Drug and Alcohol Rehabs in Australia

Posted on 8th July 20215th August 2023 by Robert Cook

Drug and Alcohol Rehabs in Australia

DRUG AND ALCOHOL REHABS IN AUSTRALIA

Drug and alcohol rehabs in Australia The Providers: Who, How and Why?

They are either day programs or residential and operate in two sectors: non-profit and private. In the non-profit sector the Commonwealth and State Governments both provide contributions, and the balance is funded by the clients’ Centrelink allowances. If the client is not on Centrelink, the personal contribution would be around $470 per fortnight.

Like it or not, the Private sector is a vital component in the drug and alcohol rehabs in Australia supply-demand equation and offers a two-fold benefit. Firstly, it allows those who can and need to pay privately, to do so. Secondly, it diverts demand from the over-subscribed and under-supplied non-profit and State sectors, thereby freeing up valuable drug and alcohol rehabs beds for those who can’t or won’t pay. And when we say pay, the obvious question is ‘how much?’ At SafeHouse Rehab Center Thailand, a 30-day program costs US$14,950 and includes outpatient detox. Further 30 day periods are discounted. This level of fee compares very favourably with most residential drug and alcohol Rehabs in Australia, which can be as much as US$77,000 per 30 days.

And why is the Private sector so important? The answers are multi-faceted. The number of funded beds that are available in any given State vary. For example, clinics in Victoria might suggest clients seek admission opportunities in New South Wales which has more funded beds. And in some States, in-patient withdrawal management or detox, for example, are operated by mostly by the State Governments, rather than the non-profit (or even the private) sector. Overall, the availability of different elements of the full range of services differs significantly between the States. Good co-ordination and communication between State Governments and non-profit services work well together to deliver treatment options, including residential drug and alcohol rehabs in Australia, to as wide a range of clients as possible. However, both Government and non-profit services have priorities and demands which they need to manage in isolation, before considering other agencies’ needs. The agencies all certainly do their level best, but addiction and alcoholism is a sector where the supply and demand ratios make it almost impossible to serve as they would wish. There are simply not enough services or funds available to provide the necessary residential drug and alcohol rehabs in Australia.

And For Those Needing Services?

And for those needing these services, it is not easy or straightforward to reach out for help. Publicly funded beds can be very difficult to access, and the complexity is magnified if inpatient withdrawal/detoxification and onward referral to residential drug and alcohol rehabs in Australia is required. In some instances, if appropriate, clients can undergo community-based withdrawal via their General Practitioner, but then the waiting time for publicly funded drug and alcohol rehabs in Australia thereafter can be ridiculously long. Any benefits the client may have derived from undertaking the miserable community-based withdrawal will probably be long-lost through relapse by the time a rehab bed comes available. Even the inpatient withdrawal places have long waiting lists, and co-ordinating immediate transfer to residential rehab thereafter is can be somewhat perplexing via the Government or non-profit sectors.

On hearing that there are considerable waiting times to access in-patient detox – let alone inpatient beds in residential drug and alcohol rehabs in Australia – and many multi-agency hurdles to be negotiated and coordinated, many clients, their families and significant others, see little hope of a speedy resolution. This adds to the already immense stress that alcoholism and addiction foist upon everyone involved: including the caregiving agencies and clinicians who work tirelessly to improve matters but concede the major issues involved.

When clients and families are faced with these very difficult and time-consuming challenges, they will look for other admission opportunities other than Governmental and non-profit residential drug and alcohol rehabs in Australia, and consider the private sector. Why would they not, when witnessing the long and degrading descent towards the degradation – and ultimately death – of the addict or alcoholic?

There is, of course, the private hospital route, which offers insured and uninsured patients various length of stay options of rehabilitation or treatment.

There are quite a few private hospitals in Australia that offer ‘detox’ or as it now commonly called ‘withdrawal management’. Some provide medicated withdrawal and some do not unless medically indicated. Some have group programs during the detox phase of withdrawal which can be a useful distraction from unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. Some have short term rehabilitation attached with access to psychology and psychiatry. Private hospitals sometimes offer quicker admission than the public sector, but such short term residential drug and alcohol rehabs in Australia via this route cannot alone solve the addict’s problems, nor those of the family.

Many people believe once detox has occurred then everything will return to normal. This is rarely the case, as overcoming the physical dependence is only the beginning. Many people relapse and return to previous self-destructive behaviours unless they learn new positive behaviours and coping mechanisms very quickly. Therefore, post-detox rehab is hugely beneficial, and admission thereto should be coordinated well in advance.

The Private Rehab Sector

Which leaves the private residential rehab category, effectively the immediate, one-stop-shop, which generally offers the full range of detox, withdrawal, treatment and rehabilitation options. And let’s face it, for most alcoholics and addicts, this full range of services, provided in an immediate and synchronised fashion, is exactly what is needed to give the client the best chance of turning his or her life around.

Some residential drug and alcohol rehabs in Australia, as well as the wider world, have minimally qualified or experienced staff. Some have very experienced and qualified staff. Some are expensive and exclusive and some are affordable to the wider population. Crucially, most have places available immediately.

