ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL
How to Find the Right Rehab
What Every Family Should Know Before Sending Their Loved-One to Rehab
By Walter Wolf
First of a series of articles showing families what they need to know when a loved one needs addiction and/or mental disorder treatment.
If you’re a parent, nothing stirs your fear and emotions more than when a loved-one is controlled by drugs or alcohol. How do I know this? Because 12 years ago we got that 3 A.M. call, the call that our child was in crisis due to addiction — an addiction my wife and I had no idea existed.
If you’re anything like me at that time, you’re totally lost. You’re asking yourself, what the hell do I know about addiction, about rehab? Who can tell me what I need to know — right now?
Although I didn’t know anything about addiction, I knew who did. One of my closest friends had been in recovery for 26 years and worked with the most reputable and ethical professionals in the treatment world. All he had to do was make one phone call and within 24 hours, my loved one was in detox at one of the finest rehabs on the planet.
At the beginning of my family’s crisis, I stood at the foot of the Mount Everest of learning curves — and that’s still with an expert teaching me what to do. I was lucky, but I couldn’t help but think about those who aren’t as lucky, those without trusted connections into the treatment world. What do they do? How do they know who to call and who to trust? How do they know which rehab actually delivers what it promises without ripping off their hard-earned money? But most of all, how do they treat their loved one?
That middle-of-the-night phone call did more than change my family. It made me who I am today — an interventionist working with families across the nation in finding the right treatment options when addiction and/or mental disorder hits them.
Addiction attacks families at every socioeconomic level — from Park Avenue to Skid Row. Its victims are parents, mothers, fathers, children, brothers, sisters, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, their friends — and yourself.
It doesn’t matter if one is male or female, employed or unemployed, young, or old, any race or religion — everyone is fair game. Many don’t appear to have addiction issues at all. In fact, many of those who are dependent on drugs or alcohol are “functional.” They have jobs and live with their families, but the disease will worsen over time. Seventy-five percent of those with SUD are actively employed — 55 percent of them full-time.¹
The call for help, no matter who it’s from, is the precise time when families are the most vulnerable, desperate to find the right treatment solution. If you are successful in getting your loved one into treatment, there not only will be dark days but also days of hope and progress. During your journey, you’ll most likely learn seven key lessons:
First, with more than 16,000 treatment programs across our nation, how could the uninitiated possibly know which is the right one for their family member or oneself? That’s why I and other interventionists have received countless calls from families for help. Drug and alcohol treatment is a $42 billion per year² unregulated industry frequently beset by unscrupulous owners of testing, online marketing, and treatment centers. Families must be prepared to avoid the grifters who want to separate them from their money and only add to the family’s misery.
Second, addiction is a family disease. Here’s an ugly truth interventionists see quite often: you see the family, you see the disease. Although one person is addicted, it affects the entire family and vice-versa. Most treatment specialists say that addiction is a combination of genetics AND environment. You can’t do anything about one’s genetics, but you can exert control over one’s environment.
Don’t expect your family member to go away for treatment, return home “fixed” and all is done. When specialists say addiction is a “family disease,” that means the family plays a role in the disease and needs to go into treatment as well. That entails taking part in therapy sessions with the family member and therapist via teleconference at least once per week. Additional sessions with a local therapist is even better. The point is, you can’t expect the afflicted family member to come back to the exact same environment he or she left and expect long term recovery. That’s not happening unless the family changes their behavior as well.
Third, addiction is a chronic brain disease causing the inability to control the impulse to use a substance or stop repeating a process despite devastating consequences. It is not the result of a moral failing, bad character, or lack of will, though some unenlightened people still believe that. It is a chronic disease that alters a person’s brain structure and function; it cannot be stopped by the simple “Just say no” or “Buck-up, will ya!”
Fourth, a mental disorder more often than not accompanies addiction. The question is which one is driving the other. I am not a psychologist, therapist, or drug treatment counselor with acronyms after my name, but I know enough to know that all diagnoses and treatment must emanate from licensed, certified, experienced, and caring professionals. Period.
