“When I got my DWI I was so angry. I was mad at myself and mad at the world. You helped me get beyond that. Life isn't fun if you're mad all the time.”
- WM, Golden Valley
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ASSESSMENTS NEED TO BE PROMPT AND TREATMENT SCHEDULES NEED TO WORK FOR PEOPLE
by Orrin Tietz
Addiction treatment needs to be accessible. This is so obvious and has been repeated so often that it has become a cliché. Sometimes a cliché is worth thinking about again.
At Club Recovery we believe outpatient treatment is the best option for most clients, not only because it is more affordable, but also because it works well for most people. Outpatient treatment is not isolated from people’s lives; it’s a part of their lives. People continue to do what they need to do from day to day in their families, relationships, and jobs. They continue to pay the bills, make meals, wash the dishes, take the kids to ball games, and mow the lawn. They come to treatment to deal with their addiction in the middle of all the ordinary and extraordinary things they do.
At least two points of accessibility are important to make this process work.
Assessments need to be prompt, because an assessment is the door to treatment for those who need it. At Club Recovery our goal is to schedule an assessment as soon as the client is ready, often within 24 hours of a request. When a person has made the decision to have an assessment or to start treatment, he or she should be able to get it done as soon as possible.
A clarification of terminology may be in order here. The words alcohol assessment or drug assessment mean the same as alcohol evaluation or drug evaluation. The assessment/evaluation is a process to determine whether or not someone is alcohol dependent or drug dependent. If someone is to enter treatment, it is also the first step of the treatment process.
The other point of accessibility is that schedules for alcohol abuse treatment or drug abuse treatment should not make life more difficult for people. The addicted client usually has a number of difficulties to deal with already ranging from strained relationships with family members to problems with the law. Giving up work hours to come to treatment usually is not an option, because the addiction has brought on financial problems.
Club Recovery’s goal is to offer treatment options, so the client can choose a schedule that works best for the client.
Some people come to treatment because they know they need to change. Others come because it’s required by the law. When someone breaks the law, such as DWI, there must be consequences. Why make scheduling treatment easier for such a client? Isn’t it the client’s obligation to fulfill the requirements of the law no matter how difficult? The answer is that treatment itself should not be punitive even when it is ordered as a consequence of a criminal act. Treatment as a punitive program usually does not work. The object of treatment is healing, so the person can manage his or her addiction, make life better, and avoid further legal problems.
The service we provide in a treatment program is often life altering, sometimes life saving. We believe in what we do. It behooves us to make it as available as possible.