There are several components of substance abuse treatment but for the sake of simplicity the focus of this article will be on three: intervention, treatment, and aftercare. Each of these categories have a number of elements, all of which are important to an individual’s chances of staying sober. An intervention requires  the counselor to both recognize the critical issues creating the problem and the ability to communicate a viable course of action. Treatment involves individual, group, and family counseling. Aftercare is most important because this is the time when all other aspects come together to establish a sober way of life.

What Happens in Treatment?

In an outpatient program like Insight the time a person spends in treatment is usually about 12 weeks. This sounds like a considerable amount of time, but in reality there is a lot of information to pack in a short period. Most people don’t come into treatment with a tremendous amount of self-awareness and breaking through denial is an arduous process. Ultimately, the point of treatment is to establish a strong foundation for long term recovery. It is dangerous to expect a person with a drug/alcohol problem to be focused on issues outside of learning how to stay sober on a daily basis. A young person who is dependent on drugs and alcohol needs months of repetition to learn new and better coping mechanisms. This doesn’t mean life has to come to a complete halt but it does mean that expectations should be shifted. By the time someone is discharged from treatment there will be a clear plan of action on how to move forward in sobriety and in other areas of life.

What Happens in Aftercare?

Aftercare is where the rubber meets the road for a person in early sobriety. Through the course of treatment the recovering drug abuser has recognized the nature of his/her problem, become aware of the primary triggers that lead to using, and identified the relationships that have been harmed as the result of continuous drug and alcohol abuse. It takes time to develop a serious drug and alcohol problem and the destruction can be far-reaching. It takes much longer to clean up the mess and move forward. Most people in early recovery need several months (sometimes years) to change what has become a default mode of coping. In aftercare the newly sober individual has a specific plan of action and a lot of emotional support. In Insight the after-care and follow-up part of the program takes place over a two year period. Remember treatment usually lasts around 12 weeks. A person in aftercare continues individual counseling, support group meetings, and social functions while reintegrating into main stream life. The key is that this reintegration is as a sober person. This transition takes time.