“How long is the treatment for alcohol addiction?”
My friend has an alcohol addiction and wants to treat it. How long is the treatment for alcohol addiction?
8 Answers
It depends on each case. It. can involve multiple components and longterm treatment -- these these may all be required and may not be needed long term. They include in-patient treatment or outpatient treatment for discontinuation, outpatient treatment for recovery, and medicines for each portion.
The treatment for alcohol addiction can vary depending on the person, the severity of their addiction, and the type of treatment they choose. Here's a general breakdown:
Detoxification (Detox): The first step is often detox, which can last anywhere from a few days to a week. This process helps the body rid itself of alcohol and manage withdrawal symptoms in a safe setting, usually under medical supervision.
Inpatient or Outpatient Rehabilitation: After detox, treatment typically involves a rehabilitation program. Inpatient rehab can last from 30 to 90 days, where individuals receive structured therapy and support in a residential setting. Outpatient rehab may last longer, from 3 to 12 months, allowing the person to live at home while attending therapy and support groups.
Therapy and Counseling: Long-term treatment often includes counseling, such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or Motivational Interviewing (MI), which helps individuals identify triggers, manage cravings, and develop healthier coping mechanisms. Therapy can continue for several months to a year or more, depending on individual progress.
Support Groups and Aftercare: After formal treatment, many people benefit from ongoing support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). These groups provide continuous support, which can be important for long-term recovery. Ongoing aftercare and check-ins with a therapist might last months or even years, as addiction is often a chronic condition that requires long-term management.
Treatment length depends on personal progress, and the process doesn't have a set end date. Your friend needs to work with a treatment provider to find the best approach for their situation, as recovery is a long-term commitment. Let me know if you are interested in sober living/ detox facility referrals!
Detoxification (Detox): The first step is often detox, which can last anywhere from a few days to a week. This process helps the body rid itself of alcohol and manage withdrawal symptoms in a safe setting, usually under medical supervision.
Inpatient or Outpatient Rehabilitation: After detox, treatment typically involves a rehabilitation program. Inpatient rehab can last from 30 to 90 days, where individuals receive structured therapy and support in a residential setting. Outpatient rehab may last longer, from 3 to 12 months, allowing the person to live at home while attending therapy and support groups.
Therapy and Counseling: Long-term treatment often includes counseling, such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or Motivational Interviewing (MI), which helps individuals identify triggers, manage cravings, and develop healthier coping mechanisms. Therapy can continue for several months to a year or more, depending on individual progress.
Support Groups and Aftercare: After formal treatment, many people benefit from ongoing support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). These groups provide continuous support, which can be important for long-term recovery. Ongoing aftercare and check-ins with a therapist might last months or even years, as addiction is often a chronic condition that requires long-term management.
Treatment length depends on personal progress, and the process doesn't have a set end date. Your friend needs to work with a treatment provider to find the best approach for their situation, as recovery is a long-term commitment. Let me know if you are interested in sober living/ detox facility referrals!
Dr. Laurie Cestnick
Psychologist
Floating (offices around the states of CT and MA)), Connecticut and Masschusetts (144 North Road Suite 1225, Sudbury, MA)
Hmmm ...well, I would say "life long" in the sense that it is getting accustomed to a new way of "being" that is healthier to stand the tests of time. Relapse is normal, don't beat yourself up over it (or the person shouldn't) so long as the curve is going upward after relapses you are making progress that should be celebrated. 30 day inpatient programs are not known to work well, 4 month ones work better and statistics show the longer one goes without drinking the better off their long term outcomes are, e.g. no drinking for 5 years seldomly leads to relapsing. Many people with alcoholism have AVOIDANT tendencies which is why they are trying to "drink their problems away." As soon as one realizes that avoidance is harder and hurts more than facing problems, one is on the road to recovery.
Detox is roughly 7 days under hospitalization at an inpatient treatment facility either hospital or community addiction treatment center. Then there are options for treatment like partial hospitalization (PHP), and Intensive outpatient (IOP). It differs if you are just trying to have them sober and detoxed which has a high relapse or in recovery which is lifelong treatment between therapy and individual self help groups that give the best result for long term recovery!
First of all, thank you for taking the time to contact me and post your question. Alcohol use or abuse is not my area of expertise, but I can tell you that to treat addictions, especially those that involve drugs or have a long time going on, would need the help of a multidisciplinary team to assess and provide the support your friend might need. In that same order of ideas, an exercise I can suggest you, is asking yourself what it is that your friend accomplishes with drinking (minimize emotions, reduce thoughts, avoid something, feel empowered), this can help you to open to your friend the idea of seeking for professional help. From what I know, most addictions are related to an emotional situation (stress, trauma, anxiety, among others), but also when the brain gets used to receiving the drug dose, it will ask for it. In this type of cases, time is relative.
