15 Essential Strategies to Overcoming Heroin Addiction in Free Drug Rehab
Free drug rehab can help you overcome heroin addiction and gain back control of your life. Here are 15 strategies your program will likely utilize. Call 800-934-7205 (Who Answers?) now to find out more about free rehab and to be matched with programs that suit your needs.
1. Cognitive-behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT is used in almost every rehab program for every type of substance abuse. The therapeutic program helps teach patients how to avoid relapse by “anticipating likely problems” and “develop[ing] effective coping strategies” (National Institute on Drug Abuse).
2. A Strong Social Support Network
Having the support of friends, family members, and other loved ones can strengthen one’s recovery and give an individual a stronger motivation to overcome heroin abuse and addiction. However, if you do not have a strong social support network at home, your doctors, nurses, therapists, and the other patients in your treatment program can become your support.
3. Medical Services
According to the Center for Substance Abuse Research, heroin can cause a number of severe medical issues, including abscesses, liver disease, collapsed veins, infection of the heart lining, etc. Many free rehab programs offer medical services, either at the facility or through referrals to a hospital or free clinic.
4. HIV Prevention and Education
Because heroin is an intravenous drug, many people contract HIV while using it. When free rehab centers provide patients with HIV prevention and education services, patients are often less likely to contract HIV and other dangerous diseases, and their use of heroin also diminishes.
5. Medically-assisted Withdrawal
Detox, or medically assisted withdrawal, can be provided in whatever form works best for the patient. This can include the slow tapering of medications or maintenance, but one’s withdrawal from heroin must be treated during early recovery.
6. Drug Testing
Patients are often drug tested as a part of free rehab treatment, and in many cases, given rewards or vouchers when they provide negative drug tests. This is called contingency management and is a form of behavioral therapy (NIDA).
7. Financial Counseling
Whether at the facility or through a referral to a community agency, most patients receive the chance to attend financial counseling. This can help patients learn to budget more effectively and utilize their money on more important needs than drugs.
8. Family Therapy
Often, family members practice enabling behavior that encourages substance abuse. Family therapy can help to shed light on and minimize this issue. It can also help heal the divide between those with substance use disorders and their loved ones.
9. Support Group Meetings
Groups like Narcotics Anonymous and SMART Recovery often meet in free rehab facilities, allowing patients to attend meetings while in treatment. This can help strengthen an individual’s social support network and give them another layer of care.
10. Residential Treatment
Most heroin addicts need intensive treatment in a controlled environment, especially when they have just begun their recoveries. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, free rehab centers are actually more likely to provide nonhospital-based residential care than non-free facilities.
11. Group Therapy
Group therapy helps patients immensely in allowing them to relate to others who have gone through the same issues they have and to see their situation through the eyes of another person.
12. Rebuilding Self-esteem
Addiction can strip a person of their self-worth, but treatment can help return it. Free rehab centers focus much of their therapy on helping patients rebuild self-esteem and confidence, which helps minimize the chance of relapse.
13. Effective Treatment Length
According to the NIDA, staying in treatment long enough is critical to recovery. Free rehab centers utilize strategies like positive doctor-patient relationships to help patients feel comfortable in treatment, which helps them stay in the program longer.
14. Booster Sessions
Booster sessions are commonly used by free rehab centers to let patients return to their treatment facility periodically after their care has ended. This can help prevent relapse and ensure that patients are building a personalized program for recovery.
15. Treating Co-occurring Disorders
Depression, anxiety disorders, and any other co-occurring mental illnesses are screened for during rehab and, if found, must be treated as part of recovery. This is necessary to helping patients truly overcome their addictions and the factors that could lead to relapse.
Want to Find Free Rehab Centers?
Call 800-934-7205 (Who Answers?) now. We will match you with a free rehab program that can cater to your needs and help you begin your journey of recovery.