Past Year Substance Use Disorder (SUD) and Any Mental Illness (AMI): Among Adults Aged 18 or Older; 2020
Fifth, I learned from those in recovery that the resources don’t get the victim sober. They are only the tools in helping the individual get sober. Treatment ranges from a Malibu rehab for $240,000 to one that’s free in a church basement. The more resources you have, the more options you have. Conversely, the fewer the resources, the fewer the options. But do more resources alone guarantee recovery? Absolutely not. Whether it’s at a recovery version of Club Med or a puke-green basement, recovery is ultimately up to the individual no matter where it occurs.
Sixth, in my experience, relapse is frequently part of the journey — especially for twenty-somethings — not the failure of treatment. I’ve seen families lament, “Well, there goes that money down the drain . . . what good did that rehab do when she goes back to using drugs?” It’s a hard and expensive lesson, but one to learn, nonetheless.
According to the Surgeon General, more than 60 percent of those treated for SUD relapse within the first year of discharge from treatment — similar to relapse rates of other chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and asthma. That’s when it’s time to reinstate treatment, but with adjustments or even a completely different approach.
Nonetheless, even after a year or two of remission achieved through treatment, it can take three to five more years before the risk of relapse drops below 15 percent, the level of risk that people in the general population have of developing an SUD in their lifetime.
Seventh, there is no such thing as “the best rehab.” It doesn’t exist. What does exist is the right rehab for a particular individual. Lists of the “100 best rehabs” is a marketing and advertising ploy. Don’t fall for it. The “best” rehab is the right rehab that best matches an individual’s diagnosis; substance use patterns; related medical, mental, and social issues; and resources — just to mention a few crucial factors. When it comes to treatment facilities, one size does not fit all.
If you’re reading this because your loved one is needing addiction and/or mental disorder treatment, he or she is one of the 74 million Americans suffering from substance use disorder, mental illness or both. That’s 29% of adults 18 years-old or over. Another way to look at it? That’s the population of California, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Colorado and Arizona. Nearly one-third of our nation’s families are impacted by addiction. Any wonder it’s nearly impossible to speak with someone who’s not dealing with addiction in their family or at least knows of a family who is?
Next: Diagnosis > The Key to Finding the Right Rehab
Walter Wolf is the pen name of a 30-year veteran of the movie and television industry who produced studio and independent films and television throughout the United States, Australia, and South Africa. That all changed in 2010 with one 3 A.M. call that a family member was in crisis due to addiction. Today, he is an interventionist who matches adults and adolescents with the optimum treatment program and facility for their particular diagnosis, demographics, financial and personal needs. In order to demystify and explain in layman terms what treatment is and how to get it, Wolf wrote The Right Rehab which became the only step-by-step guide for vulnerable families navigating the confusing world of addiction and mental disorder treatment, health insurance and recovery.
To know more about interventions and finding the right treatment for you or a loved one, read The Right Rehab or go to www.therightrehab.com or call Walter Wolf at 1–310–210–4334.
Footnotes
¹“Drugs at Work,” National Safety Council, accessed January 2021, nsc.org/work-safety/safety-topics/drugs-at-work.
²John LaRosa, “$42 Billion U.S. Addiction Rehab Industry Poised for Growth, and Challenges,” Market Research.com, February 5, 2020, accessed March 1, 2020, https://blog.marketresearch.com/42-billion-u.s.-addiction-rehab-industry-poised-for-growth-and-challenges.
³U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of the Surgeon General, Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health. Washington, DC: HHS, November 2016.
addiction.surgeongeneral.gov/
⁴SAMHSA. (2021). Key substance use and mental health indicators in the United States: Results from the 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health Statistics and Quality. samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/reports/rpt35325/NSDUHFFRPDFWHTMLFiles2020/2020NSDUHFFR1PDFW102121.pdf
⁵Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse (2020). Art: ©The Right Rehab, LLC.
⁶MapChart. mapchart.net/usa.html
