Tips For Selecting The Best Alcoholism Treatment Center

You do not actually have to be an alcoholic to have a drinking problem. Alcohol abuse can stop short of being chronic alcoholism and still impair your social, physical and professional functions. Alcohol abuse is an excessive partiality for drinking which can involve dangerous drinking patterns such as driving while under the influence. It can also lead to medical problems. Once the problem of alcohol abuse is acknowledged, the selection of the best alcohol treatment center would be a part of the next step in the agenda.

Alcoholism treatment centers abound in the US, what with more than 18 million Americans suffering from alcoholism or alcohol dependence. While it may seem sobering, no pun intended, alcoholism treatment is a lucrative business. As in any business or industry, there are good and bad services providers and it is in the best interest of a person seeking treatment to make a careful assessment of the quality of the treatment centers that will be considered.

The first step in selecting the best alcoholism treatment center is the location of the center. A good resource online for treatment centers that are within a specific radius of up to 100 miles of the desired location (usually near the primary home) is the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website. It will give access to a comprehensive substance abuse treatment facility locator which will allow searches for treatment centers for specific needs including:

  • the type of service (substance abuse, detoxification, etc.)
  • type of care (e.g. inpatient, outpatient) required
  • special groups (adolescents, senior citizens, disabled, etc.)
  • language preferred
  • forms of payment (Medicaid, private insurance, self payment)
  • payment assistance

It will provide a map with the eligible facilities indicated and clicking on the map will give the address and contact information for further inquiry.

Once the ideal centers based on location and personal criteria are narrowed down to the best 5 or so facilities, the next step would be to visit the treatment center personally. It must be able to provide you with your specific needs and you may want to consider the different treatments they may be able to offer. Such alternative treatments include medically-managed detoxification or natural methods of detoxification. It really depends on the severity of the addiction and the level of intervention needed. For some patients, individual and group counseling can be effective on its own, especially for troubled young people who are looking for attention and friendships. For others, inpatient rapid detoxification and intensive follow-up sessions are the only way to go.

The credentials of medical professionals and counselors as well as the approach of the center could be crucial. The programs or approaches advocated by a treatment center should be researched for statistics on efficacy and possible side-effects of programs that may involve the use of medications

Before finally deciding on an alcoholism treatment center that appears to be best suited for your needs, make a thorough inquiry of what the costs are, the inclusions and exclusions and the payment and assistance options available. While health and well-being should be the primary consideration in this endeavor, plunging into debt blindly could well lead you to drink.

Alcoholism Treatment