Recovery from alcohol and substance use disorders requires effort, time, willpower, and support. When you decide to enter a professional alcohol and drug treatment program, you will begin a journey through four distinct stages of rehab recovery as you learn to develop a healthy and sober lifestyle.
The four stages of treatment are:
Treatment initiation
Early abstinence
Maintaining abstinence
Advanced recovery
These stages were developed by the National Institute on Drug Abuse as a resource on individual drug counseling for healthcare providers, but it is also a useful model for recovery from alcohol addiction.1 In this model, recovery is a lifelong process.
Stage 1: Treatment Initiation
When you reach out for help from a professional alcohol and drug rehab program, you begin the first stage of your recovery, treatment initiation.
Whether you seek help voluntarily or are forced by circumstances to enter rehab, your recovery process will begin with a professional treatment program.
In the early hours and days of your rehab, you probably will have some ambivalent feelings about giving up your drug of choice permanently, and you may think that your substance abuse problem is not as bad as others. Be wary of this attitude. Ambivalence and denial can be your worst enemies in the first days of your recovery.
At this point in treatment, the goal is to help the individual decide to actively participate in treatment and accept that abstinence is the goal. To accomplish this, a substance abuse counselor may help the individual do the following:
Look at the damaging effects of addiction
Explore feelings of denial with regards to the problem
Help the person become motivated to recover
During this stage of treatment, an individual's alcohol and drug use history will be taken, the treatment program will be introduced, and the counselor will work with the individual to develop an individualized treatment plan.
Stage 2: Early Abstinence
Once you have made a commitment to continue treatment for your substance abuse problem, you will enter the second stage of rehab, known as early abstinence. Early abstinence from alcohol is significantly associated with positive treatment outcomes. This can be the toughest stage to cope with because of many factors, including:
Continued withdrawal symptoms
Physical cravings
Psychological dependence
Triggers that can tempt you into a relapse
Challenges at this stage of treatment include cravings, social pressure to drink, and high-risk situations that can trigger alcohol consumption. It is during this early abstinence stage that your trained addiction counselor will begin to teach you the coping skills that you need to lead a sober lifestyle. The tools that you learn to use now will help you throughout your recovery.
Early abstinence issues that are worked on at this point in treatment include learning about the physical and psychological aspects of withdrawal, learning to identify alcohol use triggers, and learning how to handle alcohol cravings without drinking.
Some strategies that can be helpful include:
Encouraging participation in healthy activities
Finding alternative behaviors to engage in rather than turning to alcohol
Participating in self-help groups that offer support and information
Recognizing environmental triggers that lead to cravings, including people, places, and things
Stage 3: Maintaining Abstinence
After approximately 90 days of continuous abstinence, you will move from the early abstinence stage of recovery to the third stage, maintaining abstinence. If you started in a residential treatment program, you will now move to the continuing or follow-up counseling phase of your rehab program on an outpatient basis.
One focus of this stage of rehab is obviously to maintain abstinence by avoiding a relapse. You will learn the warning signs and the steps that can lead up to a relapse.
Also during this stage of your rehabilitation, you will learn to put the tools that you learned in early abstinence to use in other areas of your life so that you can continue to live a truly sober lifestyle. You will discover that your future quality of life depends on more than simply not using.
You will learn new coping skills and tools to help you:
Avoid substituting addictions
Build healthy relationships
Develop a drug-free lifestyle
Learn employment and money management skills
Manage anger
Utilize exercise and nutrition
The maintaining abstinence stage of rehab will begin at about three months into your rehabilitation program and last until you reach approximately five years clean and sober, at which time the follow-up counseling will usually terminate.
Stage 4: Advanced Recovery
After approximately five years of abstinence, you will reach the fourth and final stage of your rehab: advanced recovery. It is that this point that you take all the tools and skills that you have learned during your rehab counseling and put them to use living a satisfying, fulfilling life.
Strategies that can help at this point include:
Creating long-term goals
Establishing a consistent daily schedule
Forming social relationships with people who do not drink4
Participating in recreational activities that do not involve alcohol
Finding ways to reach beyond oneself in order to seek happiness and fulfillment, whether it involves religion, spirituality, community work, or social activism
Learning to implement these strategies not only will help you remain sober, but you will also have the skills to become a healthier person, a better spouse and parent, a productive member of society, and a good neighbor and citizen. Recovery is much more than merely staying sober. It's learning to live a happier and healthier life.
Alcohol treatment and recovery is a lifelong process that requires commitment and changes in many aspects of a person's life. These four stages of treatment can help people with alcohol use disorders learn about the benefits of recovery, find the motivation to change their behavior, and learn new skills that will help them succeed in the long term.
If you or a loved one are struggling with substance use or addiction, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357 for information on support and treatment facilities in your area.
Another Solution, Inc.
Courtesy of A Very Well Mind
Medically reviewed by