What should you expect during rehab

Drug and alcohol rehabilitation are commonly new processes to many of our clients here at Action Rehab. Ultimately, this is a good thing, as rehab is hopefully a one-stop visit, followed by long-term recovery maintenance and effort.

However, through this unfamiliarity and newness, rehab can also come across as a daunting and overwhelming step, ranking as off-putting for some individuals. It’s completely understandable to see why you may have felt put off of rehab this far. Yet, rehab is a life-changing process which will benefit your recovery, rather than hinder it.

All it takes it to fully familiarise yourself with what’s expected of rehab, what the intentions of rehab are, and a typical day during rehab which you can look towards. Here we work through the topic of what should you expect during rehab, along with an insight into post-rehab intentions to help you warm to and accept such high-quality support.

Realistically, reading our blog may not change your outlook instantly. Yet, by digesting what you can expect from rehab, you’ll soon see the value of drug and alcohol rehabilitation as an offering, which through a single experience can change your life around.

What should you expect during rehab? – Here’s some insight

Rehab all starts from the moment you commit to an admission. It can feel like a long-winded process, yet it is in fact an efficient route to recovery down to the offering of residential rehab.

There are a number of key stages of rehab which help to break up the daily routine and entire programme of rehab, which also move you through recovery milestones associated with addiction recovery.

The alcohol and drug rehabilitation process, no matter which reputable rehab clinic you visit will likely start with an assessment, with the aim to achieve personalisation. While addiction treatment is yet to begin, knowing what to expect during rehab activates at this point, as your personal rehab programme will be formed in house.

For most clients, the active rehab process will begin with the milestone of detoxification, which focuses on physical withdrawal from drugs and alcohol. Safe through a rehab clinic, alcohol and drug detoxification provide healing opportunities for the body.

Moving through to the next milestone, psychological recovery will be aimed for, which is usually achieved through a combined effort of daily therapy and counselling sessions, focusing on restoration and realignment.

Combined together, both forms of recovery provide clients with the expectations of foundational recovery. This is where a life without drugs and alcohol can be an expected result. Yet, to sustain those results, aftercare and relapse prevention must be completed and maintained, easing and normalising post-rehab life.

Knowing what you should expect during rehab is very important, providing motivation, providing awareness, and providing comfort. Yet, it’s also important to remember that experiences, rehab programmes, results and long-term recovery probabilities will all differ for each client. While this is the case, you should however expect to complete the key milestones of rehab, achieving foundational recovery through your visit.

A typical day during rehab

Knowing what to expect during rehab can be tough, down to personalisation. Yet, commonly, a typical day during rehab, for each client will follow a similar flow, post-detox. Here’s a common daily routine in rehab, advancing clients through the rehabilitation process.

Nutrition and intention setting

A typical day during rehab will usually begin with focus on nutrition, on starting the day with positive intentions, and with understanding the structure of the day. As they say, starting as you mean to go on is very important, which is the intention of rehab.

This is the time to form and nurture new habits, new ways of life and healthy routines involving nutrition, mindfulness, balance, early mornings, energising steps and motivation. Getting used to the way of life, through rehab, can help to ease post-rehab changes, making sober living sustainable.

Therapy

After a morning of building positive intentions and supporting detox efforts, a typical day during rehab will usually develop into therapy sessions. Therapy can be reflected in many different ways.

Whether that’s individual and group therapy, to family therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy and exposure therapy, therapy and counselling sessions are in place to heal the mind.

Therapy is used to help the mind restore, to change outlooks on drug and alcohol abuse, to heal old psychological wounds, and to offer a rational standpoint. Together, these aims will strengthen your capabilities to cope through cravings and devalue drugs and alcohol as a part of your life.

Alternative treatment services

Afternoons at rehab will also focus on alternative treatment services, helping to boost physical and mental wellbeing. Exercise sessions, meditation, experiencing some time outside, group sessions, music therapy and stress management are all common treatment services which offer adaptability and flexibility to rehab.

Exact services and activities will depend on your personal needs.

12-Step programmes

Free time is likely through rehab. Yet what should you expect during rehab in the evening focuses on further accountability and reflection. 12-Step programmes are usually recommended to consider progressive steps from the day in rehab, along with looking ahead to further rehab intentions. This is a great way to finish a day in rehab, allowing for clients to forgive, let go, and progress.

What to expect after rehab?

Knowing what to expect during rehab is very important, allowing for you to prepare and climatise to your impending experience of drug and alcohol rehabilitation. However, it’s also important to know what to expect after rehab, from support to ongoing addiction treatment sessions.

Aftercare and relapse prevention

On a post-rehab basis, support through aftercare will be available to you. While completing rehab marks your recovery and your capabilities to remain sober, this is the time to test and maintain your efforts.

The rehabilitation process in fact continues post-rehab, where you must learn to normalise a sustainable lifestyle, without the presence of drugs and alcohol.

Expectations of rehabilitation commonly rank recovery as rapid. While rehab itself is efficient, you must continue to strive for sober living, which will become easier as you learn to reduce and deal with drug and alcohol exposure.

Through aftercare and relapse prevention, which will also be focused on through rehab, you’ll learn how to confidently and independently continue those efforts, turning your expectations of rehab into your reality.

Rehab itself will differ for every client when considering daily and weekly experiences. This will also be the case on a post-rehab basis. Yet knowing what you should expect during rehab, on an average basis will help you in many ways.

To gauge further insight into rehab, helping to strengthen your expectations, contact our team at Action Rehab. We’re here to ease your process and help your expectations of rehab transform into recovery capabilities.

Posted on Friday, February 12th, 2021 at 11:02 am in Rehab.