By Sandy Baker
What type of drug and alcohol treatment is best for your situation? Determining the care level appropriate for you takes a formal assessment and a better understanding of your health, home life, and addiction severity. For some people, residential treatment isn’t necessary, but outpatient therapy isn’t enough. That’s where partial care addiction treatment may help.
How Does Partial Care Addiction Treatment Work?
Partial care programs are a type of short-term intensive treatment plan. They are less restrictive than inpatient care, requiring 20 hours per week of substance use disorder treatment. Though treatment centers differ in the specifics, at The Ranch at Dove Tree this type of care includes:
- 3 hours per day of group therapy, Monday through Friday
- Evening group meetings once a week
- Meeting weekly with a primary counselor
- Meeting weekly with a mental health professional
- Being able to go home at night instead of remaining at the treatment center
As you can see, partial care programs require a good amount of time in a treatment center. But they provide outstanding resources to help you to start on the path toward recovery.
Could Partial Care Help You?
Partial care addiction treatment isn’t the best choice for everyone. If you are still using drugs or alcohol or feeling withdrawal symptoms when you try to stop, you may benefit from detox treatment as a first step. For those who don’t have a safe, drug-free place to call home, it may be necessary to consider residential treatment, which will provide the time and safety needed for full recovery.
Partial treatment may be the right option for those who:
- Are transitioning between residential treatment and outpatient care
- Need a more structured option over a traditional outpatient program
- Have a safe and drug-free home life
- Have ample support at home
- Wish to work or meet other responsibilities while receiving care
You’ll receive a formal assessment with a care team to determine your specific needs. Those who are struggling with withdrawal, mental health disorders, and severe addiction and dependence may not be able to use partial treatment as a first step in their care.
What Will You Learn in a Partial Care Treatment Program?
One of the best reasons to invest in a partial care treatment program is that it provides you with an outstanding opportunity to learn about yourself but also to develop core skills to help you thrive outside of treatment. In group sessions, you’ll learn about addiction and the support and commitment required for recovery. You’ll develop skills to help you with real-world problems, like handling the stressors and failures in everyday life. Here are some things you may learn:
- Dealing with cravings: It’s a difficult part of recovery, but many people still feel cravings for substances even after they stop using for a while. The goal of group therapy is to develop a strategy for dealing with cravings so that they don’t lead to relapse.
- Expressing emotions: Learning how to properly express emotions may help you to minimize outbursts, avoid aggressive situations, and deal with fear, anxiety, and anger in a healthy manner.
- Overcoming stress: Stress is a part of everyday life, but learning how to handle stressful, intense situations is key to recovery. In treatment, you’ll learn ways to deal with stress, such as how to know when you need to walk away and how to create less stress in your day.
- Improved communication: It’s not always easy to communicate in an honest and open manner. Doing so helps you avoid many of the obstacles that could lead to addiction relapse.
- Accountability: You’ll learn how to develop a sense of personal accountability so that you can make good choices and accept and reconcile mistakes and failures. You’ll learn how to set realistic goals and keep yourself on track by practicing self-care and staying actively involved in a recovery support group.
In addition to this, you’ll receive treatment for any co-occurring disorders you may have. That could include help with anxiety and depression. Learning to cope with these disorders alongside addiction is critical. Many people find relief in knowing there is help for all aspects of their health.
Working to Become the Best Version of You
There is no perfect road to addiction recovery. Your personal goals may differ from others’ goals. In treatment, you’ll gain knowledge about your options, such as career training and educational opportunities available to you. You’ll also learn about practicing self-care, such as creating a routine for sleeping, eating, and getting exercise. You may also learn how to structure your day so that you’re making positive choices.
With partial care treatment, you’ll work hard during the day on taking care of your mental and physical health, and you’ll go home at night to receive the support of your loved ones.
To find out if partial care is right for you, contact The Ranch at Dove Tree for an assessment. Our drug and alcohol treatment program offers a wide range of program options to meet most needs.