Most residential rehabs, including SafeHouse and the majority of residential drug and alcohol rehabs in Australia, encourage their clients to stay an absolute minimum of one month, with two or three months being more effective in providing a long-term solution that will benefit the client and their family. This allows the client to settle in the rehab community and get some understanding of their problem, and the solutions. The lengthier the stay, the more opportunities to receive constructive feedback and practice what they learn in a safe environment- skills that will help will shape the success of their ongoing recovery after rehabilitation. Discharge from a rehab centre such as SafeHouse is always co-ordinated with a sound and structured aftercare plan, utilising all individually appropriate care options available.

SafeHouse Rehab provides personalised rehab treatment programs in Thailand for clients worldwide.

Why Spend Christmas in Rehab

Posted on 8th July 202121st July 2023 by Robert Cook

Why Spend Christmas in Rehab

WHY SPEND CHRISTMAS IN REHAB

Why spend Christmas at SafeHouse?

For alcoholics, the story is a little different. Everyone drinks at Xmas, more than usual as a rule. The alcoholic has the perfect opportunity to indulge his or her alcoholism without the normal restraints or camouflage. After all, “everyone’s doing it and nobody will notice if I go over the top a bit”. What a fantastic justification to openly drink and behave even worse than normally. And where does that leave you? Unusually remorseful, unusually ashamed and embarrassed, unusually broke, and nursing an unusually bad hangover than usual. In turn, this requires more booze, time off, and misery under the duvet. Thinking about Christmas in rehab weeks ahead of time may not be great, but surely it would be better than that!

The whole thing about Christmas for addicts and alcoholics is that it is not the fun it is supposed to be. And after Xmas? That awful dead period approaching the New Year. Everyone is talking about resolutions, hopes and dreams, except the addict and alcoholic. They know that the one resolution they need but can’t deliver is to give up the drink or drugs. They think that’s impossible, meaning no hopes or dreams at all, just the fear of another year in the grip of addiction or alcoholism. New Year? Same as the old year!

On the other hand, all that can and will be avoided if the addict or alcoholic spends Christmas in rehab, and opens the New Year clean, safe and sound. It may not be an endless bundle of laughs, but it will be calm, relaxing, and fun at SafeHouse. The program will be modified considerably to include a small in-house party, a special excursion to some appropriate Bangkok nightlife, great Christmas food, extra time in the pool, sauna, steam room, and a lot of traditional TV from home!

For once, maybe the first time in years, Christmas in rehab will mean not waking up sick, tired and fearful, but healthy, energetic and full of real hope for the New Year. There will finally be good cause to dare make a meaningful and potentially life-changing New Year’s resolution.

The only thing you will not get at Safehouse at Christmas… is snow.

Best Rehab in Thailand

Posted on 23rd June 202121st July 2023 by Robert Cook

Best Rehab in Thailand is a difficult question for the onlooker to consider, and probably more difficult for any rehab centre to achieve. How can it be rated, or quantified? To be a good alcoholism and drug addiction treatment centre requires great care and consideration in so many facets. And most rehabs would diligently do their utmost to at least be in the running for Best Rehab in Thailand if indeed that title officially existed!

And is this for mercenary reasons of pride, competition, income? Or is it for the more altruistic and benevolent considerations of truly wanting to rebuild and even save the lives of sufferers of alcoholism and drug addiction – lives possibly even considered unsalvageable by many? Well, there is a certain intertwining of motives. For sure, rehab centres have to make money to survive. And to survive, they have to employ very good professional staff and absorb high costs of property, therapies, food, excursions: really everything offered by a 4* inclusive holiday, plus the provision of an extensive treatment program. So they have to generate a decent income. And certainly, those who put in the capital to establish and fund any establishment they want to become the Best Rehab in Thailand will naturally seek a reasonable return on their investment.

But against this ‘real-life’ attitude is the absolute fact that most alcohol and drug rehabs around the world, but especially in Thailand, are founded by individuals who genuinely want to help relieve the pains of the alcoholic, the addict, and their long-suffering families. There is not a rehab centre in Thailand that has not been established with the best of healthcare in mind. That is a fact. Even around the world, considering the largest and most noteworthy and well-known individual and corporate groups of rehab, their beginnings grew from good motives.

But to be considered Best Rehab in Thailand, let’s look at the criteria that might be relevant. The treatment program is obviously a key element. The professional staff delivering that program must rank very highly. And what about the environment, the facilities, comforts. Are these important? Certainly, they are. Clients at a rehab centre must be comforted into a receptive emotional and physical state to receive the best that the treatment program has to offer. If good private pristine accommodation and wonderful facilities such as steam room, sauna, and massage suites help the client reach this state, it bodes well for the chances of success. Environment matters too, but only in a realistic fashion. That is if an establishment seeking to rate as the Best Rehab in Thailand exists on a golden beach or alongside a beautiful river in a mountain valley that is great. But it is not great if the clients are encouraged to believe that existing as such is the key to recovery and that overindulgence of luxury is a good thing. For it is not. The needs of sufferers of alcoholism and drug addiction will not be best served by such attitudes. Best Rehab practise is not, and will never be the provision of a 5* vacation. It is too serious a matter for that.

