What Is an Addiction Service?
Addiction service is a coordinated system of care that helps people recover from alcoholism, drug abuse and other addictions. It involves an evaluation of a person's needs and a planned course of treatment, which usually includes residential (inpatient) or outpatient services.
The first step in substance use disorder treatment is detoxification, a medical approach that uses drugs or medications to manage acute withdrawal symptoms associated with abstinence from addictive substances. Detoxification is generally not sufficient to change long-term substance abuse patterns and should be followed by a comprehensive program of treatment that addresses all aspects of a person's life.
Individual and group counseling are an important component of most Addiction Services, addressing all areas of a patient's life that may have contributed to or resulted from his or her substance use problem, including medical, mental health, relationship, social and vocational problems. The therapeutic process is designed to help patients develop coping strategies for dealing with the emotional and environmental triggers that led to their substance use disorder, and to learn new coping skills and attitudes that will prevent relapse.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy, relapse prevention and self-help groups are also often part of the comprehensive addiction service. Research supports the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy and its components in reducing the incidence of relapse to alcohol or drug use. Other psychosocial interventions that have shown some effectiveness in relapse prevention include behavioral therapy aimed at improving the patient's understanding of the underlying causes of substance abuse, and family therapy.
Family support and counseling are an essential component of most addiction treatment programs. They help patients establish a more appropriate environment and support system for themselves and their families, assist with medication compliance and attendance, and promote recovery from substance use disorders in family members. Families may also participate in group counseling that focuses on issues of interpersonal communication and the restructuring of poor family relationships.
A number of effective family therapy techniques have been developed to address the needs of families affected by substance abuse disorders, including Multidimensional Family Therapy, which has found positive outcomes in both treatment retention and relapse rates for adults (Landry, 1996; Institute of Medicine, 1990). Preliminary studies of Parenting Interventions suggest that this type of multicomponent intervention may be especially effective for parents of adolescents.
Meridian HealthCare chemical dependence rehabilitation services are designed to meet the specific needs of persons with chronic or recurrent drug dependence. These programs provide intensive clinical evaluation, treatment and rehabilitation services in a medically supervised 24 hour/day, 7 day/week setting. They provide the following basic clinical procedures: education about alcohol and substance abuse disease awareness and relapse prevention; HIV education, risk assessment and supportive counseling and referral; vocational and educational assessment; family therapy; and referral to relevant self-help groups.
These programs see their clients daily initially, and more frequently than general outpatient services because persons with severe chemical dependence require more intensive treatment. They have a higher staff ratio per client and have more services available than general outpatient programs. Check out this post that has expounded on the topic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substance_dependence.