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How do you know what you are getting when you choose a rehab program?
There are four types of rehab programs:
- morals
- disease
- behavioural
- holistic
It is important to compare the different types of rehab programs before making a decision. Many programs are based on old ways of viewing the addicted person, and therefore their approach is often outdated.
The moral model dictates that a person is bad if they make bad choices.
The disease model views addiction akin to having a disease like diabetes; the addicted person is completely powerless over their disease. The two models taken together offer a bleak outlook: addicts are bad people who have no power to control their lives.
12-Step programs are based on a combination of the moral model and the disease model.
After the moral and disease models, the behavioural, or cognitive-behavioural model was developed. It advocates that each person has the power to change himself or herself by changing the way they think.
The newest model to emerge is the holistic model. It builds upon the good points of the older models. This approach uses the cognitive-behavioural model as a core component of its approach. A holistic program accounts for the many different contributing factors of an individual's unique addiction problem. This approach addresses the health of both mind and body, helping an individual to both prevent and respond to problems. This is the model used by Clear Haven Center and teaches self-management skills and advocates a multi-faceted approach to support individuals.
Most importantly, the holistic approach views individuals as competent to help themselves when given the right education, tools, and support.
If you would like to learn more about the differences between the four models, have a look at a more detailed history of addictions treatment below….
Quoted directly from the:
BC Planning Framework for Problematic Substance Use and Addiction, Mental Health and Addictions Publications, Province of British Columbia, Canada
THE ADDICTIONS FIELD – HISTORY AND NEW DEVELOPMENTS
The Moral Model
According to this theory, people are individually responsible for their behavioural choices, which may be either good or bad. ... Since addiction is a bad habit, it follows that addicts should be punished. Much of the stigma faced by individuals with an addiction problem is based on this underlying moral model that labels anyone with a “bad habit” as a “bad person.”
... People with addictions problems are stigmatized and are often demoralized by feelings of self-blame, shame, and guilt to the extent that they are unwilling or unable to seek help or treatment.
The Disease Model
The 12-step recovery movement and the accompanying treatment system in North America, endorsed the disease model. Officially, addiction was a progressive disease for which there was no cure. ...
By defining addiction as an incurable progressive disease, the capacity for people to change their addictive behaviour or decide to give up alcohol or drug use on their own is difficult to explain and may discourage self-management efforts.
The Behavioural Model
In recent decades, an alternative model has emerged that challenges the traditional disease model and its “one-size-fits-all” approach to recovery. ...
By placing the choice in the hands of the individual, there is acknowledgement that most addictive behaviours represent a problem in self-management that can be resolved by the individual. ...
An Emerging Holistic Model
What is emerging is a much greater awareness of the competence of individuals to manage their lives when information and supports are available.
The holistic model accepts and works with individual differences in client characteristics in both preventing and responding to problems. These include unique risks associated with gender, age, cultural identity and concurrent mental health problems.
If you would like to learn more about the history of rehab and the different types of rehab programs you will encounter, download:
BC Planning Framework for Problematic Substance Use and Addiction, Mental Health and Addictions Publications, Province of British Columbia, Canada
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We thank reference source authors, and acknowledge that our viewpoint may not be the same as theirs nor our interpretation of their work.
Quoted From:
BC Planning Framework for Problematic Substance Use and Addiction, Appendix III, Pages 71-75, Mental Health and Addictions Publications, Province of British Columbia, Canada
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