Do alternative rehab centers offer an IOP addiction treatment alternative?
What is IOP? Traditional Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOP) require patients to attend group sessions throughout the week. In addition to group meetings, IOP also provides individual therapy sessions.
While IOP is an excellent idea for people coming out of inpatient rehab, many people are looking for an IOP alternative that provides more privacy, confidentiality, and freedom.
What is outpatient therapy? It is very much like inpatient therapy, except the rehab clients are allowed to go home at the end of the day.
In fact, IOP allows clients to attend for only a few hours for several days each week. This allows for time to go to work or spend time working on personal recovery goals. IOP is often used as a step-down from a residential rehab.
After inpatient rehab, the client goes for PHP services, which is like IOP, but with more hours per day and more days per week. IOP is the next step after PHP, which stands for Partial Hospitalization Program.
Alternative drug rehabs are best for patients who are motivated to get started in overcoming their dependency.
Alternative rehab is available in many forms. There are health spas that have drug dependency programs that offer rehab alternatives and IOP alternatives. There are also private doctors and therapists who provide addiction treatment alternatives as well as drug dependency treatment alternatives.
Some people who ask for help in getting off of a particular drug do not have an addiction issue. Their issue is more drug dependency. For example, a person who has taken Xanax, Klonopin, Ativan, or Valium for many years, as directed, is likely benzo-dependent but not addicted.
In the case of purely physical dependency, it is important to provide a program that focuses on taper coaching and withdrawal symptom management. Getting through difficult withdrawal symptoms, such as benzo neuropathy, Benzo brain fog or Benzo belly can be challenging without solid support and encouragement.
Traditional addiction counseling for someone who is only physically dependent is not appropriate. For patients following the Ashton Method, based on the Ashton Manual, who are doing a slow Valium taper, it is more essential to have support, empathy, caring, and understanding, rather than the tough love of addiction counseling.
This is not to say that psychotherapy will not be helpful for the drug-dependent patient. Just because addiction is not the particular challenge faced by a patient does not mean there are not deep-seated issues to be addressed and worked on through therapy.
Addiction counseling focuses on the specifics of addiction-related behavior. A patient suffering from benzo withdrawal brain fog will not necessarily benefit from a 12-step-focused addiction counseling session.
Are there alternatives to alcohol rehab?
Alcohol is a substance that causes significant physical dependence, but also psychological dependence. The brain suffers when alcohol is withdrawn suddenly, and the reward system of the central nervous system begins to crave more alcohol.
Cravings for alcohol can persist for months after a person has been detoxed in a traditional detox or rehab facility. Relapse on alcohol shortly after leaving rehab, even the most prestigious rehabs, is fairly common.
What alternative alcohol rehab programs exist to improve success? Are there effective rehab at home protocols for alcohol dependence that work?
Interestingly, one of the most effective treatments for alcohol addiction and dependence is a method that involves the gradual tapering off of alcohol. How is this possible?
Alternatives in treatment for alcohol use disorder and gray area drinking include the use of naltrexone, combined with drinking moderate amounts of alcohol.
While there are now a few rehabs using this method of having patients take naltrexone combined with measured amounts of alcohol, the method is more often provided by concierge doctors to patients who engage in the treatment in the convenience of their own homes.
The name for this method of taking naltrexone combined with drinking alcohol is known as The Sinclair Method, or TSM. It is a harm reduction method that leads to what is known as pharmacological extinction. TSM is one of the best alternative treatments for alcohol addiction.
Patients lose interest in alcohol over time as they follow the directions of TSM. More and more often, they enjoy alcohol-free days, where they have no interest in drinking, and they do not have to take their naltrexone tablets.
Is there a place for ketamine for alcohol withdrawal?
Many people are interested in the use of psychedelic drugs in the treatment of drug addictions and drug dependencies. Currently, ketamine is the only legal drug that is considered to be a psychedelic.
The fact is that ketamine is not exactly a psychedelic in the sense that LSD, psilocybin, or mescaline are psychedelics. Ketamine is classified as a dissociative anesthetic.
People who take large amounts of ketamine get the sense that their minds are dissociated from their bodies. This feature of the drug is what also makes it an effective anesthetic for emergency departments and for certain medical procedures.
There is much interest in the possibility that ketamine may promote increased plasticity of the brain, leading to a reset of issues such as chronic pain, depression, anxiety, as well as drug addictions and drug dependence.
What about alternatives to rehab or IOP alternatives for people addicted to opioids?
In the traditional opioid detox setting, a fast Suboxone taper, or Subutex taper is used to get a person off of opioids quickly. The goal is complete abstinence from all substances within a short period.
Unfortunately, tapering off Suboxone or Subutex over a period of one to two weeks does not have a very high success rate. Many clients of in-house detox programs go through rapid buprenorphine detoxes and relapse within a few months.
The problem is that the brain has not had time to recover from the addiction. The brain’s reward center has been programmed to crave opioids.
With long-term medication-assisted treatment, the brain has time to heal. Addiction pathways in the brain’s reward center fade away over time, but it can take many months, or even years.
Suboxone treatment makes it possible for a person to live their life without opioid cravings or compulsions. During treatment, they do not behave addictively.
Before Suboxone, and similar drugs, such as ZubSolv, Subutex, Bunavail, Sublocade, and Brixadi, the gold standard of opioid addiction treatment medications was methadone. Suboxone has been such an effective methadone alternative, that it is now considered to be the gold standard.
