At the Manor of Hope, we receive many questions from parents, loved ones, prospective residents and residents all the time about addiction and rehabilitation.
Below is a list of some of these faq’s answered.
Many of the residents at The Manor of Hope have been in and out of traditional short-term rehabs countless times. A short-term rehab is a treatment center where an addict is treated for 30, 60 or 90 days. This is not enough time for the body or the brain to heal. It is common for a person dealing with addiction to also suffer from depression and anxiety as well as other mental health issues that require adequate time to diagnose and treat.
Short-term rehabilitation does provide a drug-free environment but the road to sobriety can not be gained in only a few months. Although it may seem like a short-term rehabilitation facility is the way to a fast fix, research has shown again and again that drug and alcohol addiction can not be cured in a few months.
The Manor of Hope program is comprised of 5 stages. During the early stage of the program, our young men are focused on regaining their physical health as they settle into their new community. Subsequent stages include intense one on one and group therapy with our treatment partners, vocational training and job placement, transitional programming, and more.
A typical participant will complete the program in 12-15 months. According to the National Institute on Health, the brain requires at least 12 months of abstinence from substances in order to restore the dopamine transporter levels to normal function. Studies have shown conclusively that the longer someone is engaged in a recovery community, the greater the chance of achieving long term recovery.
Not at all! Every therapeutic community is different in its treatment approach and its’ structure. Rules may vary and focus may vary. The ratio of staff to resident can vary as well as age ranges and gender. The size of a facility may also differ.
It is important to make sure that the therapeutic community you or a loved-one is interested in is the right fit. Information can be found online or by speaking with the staff and taking a tour of the facility.
A therapeutic community and a drug or alcohol rehab facility have different philosophies for treatment and as a result, different program lengths. Drug rehabs focus on the physical addiction and offer a very intensive program where the goal is to overcome that physical addiction. A therapeutic community offers long term support with an emphasis on addiction-free living skills with training and support from professional counselors and therapists. The goal of the therapeutic community (TC) is to help residents overcome their addiction and thrive after they have completed their path to sobriety. The TC offers the social and life skills that are necessary to keep from slipping back to a life of addiction. Habits and patterns are addressed and changed and growth happens in a systematic and long-term program.
A therapeutic community and a drug or alcohol rehab facility have different philosophies for treatment and as a result, different program lengths. You can read why therapeutic communities have longer programs than drug rehabs here. Every day in a Therapeutic Community provides structure for residents. This develops a pattern of structure that recovering addicts may have lost during their addiction. Self-discipline and motivation are goals in the path towards sobriety. Each and every day is filled with house chores, meetings, therapy and group sessions, education, healthy meals, exercise, activities, job training/work and more. Each resident is part of the greater whole and as they live together, bonds, friendships and learning from peers and faculty help create structure in their own lives.
There are so many drug rehabilitation programs across the United States and many close to home, so are there any benefits of attending alcohol or drug rehab out-of-state? By removing yourself from your daily environment, you can be free of distractions on your road to recovery. At the Manor of Hope, we have residents from a few miles away in Pennsylvania, to New York, Maryland, Ohio, