Inside Rehab

Practical information about addiction treatment and recovery

Anne M. Fletcher M.S., R.D.

The Tricky Business of Defining Addiction Recovery

Who are we to decide whether someone else is sober and for how long? Focusing on what recovery is or is not and whether someone is or is not “in recovery” can actually get in the way of progress. You never lose any sober time you accrue, no matter what.

Abstinence: The Only Solution for Addiction? Part 2

Since only about 1 out of 10 people with a drug or alcohol use disorder seeks treatment, it’s high time that we offer more flexible and inviting approaches for addiction, regardless of whether clients are willing or ready to be abstinent. With more roads to recovery, more people will be helped.

Abstinence—The Only Way to Beat Addiction? Part 1

Some who struggle with addiction aren’t ready to commit to abstinence, yet they’re aware of their problem and want help. However, most treatment facilities require abstinence and see it as the only acceptable outcome. In fact, many of them will kick clients out of treatment for the very symptoms of their disorder—that is, using drugs or alcohol.

When Quitting Drinking Is On Your Resolution List

Common myths about quitting drinking and overcoming addiction include the notions that you have to go to rehab and AA, you can't do it on your own, and you must be "in denial." When you're ready to quit, how do you know what's right for you?

Why in the vulnerable months following addiction treatment, wouldn’t ALL rehabs

What Farewells to Monteith Don't Say About Addiction Rehab

It’s time for consumers to question what goes on in addiction treatment. And the industry needs to wake up

Glee's Farewell to Cory Monteith Leaves Addiction Questions

Could better addiction treatment have prevented Cory’s death? Part 1 explains why and how addiction "takes over" for someone who "has it all" and raises questions about Monteith's treatment, to be addressed further in Part 2.

Exercise: A Better Way to "Deal" Than Drinking (or Drugging)

Exercise is one of the more promising and least talked about tools for treating and recovering from addiction.

Is Mad Men’s Don Draper a Sex Addict?

If living in today’s world, Don Draper may well wind up in rehab for “sex addiction” – but how can a rehab facility diagnose and treat someone with a disorder that's not recognized?

Holistic Rehab Therapies: Do They Work for Addiction?

Do holistic interventions add to the quality of the rehab experience, increasing the chances of recovery from addiction? Could their benefit be in the user’s head—that is, just a placebo effect? Are they worth the added expense? Or could some of them pose harm?

My Take On Celebrity Rehabs for Addiction Treatment – Part 2

The intentions of Dr. Drew and most others who treat celebrities and other clients are well and good. They just need to get with the science, recognizing that more people would be helped if they were to step away from treatment-as-usual – be it in celebrity rehab or your neighborhood drug and alcohol treatment program.

My Take On Celebrity Rehabs for Addiction Treatment – Part 1

Although celebrity rehabs have many of the same issues endemic to the addiction treatment system in general, they have been given an unfair rap. They're not all glamor and glitz, and who says addiction rehab shouldn't be comfortable anyway?

When Addiction Treatment is One-Size-Fits-All

Shari P.’s mother told me, “All rehab programs basically offer the same treatments.” She should know – her daughter’s residential experiences added up to 20.

Going Inside Addiction Rehab

An author describes what motivated her to go inside the addiction rehab system and how she was received

From Weight Loss to Addiction Recovery

A health and science writer tells how and why she started writing about addiction and where her new blog on addiction, recovery, and rehab is headed.