There are several advantages to inpatient rehabilitation centers over other forms of addiction treatment.  Let’s take a quick look at the alternatives before we take a closer look at inpatient rehab:

1) Counseling or individual therapy – this would be when an addict or alcoholic meets with a counselor or therapist like once or twice a week and talks about their problems and their progress in recovery.  The therapist can help guide the addict in recovery and make suggestions to help encourage the addict to take positive action.

2) Group therapy – a bunch of addicts might get together to discuss their addiction problems and their attempt at a solution.

3) AA or NA – twelve step meetings like those of Alcoholics Anonymous are a form of group therapy but are a bit more specialized and specific.  These programs might also include other forms of therapy, such as sponsorship and various AA functions such as retreats, dances, or get togethers.

4) Medication – some people rely heavily on medication to overcome addiction, such as opiate addicts who take methadone or even an alcoholic who takes Campral to reduce cravings.

5) Self made path – many addicts and alcoholics find their own path in recovery, or simply rely on self discipline.

6) Outpatient rehab – very similar to inpatient but the clients return home each night.  Might include all the groups and meetings as traditional inpatient rehab, just no overnight stay required.

So those are most of the alternative strategies for getting clean and sober, and all of them have the potential to help someone.  But an inpatient rehabilitation center does offer some advantages over all of them, including:

1) More protected and controlled environment – in rehab, the clients are in a very well controlled space, where people are searched for drugs and alcohol before they come in.  This offers a huge advantage over other forms of treatment, because a huge part of the battle in early recovery is simply about self control.  If the drug is not available then people will not relapse as easily.

2) More flexible options – inpatient rehab  can draw from many possible recovery techniques.  For example, most inpatient programs will expose clients to a number of different therapies, including counseling, 12 step meetings, group therapy, and peer support groups.  Most other options do not offer this level of variety and flexibility.  They are not as powerful because their options are more limited.

Most people who are looking to get clean and sober for the first time should probably consider going to inpatient rehab.  This offers the best chance for success in most cases.