Getting into Addiction Treatment

Getting into addiction treatment can be confusing and scary. Accessing treatment for a problem with alcohol or other drugs should be a smooth, stress-free process. Yes, it’s stressful seeking help for an addiction problem, but the facility that does the intake shouldn’t create stress. If the process goes as it should, a person should find the appropriate treatment at the appropriate level of care without much trouble.

I’ll assume that the person seeking a treatment facility is the person with the problem. Making a phone call to set up a free consultation is the first step. Most facilities have staff doing intake who are experienced and who will patiently answer all your concerns. The consultation should be scheduled as soon as possible, because people change their minds and lose the courage to go through with treatment if they take too long to think about. If you’ve thought about it and you know you need treatment, then it’s best to move forward and act decisively. It’s ideal to do the consultation over the phone if the purpose is to get a good idea whether the treatment will be outpatient or inpatient and to verify insurance or ability to pay. If a person has no insurance or ability to pay for treatment in a private facility, a referral can be made to a state facility or to a private facility that receives government funds to treat clients without insurance or the ability to pay. This will save time and energy rather than driving to a facility only to find out private pay is needed.

For some reason most people think that treatment is funded somehow by outside sources, but most private treatment facilities don’t receive government funding and can’t survive without insurance payments or cash payments. These private facilities will often work out very reasonable payment plans, but they have to get paid for services to stay in business. It always surprises me that people will buy expensive stereo equipment or a big screen TV on time but won’t do the same to get treatment and potentially save their lives from gradual, or quick as a the case may be, destruction. Most outpatient addiction treatment is no more expensive than some of things people buy on time for entertainment.

Once the free consultation is complete, level of care is established (let’s say it’s outpatient) and the admission is approved financially, the person signs forms for confidentiality and release of information. The treatment facility staff can’t give client information to others unless the client signs a release of information to the individuals approved by the client to receive information, and even this information is controlled by the client as to what information is released. Treatment facilities take all measures possible to protect confidentiality, and federal laws punish all violators.

The client is then assigned a counselor who does an assessment to make sure that the client is appropriate for outpatient level of care. The financial approval was the first step, and now the clinical and medical staff have to verify that the client is appropriate for treatment in outpatient addiction treatment. The counselor performs what’s called a bio-psycho-social history that covers all areas of the client’s life, history of drug use, employment, culture, relationships, family history, spirituality/religion, etc. If the information confirms that outpatient addiction treatment is appropriate, the counselor recommends intensive outpatient treatment, IOP, or outpatient, individual counseling, and then the Medical Director sees the client to give medical clearance for outpatient. For this case, we’ll say IOP is recommended. There is blood work done, a urine drug screen, a Nurses assessment of past and present medical condition and a TB test. If the Medical Director approves intensive outpatient treatment, then the client goes through an orientation to treatment so that the client understands what to expect. The client is given a client handbook and is asked to read it. The client understands his/her rights, groups rules, who to talk to about complaints, etc.

Then the person enters group therapy and receives individual counseling at least once a week. Appropriate family members are consulted and recommendations are made for them to get a better understanding of addiction, treatment and recovery, and how all this affects the family. This is how people get into treatment. In another post, I’ll write more about what actually happens in treatment.