Drug Treatment Programs
Although there are many different drug treatment programs, most traditionally fall into one of two categories– 12-step drug treatment programs and non 12-step drug treatment programs. Each of these types of drug treatment programs has it’s advantages and benefits. For example, 12-step drug treatment programs are usually spiritual or faith based and follow a set 12 steps. The 12-steps have been adapted from the original twelve steps that were first set forth by Alcoholics Anonymous, and now include variations for a number of 12-step programs including Narcotics Anonymous, Cocaine Anonymous and many other treatment programs.
12-Step Drug Treatment Programs
12-step drug treatment programs use the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous or a variation of these 12-steps:
- We admitted we were powerless over alcohol (or drugs)–that our lives had become unmanageable
- Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity
- Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him
- Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves
- Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs
- Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character
- Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings
- Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all
- Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others
- Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it
- Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out
- Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs
These programs focus on the fellowship of addiction treatment and although wording of some of the steps is changed from program to program they all have very similar foundations and goals.
Non 12-Step Drug Treatment Programs
Non 12-step drug treatment programs do not utilize a series of steps for the treatment of addiction. These drug treatment programs are often considered non traditional treatment or alternative treatment programs but they can be very beneficial to those who are not spiritually guided or who do not believe in the faith based approach that is taken in 12-step drug treatment programs.
Non 12-step drug treatment programs do not consider the addict to be powerless over their own actions or addiction. These programs require the addict to take responsibility for their addiction and for their own recovery. Some of the most common non 12-step programs include Rational Recovery, SMART Recovery and Women for Sobriety.
Non 12-step treatment programs also differ from 12-step treatment programs in that they place recovery on a timeline which has a finite beginning and end. In other words, unlike Alcoholics Anonymous or other 12-step programs where the addict defines themselves always as a recovering addict, non 12-step programs allow an addict to define themselves as recovering for a set time and then ultimately no longer be defined as an “addict.”