Should I Travel for Rehab?
Addiction Treatment Center in Oregon
Should I Travel for Rehab?
Addiction Treatment Center in Oregon
Choosing Where to Go to Rehab
Have you ever noticed how you feel on a vacation? You can feel more free, more spontaneous, more courageous even. You feel this way because you’re outside your comfort zone. Your body is responding to its new environment and developing a new kind of consciousness.
While rehab is no vacation, the same can be said for traveling for your treatment. Something in our body and mind shifts when we physically move locations. We can sense that there’s a real opportunity for change.
When you’re packing your bags and getting on a plane, you’re sending a message to your body.
“I’m really doing this. I’m changing my life.”
Subconsciously, this evokes a different feeling than simply driving to a treatment center in your city.
Traveling for rehab creates a new level of commitment that isn’t possible when you stay local. You’re giving your recovery your all; and that’s the most courageous thing you can do.
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Table of Contents
Benefits of Traveling for Rehab
Disadvantages of Traveling for Rehab
- Cost of Travel
- Difficult to Set Up Logistics
- Complicated Aftercare
- New Environment Can Be Intimidating
Disadvantages of Staying Local for Rehab
- Same Surroundings = Same Mindset
- Close to Temptation
- Close Proximity to People You Know
- Lack of Privacy
Heal in Peace – Avive la Vie’s Program
Take Back Your Life
Benefits of Traveling for Rehab
The Ability to Choose Your Perfect Program
It can be difficult to find your ideal program within an hour’s drive from you. This is especially true if you’re looking for a quality Non 12-Step program, or a drug addiction program that offers a holistic perspective.
When you’re open to traveling for substance abuse treatment, you’re not pigeonholing yourself into just your local options. You now have the ability to handpick the program that is most conducive to your healing process.
Heal in the Environment You Want
The option to shoot off to a natural getaway may not just sound alluring — it may actually help with your recovery.
As humans, we have a special connection to being in nature. When we’re surrounded by foliage and fresh air, we can feel the tension start to slip from our bodies. This relaxed state provides the counterbalance to the deep and (at times) difficult work of healing your internal wounds and changing your life.
The Chance for Reflection
A common fear of family members is that their loved one is going to agree to go to rehab… only to change their mind after they arrive. This can be especially true when someone expects a quality program, then walks into a controlling, rigid environment different than what they signed up for.
When you travel to a high-quality program with a truly nonjudgmental perspective — where the focus is on giving you individualized care and lifting you up — your body can relax. You know you’re getting what you signed up for, and that shred of doubt can finally fade away.
With this distance from your home, you’ll have the space to truly contemplate why you chose treatment. You can work through this with your therapy team, talking through the anxious thoughts. They’ll help you follow that thought to the deeper belief that is driving your anxiety, and ultimately, addiction.
Heal in Tranquil Setting
• Secluded, Relaxing Setting
• Small, Customized Program
• Top-of-the-Line Medical Care
• Shared & Private Rooms Available
• Personalized, Non 12 Step Therapy
• Wide Array of Holistic Services
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Disadvantages of Traveling for Rehab
Cost of Travel
One of the biggest disadvantages of traveling for rehab is that it can be more expensive than staying close to home. Even if the drug rehabs’ costs are comparable to your local treatment options, you still have to pay for the travel expenses.
Can Be Difficult to Set Up Logistics
When someone is preparing for rehab, they could be in a multitude of states physically. Some people may want to maintain their level of substance so they don’t start detoxing until they reach the facility. Others may have already started the detox under the supervision of their local doctor.
In either of these scenarios, it may be difficult to get your travel arranged. In this case, it’s great to have a friend or family members assist in getting your ducks in a row so you can put all your focus on staying positive and feeling good about your decision to seek help.
Aftercare Can Be More Complicated to Set Up
If you go to a rehab center that’s out of state, there’s a good chance the facility doesn’t have a partnering professional in your city, where you can go for aftercare.
Fortunately, many treatment facilities offer remote aftercare sessions, where you can work with the same team who helped you while you were in residential care.
If you’d rather meet with an in-person therapist, the staff will be experienced at connecting you with a local therapist whose practices align with those of your addiction treatment center.
