Inpatient drug rehab programs allow thousands of drug and alcohol addicts to make lasting recoveries each year. Although many laypeople still believe addiction clinics to be a simple matter of willpower, physicians have come to understand that it's a neurological disease which requires clinical treatment. Neuroscientists and psychologists alike have developed incredibly effective, evidence-based therapies for use in inpatient drug rehab programs.

On the flip side, many rehab clinics employ other treatment methods, as well. Evidence-based therapies are highly effective at teaching addicts effective strategies for dealing with drug cravings, but other treatment methods will often be essential to connect these strategies with real-world environments. Due to this purpose, rehab clinicians use reality therapy during inpatient drug rehab.

Reality therapy has two main purposes. The very first is to help addicts connect their clinical treatments with real-world situations. The second is to teach addicts how you can determine the very best ways to handle the craving-inducing stressors they could encounter in their everyday lives. The following are the ways rehab specialists accomplish these goals.

Inpatient drug rehab requires addicts to live at their treatment facilities for thirty to ninety days. Although they learn various ways to deal with drug cravings during this time, transitioning into normal life can still present enormous risk of relapse.

To mitigate this risk, clinicians practicing reality therapy try to make their patients' living spaces as close to real life as it can be. Addicts cook, clean, shop, and schedule appointments for themselves just because they would in their normal lives. By receiving treatment at the same time because they go about their daily tasks, patients can effectively relate their craving coping strategies to real-world situations.

The main tenant of reality therapy is the fact that every person must reside in a society with others. Everybody has needs, and people must satisfy their needs without infringing upon the lives of others. To accomplish this simple but sometimes-difficult goal, addicts must learn to ascertain when they can and can't control their environments and circumstances.

Control is an important issue for many addicts, and feelings of helplessness often contribute to drug use and the development of addictions. By learning when to exercise control, addicts can feel empowered. Also they can also avoid destructive behaviors which hurt the people around them.

Once they have learned the differences between situations they can and cannot control, inpatients are taught various strategies for changing what they may. In general, addicts practice avoidance in situations also they can control but seek to manage drug cravings in situations they cannot change.

For instance, addicts do have control over the places they go and also the people who have whom they associate. By avoiding locations with abundant drug use and those who actively use drugs, addicts can avoid cravings altogether. Alternatively, addicts might not be able to control the people with whom they live and work. By practicing stress-relief techniques they learn during inpatient counseling sessions, they may mitigate the inevitable stress-induced cravings they encounter within their everyday lives.