At the end of treatment, and after tapering off Suboxone, the Suboxone patient typically notes that the cravings are no longer there. Buprenorphine, the main ingredient in Suboxone, gives the opioid addicted brain time to recover, and it allows the patient the freedom to live their life in the meantime.
Why is a rehab-alternative program ideal for Suboxone therapy?
Many rehabs, even the best and most prestigious rehab programs, are stuck in the past. They still adhere to the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous, which was founded in 1935.
Alcoholics Anonymous, or AA, developed its program before there was effective medical treatment for opioid addiction and alcohol addiction. AA is a 12-step program that preaches abstinence, meaning no drugs and no medications to treat addiction.
While some rehabs are finally becoming aware of the need for incorporating medication-regimens into their programs, they may not provide the best Suboxone treatment experience. Abstinence-based therapy is part of their corporate culture.
Private doctors, on the other hand, are able to keep up with the latest in medical treatments for various health conditions. If the evidence supports Suboxone treatment over the 12-steps of AA or NA, then doctors are going to recommend Suboxone, rather than AA meetings, or even rehab.
A doctor who provides Suboxone treatment, collaborating with an addiction counselor or therapist who is in agreement with medication-assisted treatment can offer a rehab-alternative program.
A patient who enters such a rehab-alternative can get the benefits of rehab, such as medical supervision and therapy. In fact, they will likely get far better attention with a private, concierge rehab-alternative than they can get at even the best possible traditional rehab.
What would be an ideal form of holistic treatment for substance abuse?
People who use mood or mind-altering substances are not all the same. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to treating addiction or substance dependence.
For example, benzo users, as described above, are often not addicted at all, and they do not abuse their prescribed medication. Benzodiazepine-dependent clients of a treatment center have specific medical needs, and they will not likely benefit from being pressured to practice a spiritual program of addiction recovery.
Even for rehab-alternative clients who have addiction-related issues, it is important that they are treated with respect and dignity. Addiction is not a moral failing, it is a mental health condition.
Doctors and counselors who treat addiction patients must take time with their patients, listening carefully, with caring and empathy. Addiction is a difficult burden to live with, and it can be difficult to overcome.
Patients are looking for kindness and support. They are not going to respond well to tough love bullying.
Alternative drug and alcohol counseling should be a positive experience that helps a patient to explore their past and present, getting a better understanding of who they are. When therapy is effective, the patient looks forward to attending every session.
What about alternative medical treatments, such as ketamine for opiate detox?
As discussed earlier, ketamine is a drug that is being studied for further use in addiction treatment. It may help to ease the symptoms of withdrawal and to help the brain recover more quickly from the changes caused by addiction.
Unfortunately, there is no silver bullet in any alternative drug therapies. Ketamine for opiate withdrawal or ketamine for opioid withdrawal may have some use, but there will still be a need for counseling and additional medical therapies.
Other drugs under investigation include psilocybin, ibogaine, and an ibogaine derivative, named MC-18. MC-18 is interesting in that the psychedelic component is no longer present, but the drug still shows promise for being effective in treating addiction.
Medical cannabis is also promising in some areas, particularly for easing the symptoms of drug withdrawal. Doctors are now realizing that regulated cannabis may be helpful for addicted patients.
It is important to stick to mainstream treatments for now, because the short-term and long-term safety of these alternative drug therapies is not fully understood. In fact, for drugs that have not been approved by the FDA, the only legitimate setting for treatment may be in clinical studies, where these new drugs are being investigated.
What does a rehab-alternative concierge program look like?
If you have been to a traditional residential rehab program, you most likely noted that the facility was filled with many employees. There are nurses, counselors, therapists, directors, administrators, and many other staff members.
A concierge, private medical addiction treatment program may have only a handful of employees. In fact, some programs have as few as two workers, the doctor and the practice manager.
How is it possible that two people can provide a better experience than an army of rehab employees? As they say, sometimes too many chefs spoil the soup.
A single doctor is able to spend time with patients, listening to their concerns, and working together with them to create a successful treatment program. Concierge addiction treatment physicians usually limit the number of patients they are working with, so they can provide the best possible experience to each patient.
While the doctor is able to provide counseling, therapy, and coaching to patients, in some cases, additional therapy is needed from a dedicated addiction counselor. Many concierge doctors work closely with specialized therapists who can provide therapy to these patients.
In fact, the doctor and therapist may collaborate on cases, providing a comprehensive rehab-alternative experience that is unparalleled at any traditional rehab facility. Patients who attend such a program find that they have a better chance for success, compared to formal in-house rehab.
Do concierge rehab-alternative addiction treatment programs exist?
You may think, by now, that the description here of a rehab-alternative is more of a wishlist than a real program, but concierge rehab-alternative programs do exist. In fact, you can get started with one right away, if you are ready to get help with an addiction or drug dependency.
If you would like more information about how to get started with alternative drug and alcohol counseling, or counseling for overcoming drug dependence, please contact us on this website. We are currently providing alternatives to alcohol rehab and alternatives to drug rehab.
Additionally, we also provide medical treatment and support for people who are tapering off of medications, such as benzodiazepines. Benzodiazepines include Xanax, Valium, Ativan, Klonopin, and many others.
We provide proven treatment protocols, such as The Sinclair Method, and The Ashton Method. Additionally, we provide full Suboxone treatment services.
If you or a loved one is ready to get started on the path to recovery, please contact us. We look forward to hearing from you and discussing how we can help.
