The Road to Recovery: Extended Care Drug and Alcohol Rehab Programs
The first few months of recovery are the most difficult—and the most fragile—time. For many addicts, inpatient treatment goes quickly—it’s difficult and intense, and everything is changing very quickly. Many people who picture rehab think that this is the hardest part, or that this is all drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs consist of. Addicts, however, know better—or they find out quickly enough. Once the drug or the alcohol is out of the addict’s system and they’ve gone through withdrawal, the real challenge begins.
- Addicts build their lives around their addictions, slowly cutting out everything that’s not related so that they can focus on being full-time addicts.
- They stop seeing the friends who don’t like to get smashed; they hang out more with the “party” friends or the people who can get them high.
- They may end relationships or have them ended when they treat their partners as less important than the drug.
- They may lose their jobs or their housing because of their addictions, and end up staying with other users or even end up in a crack house or on the streets.
- Addicts put their addictions first—that’s what it means to be addicted.
Archstone Recovery’s Unique Programs
So the challenge, once you take away the drug, is simply: what takes its place? When you take away the drug, you take away the center of the addict’s life. You pull not just the rug but the floor out from under then. They lose not just the drug but their friends, their lovers, their activities, their routines, their housing. In the fragile few months at the beginning of recovery, they face the question of how to either recover in the same environment that nurtured the addiction, or find a whole new life to live. This isn’t easy, and that’s why Archstone Recovery of the Palm Beaches, conveniently located in Lantana, Florida, started the extended care program. It provides a “soft landing”—a place to live while learning how to live as a sober person. You’ll live communally with others who are in the same situation. You’ll be free to leave and to attend work or school, but you’ll also participate in outpatient treatment and learn new habits and life skills that will allow you to function in your new life back in the real world. Archstone Recovery’s unique programs will give you the tools you need to not just get clean, but stay clean. If you live in or around Florida, Archstone Recovery’s extended care programs can help you with the transition. Call today.