Christian Drug Rehab
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Christian drug rehab is different from
most of the conventional drug abuse rehab methodologies
because it clearly claims that Jesus Christ is the “Higher
Power” referenced by the other 12-step rehab programs such as
Alcoholics Anonymous.
In addition, according to the Christian drug rehab
perspective, other drug rehabilitation treatments that try to
appease their clients who are “non-believers” are basically
treating these clients with disrespect because they are not made
aware of the fact that it is God alone who has the power to
liberate them from their dependency.
Drug Addiction is Seen as a Spiritual and a Physical
Disease
Many, if not most Christian drug
rehab therapists and practitioners believe that drug addiction
is both a physical AND a spiritual disease.
Because Christian drug rehab approaches emphasize the centrality
of God in the rehabilitation process does not mean that other
significant treatment factors are ignored. Indeed,
Christian drug rehab facilities commonly provide competent
counseling, first-rate medical practices, and current behavioral
therapies in conjunction with Christian practices and Biblical
scripture in the their drug rehab procedures.
Many Christians understand that “belief” alone is not
typically enough to help a person refrain from abusing drugs.
As a matter of fact, many Christians who are drug dependent have a
difficult time abstaining from drug abuse because they may be
suffering from the consequences of divorce, poor health, separation
from children, financial difficulties such as bankruptcy,
unemployment, and/or legal problems. Sadly, without
quality treatment, these situations commonly get progressively
worse the more the person continues to engage in substance
abuse.
Many Christian therapists give confidence to Christian drug
addicts by encouraging them to look to the Bible and see how Job
rose above his suffering and pain in order to develop a deeper
relationship with God. It is certain that Christians who
are dependent on drugs do not usually feel blameless and may
experience strong feelings of shame or guilt. Christian
addicts, however, need to understand that God is always ready to
forgive them so that they can overcome their dependency and begin
the journey to recovery.
| Factors that have been suggested
as causes of addiction include pharmacological, social, genetic,
and biological aspects. |
Christian Drug Detox
Christian detox is the first step in
the drug rehab protocol. Viewed as a combination of
physical and spiritual components, Christian detox focuses on
getting rid of the poisons in the drug dependent person's body
and soul that have been causing the damaging and unhealthy
activities that the addict has been
manifesting.
Not unlike other quality rehab approaches, moreover, Christian
detox centers provide substance abusers who experience severe
withdrawal symptoms with doctor-prescribed medications that will
give the abuser much needed relief as well as safety when engaging
in the withdrawal process.
Even though drug rehab is anything but easy, Christian
therapists and practitioners believe that overcoming one’s
addiction is possible because God does not give a person more that
he or she can handle.
| Addiction always brings about
changes in the addict’s brain and mind. Some of these
transformations include physiological changes, chemical changes,
anatomical changes, and behavioral
changes. |
Christian Drug Recovery
One of the critical factors inherent
in addiction is that a substance abuser has a difficult time
seeing through the denial and dependency that reinforce and
perpetuate the cycle of abuse. Christian rehab helps the
drug dependent persons see through their blinders and admit
their helplessness in overcoming the addictive power of the
drugs they have been abusing. After the drug
abusers "sees the light," they can regain their “true nature”
via surrendering their frustration, anxiety, suffering, and
pain to God who can heal them and give them hope for an
dependency-free life.
So that drug rehab can be effective and productive, Christian
therapists stress the need for drug dependent individuals to forget
their pride and humble themselves, thus taking “proper action” so
that God can meet them half way and take them back into His house
and re-establish their lives.
|
Physical
dependency has been demonstrated to be a major factor in the
psychology of addiction and almost always becomes one of the key
sources of motivation that results in the persistence of an
addiction. |
The Christian 12-Step Rehab
Procedure
The Christian drug rehab procedure utilizes the "Christian
12-step" recovery approach in both individual and group
counseling. This treatment methodology, it must be stressed,
always keeps the fact front and center that it is Jesus Christ who
is the “Higher Power.” Stated differently, Christian drug
rehab programs are based on Scripture while modeling themselves
after the 12 Step recovery format of Alcoholics Anonymous.
| Psychological addiction is not
limited to drugs or alcohol. Indeed, all kinds of behavioral
activities and patterns can be viewed as “psychologically
addictive” if they are harmful. Examples include sex, work,
Internet use, porn, vandalism, eating, gambling, and computer
use. |
While the therapists and practitioners who are members of
Christian drug rehab treatment team are Christian, it is worth
mentioning that many Christian drug rehab facilities employ
Christians who are themselves in recovery. This appears to be
a well-thought through strategy that is based on the fact that many
Christian substance abusers need to hear from other Christians who,
through God, have successfully overcome their dependency.
