, but, what’s important is how they face those challenges and overcome them to the best of their ability. Although treatment, support, strategic coping skills, and behavioral changes are needed to overcome drug abuse and addiction, in many cases, the stigma or fear of changes attached to rehab far outweigh….
The traditional twelve-step program of Alcoholics Anonymous outlines a course of action that is set for the recovery from addiction or compulsions as well as other behavioral problems. This 12-step type treatment was originally designed as a means of recovering from alcoholism but is now synonymously used for the treatment of all types of addiction…..
On Thursday, March 22, 2018, Attorney General Jeff Sessions met with a number of police chiefs and other department heads for Florida Highway Patrol and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to discuss the opioid crisis in the state and the country at large. Sessions’ highly publicized meeting focused mostly on his call to support….
When a person decides to stop drinking alcohol after forming a dependency to it, they will go through withdrawal symptoms. These withdrawal symptoms can be painful and dangerous, which is why most people need help detoxing from alcohol. Common symptoms that people experience when they detox from alcohol include vomiting, anxiety, insomnia, nausea, depression, uncontrollable….
Every treatment center is different but in most cases they all have many similarities. Your treatment will vary according to your own individual needs and the type of addiction that you suffer from but otherwise knowing what to expect at a treatment center is pretty standard. Here’s a look at what you can expect when….
It’s important that drug rehab be taken seriously or it just won’t work! Studies show that individuals who take rehab seriously the very first time that they go into treatment are more likely to succeed and not require future visits to a drug rehab center. The decision to enter into drug rehab to get help….
Traumatic experiences trigger protective responses throughout the body, causing a surge of chemicals to flood the brain. Depending on a person’s physiological make-up, these effects can have a lasting impression on his or her mental and emotional well-being. Post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD develops out of these conditions. According to the University of Colorado at….
When you’re looking to attend a rehab center for drug and alcohol treatment, finding the right one can make all the difference. But how do you know what rehab center will work best for you? Is specialized drug and alcohol treatment what you need? When it comes to rehab, anything that will make you more….
The families and loved ones of those addicted to drugs or alcohol sometimes suffer just as much or even more than the addict himself. Pain, fear and the frustrations of addiction, lost relationships and broken promises surround families when addiction is present and in the worst case scenario, death becomes a reality, loss is inevitable….
You may be wondering what you can expect if you enlist in counseling at drug rehab centers. What really happens in those therapy sessions and how come some of them are one on one individual sessions with a counselor while others are given in a group format? If you are unsure about the way that….
