Individuals going through an addiction to drugs and alcohol usually feel lonely and hopeless. But with God’s help and by seeking treatment with competent professionals at a Christian drug rehab facility could be a great option. Let us explore how faith-based addiction treatment facilities generally operate.
Christian based rehab centers use a combination of Bible based principles along with evidence based methods from the traditional addiction treatment science. For individuals who are seeking to come to terms with their spiritual beliefs, this addiction recovery program will allow them to return to their faith and connection with God as they simultaneously get healed from their addiction.
Faith-based treatment programs respond to the concept that addiction stems from a person’s attempts to fill a spiritual void through substance use. Based on this theory, the treatment process aims to build a long-term relationship with God as a means to achieve lasting abstinence from the substance abuse.
The core treatment activities at a Christian rehab would include activities such as:
- Bible studies
- Weekly off-site church service
- Prayer sessions
- Christian counseling
Anyone seeking addiction treatment, whether they profess to be a Christian or not, is welcome to these facilities. Even though the overall approach to addiction and mental health issues builds from a spiritual perspective, treatments are tailored to individual needs based on a thorough initial assessment.
Some of the options offered by Christian programming could include partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient program, and introductory groups for medically monitored detox and residential drug and alcohol treatment.
To explore and explain the mechanism that underpins the process of Christian-based recovery, researchers from Clemson University, South Carolina carried out an interesting study. They selected a faith-based, 12-step, mutual aid program for drug abstinence and rehabilitation to study in detail. The Christian faith program supported addiction recovery through:
- an intervention option alone and/or in conjunction with secular programs and
- an opportunity for religious involvement.
During the course of the study, researchers followed the treatment and recovery of 10 former crack cocaine-addicted persons who voluntarily enrolled in the faith-based program. Based on data from in-depth interviews during a 4-month period, the key elements of the intervention that allowed the participants to recover were assessed. The contributing success factors were: acknowledging God-centered crises, communicating with God, and planning for the future.
Findings from studies like this help to understand the core activities that are helpful to the recovery process and to improve the treatment format. Knowledge of these core concepts and practices should be helpful to clinicians in considering referrals to faith-based recovery programs.
For additional details check out: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21046250