Alcoholism Treatment Program: What My Alcoholic Dad Found Out About Entering an Inpatient Alcoholism Treatment Program

If you have made the decision to enter into an inpatient alcoholism treatment program, you most definitely have many questions. Chief amongst your concerns undoubtedly is what can you expect when you actually do start your inpatient alcoholism treatment program.

The first step in an inpatient alcoholism treatment program for many people is detox. A majority of people who have reached the point in their disease where inpatient care is the most viable option will require a period of detox. In most cases, alcohol detox a matter of a few days. However, it can be an unpleasant and painful experience on many levels. Medications will be made available to you if you need to undergo detox in order to make the process easier to tolerate.

Once the detox phase is completed, the typical inpatient alcoholism program tends to include four segments of treatment:

* group therapy

* individual therapy

* education

* relapse prevention

Group Therapy

Group therapy - including AA meetings in most instances - is a vital aspect of the typical inpatient alcoholism treatment program. Through group therapy, a patient is able to share his or her own experiences with alcohol, hear other people's alcohol related experiences, draw support from individuals with common experiences and gain a sense of emotional support for the treatment program and process itself.

Individual Therapy

The typical inpatient alcoholism treatment program also includes a component that involves individual therapy. These one on one sessions normally are facilitated by a specialist with alcoholism related training. Individual therapy can be facilitated by a psychologist, psychiatrist, certified alcohol counselor or a social worker depending on a patient's needs and upon the inpatient alcoholism treatment program plan of action.

Education

An inpatient alcoholism treatment program will also include a segment devoted to alcohol education. Through this component, a patient is able to learn more about the disease of alcoholism and managing that chronic illness.

Relapse Prevention

Finally, relapse prevention is a vital element to any inpatient alcoholism treatment program. Through relapse prevention, a specific and unique plan of action is developed for a patient to be used upon release from treatment to deal with preventing the prospect of relapse into alcohol use in the future.