16 Medi-Cal substance abuse treatment centers are under investigation
Sixteen drug and alcohol treatment centers that provide rehabilitative services to Medi-Cal patients are suspected of fraud and of hiring providers with felonies on their records, officials from the California Department of Health Care Services …
Read more on Los Angeles Times

California Suspends 16 Medi-Cal Alcohol, Drug Treatment Centers
State officials are temporarily suspending 16 California alcohol and drug treatment centers suspected of violating health care laws — from hiring people who were convicted of abusing patients to bilking Medi-Cal for services they never performed …
Read more on NBC Bay Area

Gateway child care center to help mothers in substance abuse treatment
The Children's Zone is designed to care for children of women who are undergoing substance abuse treatment at Gateway. With the help of the center, mothers can get treatment without losing custody of their children, or without losing daily contact with …
Read more on Florida Times-Union (blog)

Genetics Identify Risk for Addiction And Tailored Treatment Plans for Pain
A larger GARS study also was conducted with 80 participants from two substance abuse treatment centers: the G&G Holistic Addiction Treatment Center, in North Miami Beach, Fla., and Malibu Beach Recovery Center, in Malibu Beach, Calif. In addition to …
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by Fire Monkey Fish

Being an addict leaves an individual in constant turmoil, whether, the addiction is an alcohol addiction, or a drug addiction. There is not one addict that does not want to quit. An addiction has a harmful effect on not only the individual, but the family and friends of the addict, as well. In time, the addiction begins to completely control their lives, and you will find that it can possess a high level of risk to the individual, both emotionally and physically.
There are millions of American’s that are struggling to overcome a drug addiction or alcoholism. There are also millions of American’s that have overcome their addictions. Whether you are an addict, or you know someone that is suffering with addiction, the time to take action is now.
There is a variety of information out there, but, likely one of the best support and therapeutic resources for the addict is a rehab center. Through a rehab center the addict has the specialized care and counsel that they need for their addiction.
What Can I Expect From a Drug Rehab Center?
A drug rehab center is specialized to treat the addict. They are aware of the latest techniques, have the proper equipment, counsel and medical personnel at the facility, as well as, the support the addict needs. There are over 15,000 treatment centers in the United States, with each having their own degree of specialty in treating the addiction.

What Should I Look For in a Drug Rehab Center?

Drug Rehab centers will vary in location. Some may be in the center of the city, while others are in a secluded area. You should look for an addiction center that provides comprehensive addiction treatment. This may be a detox, an outpatient or residential care. Many rehab centers are based on the 12 Step-based addiction treatment programs which are used by Alcoholic Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. The rehab centers should have medically supervised detox, outpatient and residential care, which include counseling to the recovering addict.

The idea of the rehab center is to provide a spiritual, emotional and physical rebirth. The addict can expect to receive:

* Education about addiction
* Group and individual counseling
* Recovery skills training
* Family program
* Sober recreation
* Relapse prevention planning
*Possible lifetime aftercare
* Possibly 12 Step Meetings and Book Study
* Medical Supervision

Personal care is important when overcoming an addiction. The addict wants their life back, but, without the proper care, that may not be possible, as it is an addiction that they are dealing with. Recovery means having tools, programs, and activities to support the addict in the journey of recovery. Management and recovery must be taught and personalized for the individual and the rehab center must be one that the addict whether an alcoholic or a drug addicts is comfortable in the environment.
A rehab center that offers lifetime aftercare which is important as there are times in an addicts life, even once recovered from their addiction, they may fall back and begin to indulge in their addiction again.

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Marijuana's march toward mainstream confounds feds
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The Cabin Chiang Mai Alcohol and Drug Rehab Provides Training on the Latest …
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Addicts Will Always Die
How convenient for rehab centers, when almost ALL ADDICTS USE OR DRINK AGAIN WHEN THEY QUIT. In my opinion, there are 3 states for an alcoholic. Sober, dry or drunk. Dry can be worse than drunk. Sober to me means a happy, free of substance life.
Read more on ChicagoNow (blog)

Alcohol addiction is a progressive disease which can prove fatal without the proper treatment of the core causes. Alcoholism’s symptoms can be quite evident when a person has physical withdrawal symptoms, noticeable cravings, a lack of control when around the substance, becoming physically dependent, and gaining an increased tolerance through frequent usage.