Does size matter? It is not as if the bigger a rehab gets, the better it becomes. Rehab Centre group treatment programs should be delivered in client modules of 6 to 8 people. It is best for group dynamics and professional staffing ratios must be appropriate. And there must be adequate time and staff to deliver the essential one-to-one counselling. So, the bigger a rehab centre gets, the more working accommodation and qualified staff it needs. This is achievable, but only with very diligent and far-sighted planning. Some rehabs can become victims of their own success and suffer deterioration in standards proportionally to their growth. This also suggests that longevity of an operation does not really count either, as the length of existence may not correlate to the maintenance of standards.

Sadly, even statistics cannot truly assess which establishment may be Best Rehab in Thailand. What stats would one use? Completion of treatment? staying clean for 3 months, six months or even one year? Or not staying clean, but having a great improvement in life over the long term? It is a statistician’s minefield with no true answer. After all, completion of treatment is only a very small step in the rest of an addict’s or alcoholic’s life.

After treatment, would the care and attention to the immediate and mid-term future of the client be incorporated in Best Rehab in Thailand evaluation? Certainly. The planning of a top rate, accessible, and affordable aftercare regime is of paramount importance.

And how about the price? Does the highest cost mean best, and lowest mean worst? Certainly not, as there are so many factors that govern prices.

To be considered Best Rehab in Thailand requires a carefully constructed balance of all the above, and is not an easy task. But if all drug and alcohol rehabs in Thailand at least make the effort to be considered Best Rehab in Thailand, it is mainly the client that benefits.

Certainly, at SafeHouse Rehab Center Thailand, we would love to be considered highly in this category and are working on all elements to do so.

DRUG AND ALCOHOL REHAB CENTRES ABROAD

Posted on 23rd June 202124th July 2023 by Robert Cook

Drug and alcohol rehab centres abroad are a very valid option for those seeking help. But before examining why, let’s look back a little in the history of the drug and alcohol user. Heavy drinkers and drug users very often come to a place in life when alcoholism and addiction take over. Some, if not all, elements of life become totally unmanageable, and pressures mount incessantly. Everywhere the addict goes and everything the alcoholic does, on a daily basis, is connected to alcohol or drugs; friends and associates, the things in the house, music, clothing, neighbourhoods – the whole shebang is linked to the primary purpose of the sufferer – to consume substances and find ways and means to consume more.

When an addict or alcoholic becomes sick and tired of being sick and tired, and when the efforts to go ‘cold turkey’ or utilise home detox have proved useless and painful, something must change. Having spent many weeks months or years in a hopeless cycle of trying to control substance use by grasping 2 to 3 days of abstinence, the addict and alcoholic normally find a hundred excuses to take the insane decision to use again. Hence, trying to get clean and sober is very, very difficult – especially during the early stages when the urge to use drugs or drink is intense. Most sufferers, in reality, have no idea what it really takes to withdraw and be ready for recovery.

Eventually, often out of desperation, it becomes evident that to increase the chances of staying off drugs, exploring the possibilities a short, mid, or long term stint in drug or alcohol rehab centres abroad, or at home, could be a valid alternative to the endless cycle of failure and despair.

So why consider drug and alcohol rehab centres abroad, over those at home? There are many good reasons. Centres at home are plagued by drawbacks and unavoidable triggers.

Drug and Alcohol Rehab Centres Abroad – What the Addict and Alcoholic Escapes

Family, friends, and work pressures nearby – Nothing like these pressures to attack the conscience
Suppliers Nearby – The magnetic force of easy availability is fatal to addicts and alcoholics
Ease of contact with other users – It’s the same magnet
No change of environment – Staying close to home can be depressing and grey
Bleak negative mindset – The sum-total of the drawbacks, very hard to overcome
Expensive private alcoholism and addiction treatment

Drug and Alcohol Rehab Centres Abroad – What the Addict and Alcoholic Gains

No family, friends, or work pressures in the vicinity, allowing concentration on the solutions
No suppliers or pubs handy, which in reality is a huge relief
No contact with other active users or drinkers – The magnet is neutralised
A total change of environment is a major fillip
A hopeful positive mindset promoted by the new environment and opportunity
Affordable Private Treatment

Clearly, this offers a completely different landscape, literally and figuratively.

A question often asked is ‘Which rehab has the best program?’ The simple answer is ‘the one that you make it through, and emerge free of active addiction or alcoholism’. Drug and alcohol rehab centres abroad, away from all the negativity and triggers near home, without a doubt increase the possibility of making it through and finding new happiness that can be taken home to help cope, or can be utilised in a total life change.

SafeHouse in Thailand is a prime example of drug and alcohol rehab centres abroad, and ticks all the boxes. The facilities and accommodation, the treatment program, and the wonderful environment are prime examples of rehab qualities that give an alcoholic or addict the best chance to ‘make it through, and emerge free’ from active substance abuse.

The case for considering drug and alcohol rehab centres abroad is clear and concise. After all, where is the downside? What is there to lose?