How Do I Choose a Good Drug Rehab Treatment Facility for my Daughter?

I have a 17 year old daughter addicted to amphetamines. I think she got involved with drugs at around the age of 15. I’m not sure exactly how it started, but we went through a real bad time as a family then.

My husband left us, which I think was the main trigger, and it was around then I started noticing a change in her behavior. She became more moody and withdrawn. Didn’t want to talk to me anymore. I kind of let her be because I thought she may just need some space to deal with things in her own way. And teenagers can be difficult at the best of times anyway.

So it came as an absolute shock to me when a few months later I got a call from her school, telling me my daughter was hardly ever in class anymore, and spending a lot of time with a group of ‘friends’ who they didn’t think were a good influence. I confronted my daughter about it, which led to a huge fight, and she just withdrew even more, and meant we hardly even spoke. When she was home she spent most of the time in her room.

She was also noticeably starting to lose weight, so by this stage I was getting really suspicious and started searching her things when I got a chance. This eventually led me to finding a substance I’d never seen before, and when I confronted my daughter about it, she admitted she was using drugs (amphetamines) because she enjoyed the feeling it gave her, and when I questioned her how often, she said she was using it just about every day now.

I was absolutely devastated and pleaded that she stop and that I’d help her do whatever it takes. She wasn’t interested and the next 18 months or so became a living hell. She descended deeper into her addiction, all the while pushing me further away. I’ve tried everything I can think of to get her to stop, but nothing worked. I’ve literally been physically ill with worry all this time.

My worst fears materialized when a couple of weeks ago, I got a call saying my daughter was in hospital, from an overdose. That was the most awful moment of my life. Thank God she survived, and I’m hoping this in some ways turns into a blessing because this has been a huge wake up call for her, and so she said she’s now ready to quit and do whatever it takes to turn her life around. The Doctors recommended Rehab, and so I wanted to know how we go about finding her the right one?

Answer

Thanks for sharing your story. I’m so glad your daughter has come to this realisation. It sounds like she’s reached her rock bottom and is now willing to accept the seriousness of her addiction, and be open to getting the correct form of treatment and help she needs.

I also believe rehab is a great idea because there she will get intensive and specialised treatment, that will give her the best chance of long-term recovery. You need to realise though that rehab is only the beginning of the road for your daughter. For her to maintain a successful recovery and create a meaningful life for herself post treatment, requires a lot of work and commitment, and so it is important that she find herself a recovery program to work at after leaving treatment to help her on her journey.

Now when coming to chose a drug rehab program or treatment facility, your main consideration is usually going to be the cost factor. So you need to determine what you can afford because rehab treatment centers come in various shapes and forms – from the very exclusive and upmarket that cost a fortune, to one’s that are totally government subsidized. Your medical insurance might also provide a certain amount of coverage so you need to determine whether that’s the case, and how much cover they provide.

Once you have a budget, you can then determine which rehab facilities in your area are appropriate. You should try and sit down with a local addictions counsellor because they will be able to help you with that and recommend which places they think will be suitable for your daughter. You do get certain treatment programs catered purely for younger people, so try find out if there are any in your area.

Then it’s a matter of identifying a rehab program that has a treatment philosophy you’re comfortable with. I generally recommend centers that use the 12 steps (which forms the heart of AA) as the core to their program. The reason for that is that it provides a clear framework and path for an addict to follow not only during their treatment, but for their ongoing recovery. Not everyone likes the 12 steps because they find it too limiting, but I certainly think it’s a great place to start, but that’s ultimately for you and your daughter to decide.

You should also try and visit a few rehabilitation centers to get a feel for them and ask addiction treatment related questions. Click on the link to get an idea of the kinds of things you want to be asking.

But once you’ve done all your ‘homework’, I believe that the most important thing when making a decision like this is to listen to your intuition and go with what feels right you and your daughter. Only by visiting a place and getting a feel for it and the people there will you get that.

I hope everything goes well for your daughter. Please pop in again at a later stage to let us know how everything is going. Good luck and all the best.

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