choice house blog
What Should I Expect from Sober Living Homes?
As the final weeks of your inpatient addiction treatment program begin to wind down, preparation and planning for the next transitional phase of your recovery — re-entering society — will need to ramp up. Logistical decisions like where you are going to live after being discharged from rehab are of vital importance to maintaining long-term…
Defining Trauma and Its Relationship to Substance Misuse
More often than not, diagnosed cases of substance misuse and addictive disorders are accompanied by co-occurring mental health disorders. According to a report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAHMSA), an early 1990s study showed that 50 to 75 percent of addiction recovery patients had been diagnosed with some form of a…
What Are the Alternative Pathways to Recovery Aside from AA?
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) has become the de facto treatment program for addiction recovery in America. The nonprofit, volunteer organization’s peer-based meeting groups and 12-step program are universally accepted in the addiction recovery community as effective methods for achieving initial sobriety as well as maintaining long term abstinence from substance abuse. There are no hard statistics…
Socializing Without Substance Misuse
Mixing socialization with the imbibing of some form of mind-altering substances is a common practice among Americans to help alleviate social anxiety and supposedly elevate the overall mood and public discourse of a social interaction. A variety of illicit drugs are also utilized for a similar purpose, but alcohol is the most popular and legal…
How Do I Tell the Difference Between Support and Enabling?
When a loved one – be it a significant other, a family member, or even just a friend – is in trouble, the natural reaction is to lend a helping hand and provide some form of assistance. At the very least, the desire to help generally persists even when given no opportunity to tangibly provide…
Let’s Talk About Addiction Recovery… or Maybe Not — Talking to Employers About Addiction Recovery Treatment
Individuals with addictive behavioral disorders who are still actively misusing illicit substances often spend a large amount of time and effort deceiving others, as well as themselves. Lies about finding ways to obtain illicit substances or hiding their substance misuse from employers or loved ones can consume a large portion of their daily routines. Although…
Chicken or the Egg: Addiction and Co-Occurring Disorders
Modern-day addiction recovery treatments have evolved to include a focus not just on addictive disorders, but on mental health and wellness issues, as well. The practice has become so prevalent that readers will find references of dual diagnosis and co-occurring mental health disorders from even the most cursory of Google searches for addiction recovery treatment…
What To Do if a Significant Other Is Still Using?
The decision to seek treatment for a substance abuse disorder is a solitary choice that ultimately has to be made for your own benefit. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you will be alone in your decision to seek out treatment. From first acknowledging your need for treatment to finally asking for assistance with your addiction…
Why 90 Days Instead of 30 or 60?
When researching treatment programs for addiction recovery, there are several constants you should be aware of and come to expect from each rehab facility. These constants include a dual-diagnosis approach to treating addictive and co-occurring mental health disorders, on-staff licensed practitioners in counseling and psychiatry, and the utilization of a variety of therapeutic modalities to…