With the number of families wanting to put their loved ones for addiction treatment increasing, one also sees a large number of the residential treatment program in California. Among all the treatment programs found here, the residential treatment program is one of the longest and the most severe programs. Here the patient is taken away from his natural surroundings so that the patient may be able to alienate himself from the places and things that may have an effect to trigger the patient's addiction. This type of option is mainly an option for the patients who have been addicted since a long time and have reached a very serious stage in their addiction. Let us study in brief the residential treatment program in California.

What are the main components of the residential treatment program in California?

The first step for the residential treatment is to make the patient completely agree for a treatment. If there are even slight traces of denial, the process although will work for them for some time, but they will find it difficult to control the urges that will keep coming after the treatment is over. Hence intervention is very important for them. Most of the treatment centers have intervention as a part of their residential treatment. Some families also take outside help of an intervention professional to help them. These professionals help form a circle of people closed to the patient and guides them to motivate the patient to take up the treatment.

Once the patient agrees to the treatment, he goes in for some medical checkups to confirm he does not have any supplementary health problems with the addiction problem. If the patient has an additional health problem, his treatment would need to be varied as to make sure the treatment he undertakes does no further damage to the existing problem. After which the patients are put on an intensive detoxification process. This is a phase which flushes all the toxins from the patient's body and at the same time patient is completely stopped from taking his substance of addiction.

Since these are patients who have been addicted to alcohol since a long time, they must have a lot of toxins to flush out and removing them is a long process. Also here, due to the complete stop of their addiction substance these patients may suffer from big withdrawal symptoms where a patient's body reacts violently to the absence of their substance of addiction. Therefore depending on their level of dependency, they are put on medications which help them to control their urges for the substance of addiction.

The complete stop of the withdrawal symptoms ends the detoxification process. Following this, the patients are put on an aftercare treatment. This is perhaps the most important phase of the treatment where the patient is made to deal with the problems which direct him to take the substance of addiction. The root cause of the problem is dealt with so that the patient will not be lured towards his substance of addiction. This individual mentoring helps in a long way towards a health living after the treatment.

The patient is also taught various exercises like yoga and breathing exercises which can help him to control his temptations for the substance all by himself. The residential aftercare also uses group therapies where in they use indirect methods to make the patients recover fast. For example, rewarding one patient on his performance could motivate the other patients to do well too. This specially works with senior citizens. They are the most difficult to treat because they refuse to believe that it is possible for them to stay without alcohol. Other techniques like pursuing them to take up different hobbies are used. Sports are also used as a tool to distract their minds.

What are the kinds of patients that generally use residential treatment program in California?

As mentioned before, this is usually subscribed to people who have been addicted to alcohol or drugs since a long period of time. For them, a residential treatment is the only treatment that works. Here also due to their violent withdrawal symptoms, it is essential to keep them under constant observation.

Some of the patients here are also those who have been trying to leave alcohol for ages but are finding it difficult. For them the residential treatment is subscribed.

Also people who have some supplementary mental disease are subscribed to this problem, because they need to be kept under constant observations.

Also, if there are people who have committed serious crime under the influence of addiction, they are put in a residential treatment by the drug courts.