First of all, I applaud you for helping your friend. Having a trusted friend through treatment serves as a lifeline. If I may say so, I will be praying for you and your friend in this journey.
The length of time can vary. The questions to ask at some point are these to determine the length of time:
1. Are you referencing functional alcoholism or something greater?
2. In reference to "treatment," are you referencing short-term in patient, out patient, support group, long-term hospitalization, and/or something else?
Other questions can be asked as well.
Most states now require that patients not be denied faith-based treatment options. Faith-based recovery programs such as "Celebrate Recovery" https://celebraterecovery.com/ offer devotionals, mentors, and support groups. They received excellent recommendations, yet most completed "Celebrate Recovery," and programs such as these, in combination with one of the other treatment options listed in #2. Programs such as these usually have local referrals, too. Other programs such as "Alcoholics Anonymous" https://www.aa.org/ are similar and provide support groups as well as referrals to those that want faith-based options, too.
Some have sponsors that help. If law enforcement got involved, at times officers, chaplains, and other mentors are available if the recommendation came through a court-order or other community-based response to enforce the law and protect the public. Again, the length of time can vary. I have mostly seen six months as the starting point.
Most in-patient treatment plan providers offer treatment in 30-day increments. Actually stopping the habit of drinking can vary from days to years, depending upon which treatment option your friend needs.
Ongoing maintenance and prevention?.... very different for complete recovery. Patients often require ongoing maintenance and prevention daily even after complete recovery to avoid relapse and the struggle to return. Those I know that recovered made it a life-long commitment and are living life abundantly in a new frame of mind.
I encourage you as the friend to encourage friends and family to get support as well as training.
If the addiction resulted in self-injurious behavior that became a physical health crisis, encourage your friend to confide in a doctor. Recovery, healing, and tending to physical health needs are separate matters, yet physical health ramifications are evaluated in the treatment process.
If your friend is in danger of hurting self or someone else, please call 911 - Emergency, or call/text the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-8255.
The length of time can vary. The questions to ask at some point are these to determine the length of time:
1. Are you referencing functional alcoholism or something greater?
2. In reference to "treatment," are you referencing short-term in patient, out patient, support group, long-term hospitalization, and/or something else?
Other questions can be asked as well.
Most states now require that patients not be denied faith-based treatment options. Faith-based recovery programs such as "Celebrate Recovery" https://celebraterecovery.com/ offer devotionals, mentors, and support groups. They received excellent recommendations, yet most completed "Celebrate Recovery," and programs such as these, in combination with one of the other treatment options listed in #2. Programs such as these usually have local referrals, too. Other programs such as "Alcoholics Anonymous" https://www.aa.org/ are similar and provide support groups as well as referrals to those that want faith-based options, too.
Some have sponsors that help. If law enforcement got involved, at times officers, chaplains, and other mentors are available if the recommendation came through a court-order or other community-based response to enforce the law and protect the public. Again, the length of time can vary. I have mostly seen six months as the starting point.
Most in-patient treatment plan providers offer treatment in 30-day increments. Actually stopping the habit of drinking can vary from days to years, depending upon which treatment option your friend needs.
Ongoing maintenance and prevention?.... very different for complete recovery. Patients often require ongoing maintenance and prevention daily even after complete recovery to avoid relapse and the struggle to return. Those I know that recovered made it a life-long commitment and are living life abundantly in a new frame of mind.
I encourage you as the friend to encourage friends and family to get support as well as training.
If the addiction resulted in self-injurious behavior that became a physical health crisis, encourage your friend to confide in a doctor. Recovery, healing, and tending to physical health needs are separate matters, yet physical health ramifications are evaluated in the treatment process.
If your friend is in danger of hurting self or someone else, please call 911 - Emergency, or call/text the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-8255.
It is difficult to answer this for the following reasons: 1) A person might need a medical assessment to go through a medically supervised detox program, depending on how much alcohol they consume; 2) If detox is not medically necessary, there would be an inpatient option, an IOP (Intensive Outpatient Program), or 3) regularly scheduled outpatient therapy. Overall, after the first two options are considered, the outpatient therapy would address the person's substance abuse history and if there are any other relevant psychiatric diagnoses. Most treatment plans use Cognitive-Behavior Therapy (CBT) to help understand how our thought processes, emotions and relationships affect the urges to consume alcohol. A minimum of 3-6 months is usually necessary for a person to maintain sobriety, along with community supports like regularly attending AA meetings.
Can be managed with therapy and/or medication
