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Overview
Pick up an entertainment magazine or surf TV stations focused on sports or media news and it's a good bet you'll see at least one story about a celebrity checking into or being released from a rehab facility. Drug rehab is a fact of life on every social level these days and while such regularly occurring news blasts offer fodder for a celeb-obsessed public, anyone who has ever sought help for out-of-control drug dependence knows that the subject is no entertaining matter. In Dallas, phone books and state-based websites have long and daunting rehab listings, but choosing the right program shouldn't add difficulties to an already distressing situation. This is a good place to start. Consider this article a platform from which you can winnow down choices and get the kind of help that matters.
The Rehab Facility That Puts Family First
Starlight Recovery Center has offered residential chemical dependency treatment for 30 years. Physicians, counselors and nurses form interdisciplinary teams to manage each patient's case. The Starlight approach to recovery emphasizes involving families in all facets of an addict's treatment once he has finished de-toxing. When the client is ready to work on his drug problem, he begins participating in intensive workshops, exercises and meetings, many of which include family members who are integral parts of their loved one's recovery. Introduction to and participation in 12-Step programming is mandatory. The facility is small--only 75 beds are available. Fifty-nine beds are reserved for adult addicts; 16 are earmarked for adolescent males. Starlight doesn't treat adolescent females. This private facility doesn't accept patients on public assistance or Medicare recipients. Post-discharge therapy is offered by this JCAHO-accredited facility vetted by the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse.
The Facility That Emphasizes Friendships as a Support Base
The Right Step, located at 5646 Milton Street, offers intensive outpatient, recovery and long-term alumni programs that are saturated in peer support. This private, fee-based facility focuses on giving addicts tools they need to return to work or school in a new frame of mind so drugs are easier to resist. Twelve-step theories and practices are combined with clinical methodology in a lengthy program that doesn't stop when the patient checks out. This treatment center offers an intense 18-month-long recovery maintenance service that costs ex-patients nothing to join, but offers substantive benefits: ongoing support, counseling and group sessions that rely upon friends and other recovering addicts for the program's core. There's more. After an 18-month stint in the recovery maintenance program, recovering addicts are invited into the Right Step Alumni group. This organized social network reinforces "positive connections" between recovering addicts in some very delightful ways, including softball teams, meetings, picnics and other social settings that show clients how much fun life can be clean and drug-free.
Where to Seek Treatment For Opiate-Addicted Dallas Residents
The Dallas County Treatment Center, located at 123 E. Colorado Blvd, serves as an outpatient methadone facility committed to getting patients off heroin, opium and opiate-based drugs via group and individual counseling and intensive re-education programs. DCTC helps patients control their drug cravings using a disease-centered approach to treatment. This in-patient treatment facility strives to treat every addict, no matter how often he has relapsed or how difficult his recovery has been, with dignity and respect throughout the course of his treatment. Fees are on a sliding scale because the facility receives some public funding. Anyone wishing to eliminate opiate-based drug dependence from his life will want to investigate this facility.
Faith-based Recovery Help Just For Christians
For some addicts, only a faith-based program has the power to help them overcome chemical dependence. The Right Step Christian Spirit Program claims a solid success rate using a spiritually-focused approach to treatment that includes liberal doses of prayer, medicine and counseling. From morning devotionals to groups that use faith to process dependency issues, The Christian Spirit Program examines core issues like forgiveness, shame and guilt. To assure treatment continuity after addicts leave, the patient's personal clergyman is included in the recovery process. With facilities in central Dallas and Plano, the Christian Spirit Program is affiliated with numerous outreach programs and serves as a conduit for alumna seeking resources to stay off drugs. Included in this network are groups like Celebrate Recovery, Overcomers Outreach, Recovery Victorious, Alcoholics for Christ and Overcomers, Inc.
The Importance of Treatment at the Right Facility
With a huge spread in recidivism rates for addictive personalities, choosing the right program for an addict's personality can mean the difference between permanent recovery and the next stint in rehab. Dallas is rich in addiction treatment centers but if you refine your search to those that will appeal to the personality, values and interests of the addict, success rates have been shown to be higher.
