People who are addicted to alcohol are often allowed to complete the detoxification process at home. According to an article in the journal Alcohol and Alcoholism, the whole process is usually complete in about nine days, and by letting the person stay at home, the cost of care is dramatically reduced. People don’t need expensive hospitals or around-the-clock care, in most cases, but they do need monitoring from family and friends, as well as the help of a doctor. When the whole process is complete, the person is sober but the addiction still lingers. At this point, the person could enroll in an inpatient program for addiction and receive intensive help for the residual desire to drink. There are some people, however, who can continue to live at home while they fight their alcoholism addiction.

A Supportive Environment

Recovering from alcoholism is difficult, if not impossible, if the temptation to drink is easy to find almost everywhere. For many families, alcohol is a vital part of each and every day. Mimosas are part of Sunday breakfast. Martinis are served when people arrive home from work. Wine complements the evening meal. Living in a household like this isn’t ideal for someone who is learning to overcome an alcohol addiction. If the family can commit to sobriety, and perhaps they can all heal together, then the home environment might not be so destructive.

People who succeed in outpatient programs also tend to have family relationships based on:

• Love
• Trust
• Open communication
• Supportiveness

Not all families function in this way, but those that do can provide a loving and caring environment that’s conducive to healing, and people with families like this might do quite well in outpatient care.

Strong Mental Health

Some people turn to alcohol in a desperate search for a solution to an underlying mental health problem. These people might have depression, anxiety or unresolved anger, and alcohol seems to provide them with the numbing they need in order to get through the day. There are some people, however, who drink in the absence of a mental health disorder. They might be going through a difficult time of life, or they might have grown up in a dysfunctional household full of alcohol. Their problems are real, but the therapies they need are relatively straightforward. They don’t need intensive help for another mental illness, for example, and they don’t need assistance with medications to align out-of-whack brain chemicals.

Outpatient care can be intense, but it’s best suited for relatively straightforward cases of addiction like this. People need therapy in order to change their habits and their preferences, but it’s unlikely they’ll take risks or otherwise lose control between their appointments. People with uncomplicated cases of alcoholism can do quite well in outpatient care.

Lack of Previous Attempts at Sobriety

Some people are successful at treating an alcoholism problem with their very first attempt at therapy. There are some people, however, who cycle in and out of therapy for addiction. For example, a study in the Journal of Hospital Medicine found that of those who were admitted to a hospital for alcohol withdrawal, 44 percent had been in the same hospital for the same problem in the past. People like this need intensive care that an inpatient program can provide, as it’s clear that their habits are ingrained and hard to break. But, people who are new to alcoholism don’t have those same kinds of ingrained poor habits, and they may be able to revise their behavior more readily as a result. Outpatient care might be more appropriate for them, since they don’t have the same kind of serious problems as those who cycle in and out of care repeatedly.

There is one small exception to this rule. Sometimes, people emerge from addiction treatment programs with a firm resolve to stop drinking, but they have a small slip down the line. They sip a cocktail at a party, for example, or they buy one beer with friends and don’t even slurp the entire glass. People like this, who still want sobriety but who need a little touchup of skills, might do well in outpatient programs. They only need a little help, and it’s appropriate to get it on an outpatient basis.

If you’d like to know more about outpatient programs, or you’re not sure if inpatient care or outpatient care is right for you, please call us. We’re happy to answer your questions.