Sometimes will power is not enough to get to the point of recovery from alcohol dependence as there are many personal battles that can become unbearable for the addict. Professional assistance is often necessary to help the addict recover from substance abuse completely and with lasting positive effects.

There are many rehab centers which offer various alcohol addiction treatment programs, including intervention services, detoxification protocols, one on one counseling sessions , therapy, and medication. The initial stages of recovery include alcohol intervention programs during which the core problems of the patient is sought and analyzed. This is followed by the detoxification process which eliminates the most toxic substances from the addict’s body.

Counseling and group therapy are used to help the patient deal with emotional and mental aspects of addiction. Any treatment regiment involves both physical body and psychological side of treatment. The medication stage involves improving the physical health of the patient by prescribing medication.

Alcohol addiction treatment centers employ health and addiction specialists to address the needs of the patient. The rehab center offers in patient programs, individual support, exercise, and clinical facilities for the full care of the individual in order to facilitate a quick recovery.

With so many addiction treatments available, the addict should be able to find one cautiously planned to efficiently improve the person’s health physically and psychologically for a more productive and alcohol-free life.

by ohskylab

Question by Danyel: What type of education would I need to become an RN at a substance abuse detox facility?
I am currently going to school for pre-health with a nursing concentration, until I have the requirements to apply for nursing. I would like to be able to work as an RN in a substance abuse facility. I was wondering if anyone could give me any advise as to how to go about doing this? I do not know if I will need to specialize in a certain area in order to do so or not? If anyone could help me out in regards to what to do education wise I would really appreciate it! Thanks!

Best answer:

Answer by MeMeMe
Hi,

First off, good for you for wanting to work in addiction treatment! I’m an addictions counselor and have been working in mental health (mostly suicide prevention) for 7 years and we certainly need more qualified RNs in the field. So I think you will have an easy time finding work once you’re finished with school.

As for your question… To become an RN, you need to go to nursing school. Although I’m sure you already know this. As for specializing in addiction treatment, I don’t believe there are any additional requirements, but it would be good if you have experience working with addicts or at least a greater knowledge of treating clients with addiction. So I would suggest trying to get an internship of some sort with a treatment center in your area. They may not let you do much while you’re in school, but you will be able to put it on your resume. You can learn a lot from observing how things work in treatment. The other suggestion I have would be to take some extra classes that focus on substance abuse. Drug addicts and alcoholics face a variety of special issues separate from the “normal” population you would be working with in a hospital. Most community colleges and some universities now offer programs where you can learn more about these issues. I don’t know where you live, but you may want to start looking for college programs titled “Addictions Counseling” or “Addictions Studies.” Classes you may want to take would be any type of pharmacology, a bloodborne pathogens/infectious disease class, and even alternative treatments to addiction classes. It could also help to take a few classes for addictions counselors like group therapy, individual therapy, or something similar. These will definitely help you in the future in terms of communicating with your clients.

The most important thing I would think an RN working in addiction should have to be educated about is prescription drugs of abuse. Normally when I do an intake on a client coming into treatment, they have been medically prescribed multiple addictive drugs that only contribute to and exacerbate their disease (addiction). Usually these include opiate painkillers, benzodiazepines, and other sedatives and tranquilizers. I had a client once who was on NINE different benzos which she had been on for years, all prescribed by doctors for things like insomnia, anxiety, and even hypothyroidism. This is so egregious and disgusting to me! They were killing her. She obviously had to be medically detoxed for risk of seizures and death from her meds. And needless to say, after being evaluated by our MD, she didn’t NEED any of the pills.

Anyway, I’m rambling. Just excited to see someone wanting to help in the field of addiction treatment. It is rare these days, it seems. But what a satisfying and rewarding job. Good luck to you!!!

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