When you picture rehab, what comes to mind?

Is it the one-on-one sessions with a psychologist or psychiatrist most? Group therapy? That’s a good start, those are the critically important elements after all and they’re found in both outpatient and inpatient rehab.

A more specific question that speaks to the major difference is this; when you think about treatment for yourself or a loved one, do you envision it at a place you live in for a while or that you visit on a regularly scheduled basis?

The chief distinction to these types of rehab lies there.

The Difference Between Outpatient and Inpatient Drug Rehab

Treatment for substance use disorder is a process that moves along a gradient. Like day shifting into night, the parts of the journey aren’t clear cut. There are transition points on the way that ease you into the next part of the journey.

Addiction itself functions in much the same way, there’s an escalation from mild to moderate to severe drug use. You don’t go from sober to addict overnight, a person shifts from one stage to the next as their dependency grows increasingly more all-encompassing over time.

Inpatient care or residential inpatient care, the more literal and descriptive term, is meant for people who are on the severe side of the addiction spectrum. Those who truly require constant supervision and guidance because they’re at starkly higher risk for relapse.

Living at a treatment facility means you’re required to leave your life behind temporarily and commit fully, 100% to rehab. The point is to eliminate distraction and potential triggers.

Inpatient rehab is broken down into long- and short-term care with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) defining long-term treatment as providing “care 24 hours a day, generally in non-hospital settings. The best-known residential treatment model is the therapeutic community (TC), with planned lengths of stay of between 6 and 12 months. TCs focus on the “resocialization” of the individual and use the program’s entire community—including other residents, staff, and the social context—as active components of treatment.”

And short-term as providing “intensive but relatively brief treatment…[afterward] it is important for individuals to remain engaged in outpatient treatment programs”.

You can see the sort of continuum of treatment within those definitions and they bring us nicely to outpatient care.

For someone with a heavier addiction, the idea is that they could transition their way through treatment and end up in outpatient care but that’s not the only use for it. 

What to Expect in Outpatient Rehab

Those with milder substance abuse issues, who managed to recognize the problem early, can find great success and value in an outpatient program.

As mentioned, you can expect the same types of treatment in an outpatient setting – the individualized and group work with an addiction specialist – but with the flexibility to carry on with your regular, day-to-day life. With outpatient care, you’ll have the ability to go to work or school and maintain whatever familial obligations you have.

We make a point at Inneractions to equip you with techniques and tools – like self-affirmations, assertive communication exercises, self-dialogue exercises, mindfulness, meditation, breathing exercises and more – to help you cope with the stresses you might encounter on a daily basis.

Let Inneractions Be Your Outpatient Drug Rehab

Naturally, because you’re not living at the rehab center, outpatient treatment is a more affordable option. Don’t think of it as a way to save money though. If you or a loved one is suffering from severe addiction and opt for outpatient care when you truly need the 24/7 support of an inpatient facility, you very well may end up spending more in the long run. Get the care you need.

Get in touch with us and we’ll help you figure out if drug rehab in Southern California – at our intensive outpatient program – is right for you.