What Does Substance Abuse Treatment Portland Look Like?
Hollywood has glamorized it. Celebrities have sensationalized it. Modern music makes light of it. But in reality, substance abuse treatment and rehabilitation is an undertaking not to be treated nonchalantly, or with tongue in cheek. Each year, thousands of Northwesterners check into alcohol and substance abuse treatment facilities to address the behavioral, psychological and physiological issues that trigger an unquenchable desire to drink or consume drugs.
Entering substance abuse treatment in Portland no doubt raises its questions, like:
What does substance abuse treatment in Portland look like?
Can I still get outside and enjoy what Portland has to offer?
Do I have to sit in group therapy all day?
Will people care about me?
Is this just the first of many trips I have to take here?
Will my voice be heard and my demons answered and challenged?
Is substance abuse treatment in Portland innovative or antiquated?
The key thing to remember as you enter rehabilitation and substance abuse treatment is to focus on your desired outcome: to achieve sobriety, to sustain a healthy lifestyle and to remain abstinent from imbibing or consuming any amount of alcohol or illegal substances, even when temptations and pavlovian responses run high.
A key component of achieving your goals is feeling empowered by advocates that genuinely believe in you and are motivated to support your endeavors in the communicative manner to which you best respond. There is no point in entering treatment if your particular learning and sharing styles are not addressed. It’s crucial that your expectations for therapy sessions, enrichment activities and anxieties surrounding rehab are discussed at a high level during intake. This is the point where it’s time for you to be candid. If you are uncomfortable with group therapy, speak up. Prefer therapy in an outdoor setting? Mention it. Are you interested in career skill building, or do you enjoy sports, physical activities or other scenarios involving athleticism? What motivates you?
Is this not the ideal scenario for your individual healing process? Mention your aversion to group therapy to ensure your needs are addressed appropriately, and in the manner you prefer.
Why Individual vs Group?
We’ve all inadvertently viewed television advertisements for drug and alcohol rehabilitation facilities who bill themselves as five-star resorts with onsite spas, massage, beautification treatments, beaches and an endless parade of attractive people, their skin shimmering with the glow of the California sun. These Adonis-like beings gather gracefully around a table, their limbs lithe and nimble as a gazelle’s, and they are laughing and smiling as though someone in the room just cracked a clever joke. They all seem so at ease: the cloying togetherness doesn’t seem to phase them – if anything, they appear to move even closer as their neighbors earnestly share their stories with zealous aplomb. It’s tiring just reading this – and it can be even more frustrating and gut-wrenching in person.
The polar opposite exists: an individual quietly languishing in black-and-white solitary confinement, hugging their knees to their chins in the classic fetal position, anxiously dreading their next one-on-one with their facility-appointed counselor. They feel no rapport, no closeness or advocacy within this sterile, antiseptic program which resembles a padded room. They cry incessantly – when can I go home? They yearn for a relationship, for a feeling of acceptance and trust.
In rehab, you want to be comfortable with the environment in which you impart your story and face dark, interminable thoughts and feelings. Substance abuse treatment in Portland offers programs that cater to the gamut, from introverts to extroverts. At Lifeline Connections, we believe a person will heal with conviction when they are treated in the atmosphere most appropriate to their personality and learning styles. You won’t open up where you aren’t comfortable. Substance abuse treatment is about facing you: the whole you, the beautiful and the bestial.
Webpsych offers a high level delineation of key differences between individual and group therapy, and the different therapeutic factors at work in the two environments.
At Lifeline, we know you will come into your own in rehabilitation, and we want you to be comfortable in our programs. Our comprehensive program offers services in both group and individual settings. We even head outdoors if the natural environment suits you! After all, we live in a beautiful place: why not enjoy it?
