Choosing the Right Treatment for You

There are a lotof choices when it comes to seeking addiction treatment, and choosing the right one for your needs can be hard. After all, how much treatment does someone with addiction need, right?

Well, that depends on the person in treatment. The truth is, yes – there is such a thing as too much treatment. What that means, though, is that the person isn’t getting the rightkind of treatment.

For example: let’s say “Bob” is an alcoholic. A few times a year, he ends up in a detox program, and then a short-term treatment program (say, 28 days). Bob may be getting a lot of time in treatment, but it’s not working if he keeps cycling back, year after year.

What’s happening in this example is that Bob is over-treating the symptoms of his addiction, not the addiction itself. So that’s why we say he’s getting too much treatment. It’s not that Bob doesn’t need help; he’s just not getting the type of help he needs.

How addiction and recovery programs differ

There are many different Substance Use Disorder (addiction) treatment programs that are designed to help people struggling with addiction. Here are some of the most common ones.

• Detox programs. The first step to addiction treatment is detox. These are medical programs, and they usually run for three to seven days (though some may be shorter or longer). In order to come to Little Creek Lodge, a person must have completed a detox program.
• Primary Care Substance Use Treatment Facilities.Some treatment programs only last a few weeks, or maybe 30 days. Residents live on-site, begin to develop a structure and routine, and a significant amount of time is geared toward clinical treatment.
• Long-term, on-site programs. This is the model for Little Creek Lodge. Though we only require residents to stay with us for 90 days, many of our residents are here for a year (give or take a few months in either direction). The longer a resident stays with us, the more time he has to work on himself and on his goals. Our residents attend AA meetings and counseling sessions (one-on-one and in groups), participate in our Adventure Trek program, have opportunities for creative expression in our in-house music studio, and have the opportunity to attend counseling with their families on a regular basis. We are able to combine the intensity of clinical services and the necessity of life, domestication, and vocational skill building. Our goal is to help you overcome your personal barriers so that you make the choice to stay sober.
• Sober living facilities. People in treatment cannot live in a treatment center forever, of course. Eventually, they must transition into the real world. Sober living facilities are an option to help residents make that transition. People in sober living facilities, or sober houses, have more autonomy: they usually work and/or go to school, and they pay rent to live there. Our sober house is Shane’s House.
• Outpatient services. Outpatient servicesare available to those who are not living in a treatment facility, or who do not need to enroll in a residence program for whatever reason. At Little Creek, residents of Shane’s House are required to undergo outpatient services, but we also serve the people of the community who do not live on-site.

As you can see, we work with people to offer a continuum of care; that is why we offer long-term treatment programs, sober living and outpatient services. We have a team of professionals to help individuals transform their lives into lives of fulfillment and purpose.

Too much of anything isn’t healthy, because it doesn’t address the larger issues at play. Here at Little Creek, we aim to help our residents get the right kind of help, so that they can break the cycle of addiction, and begin their journey for sober living. If you’re ready to take that journey, we’re here to help you. Please call 877-659-1345, or fill out this contact form, to learn more.