A New Environment Can Be Intimidating
For people who don’t travel often, it can be nerve wracking to go to a site they’ve never seen for thirty to ninety days.
If this is a concern, inspect the photos of the facility and surrounding area on the treatment center’s website. Even if you haven’t been there, you can begin to observe your response to seeing the photos. Does your heartbeat slow down when you see a photo of a deep blue ocean? Does the rehab give you a feeling of home, rather than the institutionalized feeling of state facilities?
Trust that even if you haven’t been there, you know what will be the most healing environment for you.
What We Treat
Substance Abuse
- Alcohol abuse
- Prescription drugs
- Opioids
- Cocaine
- Heroin
- Meth
Dual Diagnosis
- Anxiety
- Depression
- PTSD
- ADHD
Eating Disorder Treatment
- Anorexia
- Bulimia
- Binge eating
Some Disadvantages of Staying Local For Treatment
Same Surroundings = Same Mindset
When you choose a rehab close to home, your brain hasn’t experienced a tangible shift. It’s easier to stay in your programmed way of thinking when you’re still in familiar territory.
Close to Temptation
So you’ve stayed in your city for your treatment. You’re still in the beginnings of your recovery, and temptation can be very powerful during this time. If you’re in your city, you might find yourself wanting to reach out to your dealer — to see if he can meet you in a bathroom while you’re on an outing from your facility.
Not everyone does this, but the idea is still often in the back of their mind. An option for if they feel really, really low.
This isn’t the mindset you want to be in when you’re trying to change your life. If you’re far away from your connections, this option won’t even be on your radar.
Close Proximity to People You Know
Truth be told, this can be a positive for some people and a negative for others.
For some, being able to have family visits with their loved ones will be reenergizing and motivating.
For others who may want a more personal, private treatment process, they may face pressure from friends and family who want to visit. Now, you’re in the tough position of having to tell someone you love, “No.” This can add extra stress to an already challenging situation.
Additionally, say your whole family lives near you. Now you face the difficult decision of choosing who to tell about your recovery/who can come visit, and who you don’t want to include.
Lack of Privacy
If you go to treatment, chances are you don’t want to run into a business associate or friend of a friend. Your addiction journey is yours alone, and you don’t need to share it with anyone you don’t feel comfortable.
When you go to a local center, this can be difficult to avoid. Communities are more interwoven than we often realize, and you may find yourself revealing your deepest insecurities and challenges in front of an acquaintance you met at a birthday party a few years ago.
Even if you don’t know anyone in treatment, you’ll be far more likely to see someone when you go on an outing with staff members. If you see a colleague who knows you’ve taken some time off, it may raise some questions you don’t necessarily feel up to answering in the moment.
Avive la Vie's Private Rehab
Customized, Holistic Services
In addition to the location of your treatment, we believe there are many other factors that affect your recovery process.
For this reason, we treat your addiction from all sides — mind, body, and soul. We offer a combination of holistic services to assist in your healing. These include:
- Acupuncture
- Yoga
- Nature excursions
- Nutritional therapy
- Conscious breathing sessions
- Emotional intelligence tools
In addition to our holistic services, our staff is equipped to administer a comprehensive, medically-supervised detox protocol and treatment plan.
A Secluded Slice of Paradise
- Shared or private bedrooms
- Small, customized program
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Non 12 Step Approach
As one of the only non 12 step programs in the Pacific Northwest, we pride ourselves on providing an effective alternative way to achieve sobriety.
Our therapeutic approach utilizes evidence-based methods to help you heal the underlying issues driving your self-destructive behavior.
With a small number of clients in-house at a time, our team is able to completely customize your care. This includes addressing any trauma, depression, and anxiety that are negatively impacting your mental health.
By learning our practical self-regulation skills and coping mechanisms, you’re able to learn a new way to respond to your fight-or-flight response; when you rewire your auto response, you can make long-term change for when you return home.
Take Back Your Life
Whether you’re considering traveling across the country or hopping over from another island, know that a change of scenery of any degree can be an incredibly therapeutic fresh start for your recovery.
At Avive la Vie, we know that you may get homesick or have second thoughts. We’re here to support you through whatever emotions come up for you. Ultimately, we bring you back to why you came to us in the first place — to learn the skills to change your life.
Call us today to see what healing in Oregon could look like for you.