How Long Does it Take to Recover from Alcoholism?

man feeling hopeless

When a person struggles with alcoholism, the whole family normally wishes, hopes or prays for his or her recovery. Unfortunately, for many people, recovery is a very long road that encompasses multiple trips to drug rehab and may involve hundreds or even thousands of meetings.

Some rehabilitation philosophies also include the belief that once a person becomes an addict, they will always be an addict, that addiction will last the rest of a person’s life. Perhaps this belief might serve some people by reminding them that they must always make good choices in life. For other people, however, it may leave them expecting to relapse. In other words, since they are always an addict, they don’t need to be surprised or feel guilty if at some point they relapse. Some people in recovery have even stated that being told that “relapse is part of recovery” gave them all the excuse they needed to drink or use more drugs after sobriety had been achieved for a while.

So families may be confused about how to best approach rehabilitation from alcoholism. Certainly there are many theories about the best way to accomplish this.

Real Recovery from Alcohol Abuse

What would a thorough alcohol rehab consist of and how long should it take?

The treatment program should take as long as required to recover from the damage done by the substance abuse and to build new life skills. This ideally would be a reasonable amount of time that the average person might consider a good investment in lasting sobriety, not a burden. The rehab should help the person acquire the life skills that are going to be needed to stay out of sticky situations that might drive one back into substance abuse, and the skills to get out of such a situation if it occurs.

This is exactly what happens at a Narconon rehabilitation center, any one in numerous countries around the world. All the major barriers to recovery are addressed: guilt, cravings and depression. These three factors, common to every addicted person, must be lifted or solved for sobriety to last.

Reducing Alcohol Cravings

Lasting recovery from alcohol abuse requires some way for cravings to either be reduced or eliminated. One way or another, a person in recovery can focus on building a new drug-free life if his or her attention is not always fixed on fighting the cravings. The New Life Detoxification, a key component of the Narconon program, helps greatly with cravings.  Alcohol and other drugs leave behind residues that can become lodged in the fat of various parts of the body. This phase of the program, combining a low-heat dry sauna with generous nutritional supplementation and moderate exercise, helps activate the body’s ability to flush out old, stored drug toxins. As the toxins exit, most people say that they feel more energetic, think more clearly and experience a much less cravings for alcohol or drugs.

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This phase is followed by thorough training in the life skills needed to remain drug-free, to identify those people whose association might lead one back into alcohol abuse, and to face and handle problems in one’s life before they can overwhelm one.

The Narconon drug rehab is distinctly a finite program, which each step taken to a full result regardless of the time it takes, with most individuals completing the program in about ten weeks. Ongoing follow up is provided to help transition graduates back into their new life and apply the skills they have learned.

Find out more about what Narconon has to offer by calling one of our drug counselors today. We’re here for you. You can see the end of alcohol addiction in just a couple months.

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