Christian Drug Rehab Centers: 5 MUST HAVES

A consumer’s guide to what to look for in a reputable Christian rehab for drug addiction.

6
minute read

ARTICLE OVERVIEW:This article reviews what to look for from a quality Christian drug rehab. Then, we invite your questions in the comments section at the end.


ESTIMATED READING TIME: 5 minutes


TABLE OF CONTENTS:


What Is Quality Christian Drug Rehab?

“Quality” is not relative when is comes to addiction treatment. In fact, every rehab program must fulfill or meet standards adopted by the State where it intends to provide services. The standards can take the form of:

  • Accreditation
  • Certification
  • Licensure

Each state varies, but many states supervise addiction treatment centers via the Department of Social Services, Family and Children Services, or Department of Mental or Behavioral Health. Look into your state’s licensing overview from this report authored by The National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors: State Regulations on Substance Use Disorder Programs and Counselors.


Reputable rehab centers will be licensed in the state where they operate.


5 “MUST HAVES”

But, how you can generally separate good versus bad Christian drug rehab? You should know that what happens during Christian drug rehab is similar to other rehabs. These are the 5 MUST HAVES for qualitative drug rehab:

1. Licensing

Program licensing is given by the state where the Christian drug facility is settled. Check if the facility is also certified by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, JCAHO. This means that the facility has been examined and approved by an established and trustworthy body, and that the organization has satisfied established performance objectives in order to be certified. The standards cover a broad range of care areas, from quality of treatment and emergency management to infection control and patient safety to human resources management.

2. Custom Treatment

Customized Treatment Programs eliminate “one-size-fits-all” approach to treatment. The circumstances that lead to addiction are as diverse as the patients themselves. A quality facility will have the resources and personnel at their disposal to tailor their treatment approach to each individual, starting with a thorough evaluation and patient history.

The facility will then design a care program consisting of evidence-based therapies from which they feel the patient will most benefit according to the Christian values and beliefs.

It’s helpful to explore programs with a diversity of treatment therapies and life-skills resources that allow you or your loved one to learn to regain independence while in a treatment program. So, be open to programs that offer diverse treatment based on gender, interest, or skills.


Call us to learn how rehab can help you or a loved one get better.


3. Family Services

It is important to choose a facility that offers a chance to reconnect you with your family while in treatment. This helps to lay the foundation for a healthy family dynamic in which expectations are established and boundaries are respected. People in treatment should be able to develop a plan for recovery, so that they can more easily rejoin their households and successfully maintain their recovery.

You should be a part of family therapy to support your loved one during treatment. So, be sure that the rehab you choose has a family program. This includes family weekend, joint therapy sessions, and continued care after “graduation”. Reputable rehabs know that the environment needs to change…and should involve families as part of the process of long-term change.

4. An Aftercare Plan

The Christian drug rehab should offer you a clearly defined plan of action to follow after your discharge. This plan should include everything from ways to manage recovery-related stress to tips on how to avoid potentially toxic situations and interactions, referral to support groups and relapse prevention. It’s also important that you have a connection to the therapists from the program during your vulnerable periods.

Common activities included in an aftercare plan are:

  • Housing arrangements
  • Ongoing counseling
  • Relapse prevention planning
  • Support group attendance

Addiction responds to proper medical treatment. Get the best care possible.


5. Medical Records

Precise medical record keeping serve many purposes. The documentation of your history of examination, diagnosis, and treatment is vital first for all providers involved in your care. Your initial intake assessment will determine only the beginning of your treatment plan. This plan must change over time.

Medical records make sure that new clinicians and for any subsequent provider who takesover care of treatment is up-to-date on your case. Medical records can justify (or refute) the need of a particular treatment and help in determining the time that will last.


Independent studies have found that most Americans believe that faith helps people more effectively treat addiction when combined with recovery.


What Kinds Of Christian Drug Rehabs Are Available?

There are several forms of Christian drug rehab. However, all of them approach drug addiction from a spiritual point of view. Treatment providers believe that people are facing addiction because they need a spiritual practice in their lives. In a Christian rehab setting, these practices will be added. Connecting to God helps fill lives with spiritual joy.

Christian rehabs should use a combination of medication and talk therapy as the core treatment methods. Behavioral treatments and talk therapy are front and center. This type of treatment helps you engage in the treatment process, modify your attitudes and behaviors related to drug abuse, and increase healthy life skills. Therapy can also enhance the effectiveness of medications and help people stay in treatment longer.

Additionally, medications can be used to help reestablish normal brain function and to prevent relapse and diminish cravings. It is important to note here that many Christian drug rehab also use pharmacological approaches for maintenance of long-term sobriety. Most people with severe addiction problems, however, are polydrug users (users of more than one drug) and will require treatment for all of the substances that they abuse.

Treatment for drug abuse and addiction can be delivered in many different settings using a variety of behavioral approaches.These are the major options for drug rehabilitation:

1. Inpatient treatment. Inpatient rehabs require that you stay in the Christian drug facility during treatment. Residence can vary from a few days to 90+ days.

2. Outpatient treatment. You’re in an outpatient setting if you’re getting detox services, observation services, lab tests, or any other hospital services, and have not been admitted to a residential clinic or a hospital as an inpatient. In these cases, you visit the clinic daily and live at home.

3. Long term residential treatment. In long-term residential treatment you will receive care 24 hours a day, generally in non-hospital settings. The best-known residential treatment model is the therapeutic community, with planned lengths of stay of between 6 and 12 months. These communities focus on the “re-socialization” of the individual and use the program’s entire community—including other residents, staff, and the social context—as active components of treatment.

4. Short term residential treatment. Short-term residential programs provide intensive but relatively brief treatment based on a modified 12-step approach. These programs help to reduce the risk of relapse once a patient leaves the residential setting.

5. Community model or halfway houses. The community model is an intensive and comprehensive treatment model developed for use with adults that has been modified successfully to treat adolescents with substance use disorders. Destructive living environments can make recovery difficult for even highly motivated individuals. Sober living houses are alcohol and drug free living environments for individuals attempting to abstain from alcohol and drugs.

Your Questions

We hope to have answered your questions about how to recognize a reputable Christian drug rehab. If not, we invite your questions below. We try to respond to all legitimate questions with a personal and prompt response.

Reference Sources:
NCBI: Conceptual bases of Christian, faith-based substance abuse rehabilitation programs: qualitative analysis of staff interviews
NHS: A NATIONAL REVIEW OF STATE ALCOHOL AND DRUG TREATMENT PROGRAMS AND CERTIFICATION STANDARDS FOR SUBSTANCE ABUSE COUNSELORSAND PREVENTION PROFESSIONALS
Christian Rehab: Christian Rehab
About the author
Lee Weber is a published author, medical writer, and woman in long-term recovery from addiction. Her latest book, The Definitive Guide to Addiction Interventions is set to reach university bookstores in early 2019.
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