Treatment Approaches Used in Meth Addiction Rehab

Methamphetamine rehab centers use different therapeutic approaches to help you recover!

Methamphetamine, more popularly known as meth or crystal meth, is a dangerous and all-encompassing drug. Smoked, snorted or injected, meth provides users with a long-lasting euphoric high. It does come with a cost, however. Meth is highly addictive, and is harmful to the physical and mental health of users. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, chronic meth abuse causes paranoia, memory loss, aggressive behavior, deficits in thinking and motor skills, severe dental problems, and unhealthy weight loss. In addition to these personal effects, meth abuse and addiction often causes interpersonal problems and can lead to job loss and financial instability.

It is possible, however, to overcome meth addiction. Meth addiction rehab programs are designed to help individuals deal with the unique problems caused by meth addiction, such as cognitive impairment. These programs focus on motivating individuals to stop using methamphetamine and to remain abstinent while working on restoring cognitive abilities.

Types of Meth Addiction Rehab Programs

There are a few different types of programs that can help with meth addiction recovery, each which has its pros and cons and which may be suitable for one person but not for another. At each of these programs, the types of treatment and specific approaches are usually similar, but the setting, frequency, and depth of care differs.

These are the three main types:

• Inpatient residential rehab: At inpatient programs, you will be provided with housing and will be required to live at the treatment center. This provides a uniquely drug-free environment, around-the-clock care, daily group and one-on-one counseling, and the mutual support provided by living with individuals who are going through something similar to what you are going through.
• Outpatient meth rehab: Outpatient programs allow you to live at home and to go to the treatment center for sessions at appointed times, anywhere from once a day to once a month. The benefit is that you are able to continue with many aspects of your life, such as work or school, but you are still in the same environment which may have triggers and temptations that will make it hard to stay abstinent from drugs.
• Support groups: It is highly beneficial for individuals recovering from crystal meth addiction to attend support groups. Here, you can share your experiences and learn from the experiences of others. Mutual support helps motivate recovery. Support groups are generally intended to help individuals during and after inpatient and outpatient treatment. Aftercare is very important in maintaining recovery.

 Treatment Approaches used in Meth Rehab

At these rehab centers, specific treatment approaches and interventions will be used to help you recover. Approaches vary depending on the rehab center that you go to, but there are several different approaches that are generally used to help people recover from addiction to meth.

The Montana Chemical Dependency Bureau Best Practice Committee outlined these main approaches:

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): CBT is a type of therapy that focuses on the thoughts, behaviors, and beliefs that lead to drug use. With a counselor, you will work to identify patterns and triggers in your life that lead to drug use and will work to change those patterns, turning them into more productive behaviors.
• Trauma-informed Therapy: Trauma experienced in life often leads to substance abuse. With this kind of therapy, a counselor will help you determine if this is the case for you, or if meth abuse has caused you to feel subsequent trauma, and will work with you to manage and deal with the trauma so that it no longer triggers drug use.
• Motivational Interviewing: With this type of interviewing the idea is to understand your motivation for being in treatment and to understand what stage you are at mentally and in terms of your commitment to quitting methamphetamine.
• Contingency Management: This method of treatment uses a system of rewards to prevent drug use. Using vouchers, coupons, or another structure, positive behaviors and abstinence from drugs are encouraged.
• Relationship Counseling: Abuse of methamphetamine affects others around you. Relationship therapy recognizes that, and brings in loved ones of addicts to help facilitate and encourage recovery.
• Pharmacotherapy: In some cases, medications to help you cope with withdrawal or to treat co-occurring psychiatric disorders may be prescribed.
• Drug Screening: Drug screening is conducted to ensure abstinence. This is often tied in with contingency management.

All of these methods are intended to help individuals recover from methamphetamine addiction. It is important to note, as well, that groups such as the National Institute on Drug Abuse report that long-term meth rehab is recommended because of the serious effects meth has on the user’s brain and behavior.