Today I want to talk about 90 days of treatment from a nursing perspective. Having been a nurse in the field of addiction recovery for many years, I feel like I have something to offer in that I’ve worked in many programs that were 30 days because that’s been the record for treatment centers. Having come to a center that provides 90 days of treatment, I have a whole different perspective as to the benefits of extended treatment. I have seen so much more long-term recovery come from people that have been able to sustain the period of time that they’re in treatment for 90 days because when they come in, what I’ve seen is that they have at least a week or two that takes just physically getting to where they feel like they can participate in the program. Many times, they have several days to a week of detoxification and withdrawal symptoms and usually that’s followed by another several days to a week of just feeling like their brain is cloudy and that they feel heavy and tired. They begin to wake up usually after that second week and really begin to notice things. They start to feel their feelings and have thoughts that they haven’t had in a long time and begin to sit in the groups and say, “Oh, I can hear. I can hear what these people are saying to me. I can even understand what they’re saying to me.” By the time they really start grasping these elements, the tools that we are offering them in this program, they’re usually a good 21 days into the program. That doesn’t leave them but about a week in a 28- to 30-day program of really incorporating those tools into their life. So the difference between a 30-day program and a 90-day program is that in a 90-day program we can really concentrate on getting you well. We can not only just try to get you ready to hear and collect the tools for your recovery, but we physically can concentrate on you becoming well in your body. The way we do that is that we can offer you a relaxed kind of detoxification where we’re not pushing you. You’re not ahead of schedule. We can just let you kind of move at your own pace and we can offer you nutrition. We can offer you medications if needed. We can offer you fitness at a longer term and we really watch these people come in here and transform their lives and transform their bodies and their health. They usually report that they’re amazed, too, that they feel so well when they come in as compared to where they were, and that’s not just at 90 days. They say that at 30 days and then at 60 days and then at 90 days. They’re just usually amazed and we even offer some testing here that we don’t even begin to do again until they’ve been here six weeks. And that testing shows them how far they’ve come and we can do it again when they discharge so that they can really see the progress that they’ve made physically, mentally and emotionally. The difference between a 30-day and a 90-day, like I said before, is that a 30-day program usually launches you right after you just begin to clear up. You don’t have a firm hold of what that’s like and aren’t prepared for the changes you’re going to continue to feel during the next 70 days. We can help you with those changes and begin to help you get well. We have that time to not only help you clear up mentally but get you well physically. A lot of times clients come here and not only do they take that time to clear up, but they take that time even just to begin to sleep well again. They report so much better sleeping after about 30 days, and so that begins to change, too. They begin to feel better in their sleeping and eating habits. We have good nutrition here and they are able to eat well and begin to notice the changes their bodies are now making because of good nutrition. They’re much better prepared at 90 days of treatment here because of those factors right there and because we give them medical care while they’re here if they have medical issues that come up, which many times they have. They have done a lot of damage to their bodies and we can follow them. We can get them started with doctors in their community and set them up with appointments and get them also physically going in the right direction during the 90 days as well. So in closing, I’d like to say that The Arbor is a 90-day program and we’re here to support you. So if you or a family member would like to call us or contact us to see about your treatment, we’ll be glad to answer any questions you may have.
A Nurse’s Perspective on 90 Days of Drug Treatment
