How Long Should I Stay in Treatment?

For many people, planning out a treatment roadmap brings up a lot of questions. One of the most common being “how long will I be in treatment?” We understand you have a life to return to, however, studies have shown that a longer stay leads to increased success in long-term addiction recovery. Our experts at the New England Recovery Center are here to help you build the foundation you need to return to your life healthy and happy within an appropriate amount of time.

How long do I have to stay?

You should plan to stay for at least two weeks, but we always encourage people to stay longer. Depending on the funding source, we have clients who stay as long as six months. According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, people who leave treatment early are 40 to 60 times more likely to relapse. And the rate of overdose is higher for these individuals, since their drug tolerance levels aren’t what they were before detox.

That said, everybody’s journey will be different, which is why we evaluate you as an individual with unique needs and circumstances. This way, we can tailor your addiction treatment plan to fit your needs and optimize it for the greatest chance of success.

Why?

There are a few reasons.

Repairing the Body and Mind

If you’re just finishing detox, you’ve been here between five to seven days already. While that may seem long, detox can be very uncomfortable, and many people suffer from Post-Acute Withdrawal Symptoms (PAWS), which can last for quite some time. While the drugs and alcohol are out of your system, it’s likely that your mind is still quite foggy, and your body is not yet at 100 percent.

Building Resiliency

The main reason for a longer length of stay is that it allows us to help you develop the skills and tools needed to re-enter the world fresh and ready to face life’s challenges head on. The skills we teach include coping with difficult situations, finding a job, rebuilding relationships and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. We hold classes on resume writing, job interviews, family and relationships, and more.

Tackling the Underlying Issue

During your stay at the New England Recovery Center, counselors and clinicians will help you identify the underlying reasons for your addiction. Through daily counseling sessions, we’ll uncover the behaviors and triggers at the root of your struggles and teach you to properly deal with them without drugs or alcohol through comprehensive mental health treatment.

Returning Structure to Your Life

Addiction creates a chaotic lifestyle, without consistent sleep schedules, meals, responsibilities and structured activities. We’ll get your mind and body back into the flow of a routine with daily classes and counseling sessions, group activities such as fitness, music therapy, educational courses and more. This will help you get re-acquainted with following a schedule, an essential skill outside of treatment.

Building New Bonds

Residential care creates a strong sense of purpose and comradery between clients. You share your experiences with each other, trading stories and life lessons. That support will last a lifetime, and provide you with stable, healthy friendships.

Simply put, we cannot achieve all of this in just a few days. We want you to leave treatment in the best possible position to live a healthy lifestyle.

Making Amends

Addiction more often than not shatters relationships with the people closest to us. When you’re newly in recovery, you begin to see your mistakes clearly and it is hard to fight the urge to make it right immediately. But rushing can do more harm than good.

Loved ones usually aren’t ready to see you yet, and you may feel hurt upon rejection. That can trigger a relapse. Here at the New England Recovery Center, we have a full team of family engagement specialists that will work with you and your support system to repair relationships, rebuild mutual trust and prepare the entire unit for life after treatment.

How?

We understand that you have responsibilities and taking substantial time away from your children or job seems insurmountable. But allowing those fears to hold you back will only hurt you, your family and your employer more in the long run.

Take John for example. He had been in and out of treatment for years, but he continued to relapse with alcohol. He had a job, a wife, a child, and his usual responsibilities that deterred him from staying in residential treatment long enough to make a difference. John never wanted to stay for more than a week, which is barely enough time for him to complete detoxification. One day, with the help of our employees, we were able to file a Family and Medical Leave Act application, which granted him time away from his career without the fear of losing it. John was able to stay for an extended period of time, build a solid recovery plan and re-integrate back into his life the proper way. His family worked with him the entire time, learning skills of their own for helping him in his recovery long-term. His job and his family were all patiently waiting for him to return.

Then what?

Following your stay in residential treatment, we may recommend outpatient care, which involves weekly counseling sessions and educational courses, and oftentimes medication assisted treatment. Outpatient treatment is flexible and allows our clients to hold stable jobs, care for their families and focus on treatment at a pace that works for them.

We look forward to helping you build a strong foundation for achieving long-term recovery during your stay here at the New England Recovery Center.