Types of Christian Drug Rehab
There are essentially three different types of
Christian drug rehab: inpatient, residential drug rehab,
outpatient drug rehab, and day treatment drug rehab.
| Addicts have a tendency to
engage in various activities or to use particular substances as
substitutes for more appropriate and healthy coping mechanisms when
dealing with stress, anxiety, and with their everyday
lives. |
Inpatient Residential Drug Rehab
When a drug abuser gets admitted to a Christian residential
inpatient rehab facility, he or she gets educated about the
physical, emotional, and spiritual consequences of long-term,
chronic substance abuse. The individual receives his or
her "education" via lectures, individual therapy, workshops, and
group counseling. Interestingly, it is this educational
approach that helps each person learn how to effectively address
and work through the physical, social and/or psychological
"triggers" that have led to his or her substance abuse in the
past. As a central part of this comprehensive
educational approach, each person is helped to identify and work
through his or her own unique “relapse warning signs.”
| According to some researchers,
both pain and pain relief occur in the brain, triggered by the
release, uptake, quantity, and control of various brain chemicals
and other natural substances. The same can probably be said
for addiction. Regardless of the source of addiction, the
effects are essentially in the brain and chemically,
psychologically, and physically affect the person’s emotions and
energy levels. |
Outpatient Drug Rehab
Christian outpatient drug rehab
programs, though not quite as extensive or as structured as
inpatient approaches, commonly provide many of the same
educational and spiritual teachings and principles that are
emphasized in the residential treatment program.
Indeed, through individual and group counseling, education, and
spiritual training, people in Christian outpatient drug rehab are
better able to identify their unique high-risk situations that
challenge their abstinence. In sum, through outpatient drug
rehab, each individual learns how to successfully cope with and
manage situations that typically led to relapse in the past.
| Although the term “addiction” is
frequently employed in reference to drug or alcohol dependency, it
also applies to other compulsions such as uncontrollable gambling,
obsessive sex, compelling Internet use, a neurotic desire for porn,
uncontrollable overeating, or an obsessive need for
love. |
Day Treatment Drug Rehab
Some Christian drug rehab centers
provide day treatment programs, These programs are
basically another treatment option that fall somewhere between
the residential and the outpatient approaches and are usually
targeted for local people who require less structure than the
residential program provides. Individuals typically
enroll in this kind of rehab for a four to a six week time
period (or more) and usually attend this form of treatment
from 9am until 5pm. Even though this rehab option is
somewhat less structured and less intense than residential
rehabilitation approaches, it is important to mention the fact
that people who are enrolled in day treatment receive
basically the same educational counseling and training and
spiritual guidance as substance abusers receive in the
inpatient rehab programs.
Since follow-up education, spiritual guidance, treatment, and
counseling are so central to the Christian drug rehab process,
people who have completed Christian drug rehab treatment are
encouraged to attend local Alcoholics Anonymous meetings when they
return home.
| Addictions develop their own
forms of reinforcement. Stated differently, the tolerance and
the dependence the substance abuser experiences become rewarding
and reinforcing in and of themselves, regardless of the “high” or
the "buzz" they feel. |
Christian Drug Rehab:
Conclusion
The overall conceptual framework of Christian drug
rehab can be summed up as follows: through a
combination of quality medical treatment, spiritual guidance,
doctor-prescribed medications, counseling, and solid Christian
principles, a substance abuser, through God, can overcome his or
her damaging and unhealthy behavior and restore his or her
life. Indeed, because of Christian drug rehab, many Christian
drug abusers have become free of the cravings and the damaging
thoughts and actions that have contradicted their beliefs.
| The substance or activity that
triggers addiction must initially result in feelings of pleasure
and changes in emotion or mood. |
When focusing on the “Christian 12-step” protocol, replacing
“the higher power” with “Jesus Christ” makes recovery more
meaningful and more in concert with the faith of many Christian
drug abusers. Stated differently, for many Christians,
joining a Christian 12-step group or going through Christian drug
rehab makes more sense and is more relevant than any other
treatment approach.
| Addiction requires an initial
experience with a substance or with an activity. The very
first experience with the substance or behavior can be viewed as an
“initiation” that may or may not lead to addiction, but which needs
to take place in order to set in motion the changes in the addict’s
brain that are responsible for motivating a person to experience
the activity or substance again. |
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