Drug Addiction Treatment - Outpatient Programs
The day treatment approach to drug and alcohol recovery has the advantage of maintaining the teenager in the home community while at the same time insulating him or her from it for most of the day. Well structured programs will contain accredited school sessions with licensed teachers especially trained in drug and alcohol problems. Other day treatment programs will place teens in local schools for part of the day and coordinate with those schools in supervisory matters.
It is generally more effective to have "in house" educational programming.
These programs include several days per week at a licensed facility with participation in various activities including therapy or counseling groups composed of drug addicts and alcoholics.
The groups are supervised by professional personnel and often staffed by substance abusers in recovery. These groups really constitute the major therapeutic avenues for day treatment programs.
There are lectures and discussions about the effects of drugs and alcohol on educational and social functioning, family meetings and planning conferences for discharge. These programs are conducted according to formal schedules which maintain an atmosphere of structure and consistency that in itself helps the teenager settle into a regular routine. The typical program day will begin in the early morning with a "community meeting" involving patients and staff and end in the late afternoon often with another brief meeting to review the work and accomplishments of the day.
Efficient communication among staff members is achieved through regular meetings at which the patient's status is discussed and adjustments made in individual treatment plans. Most importantly for teenagers, these programs contain approved high school courses in which attendance is required thus keeping the youngster in compliance with state education requirements. Frequently day treatment programs will contain a strong social worker component in order to assist teenagers who may have run afoul of the law in connection with their substance abuse behavior. The social worker will play a vital role on the coordinated multidisciplinary treatment team and serve as a linkage between the teenager and his or her network of family, school and post discharge treatment resources.
Other professionals found in the day treatment facility will include nurses, psychiatrists, psychologists, teachers, and music and dance therapists.
Well funded programs may contain athletic activities, arts and crafts to stimulate creativity as well as home visits by staff members to work with the family of the teenager. If necessary, medication monitoring will be provided. These programs will often be physically situated in a hospital but may be free standing.
Day treatment programs are usually located in the teenager's home community as he or she will return to the home for the night
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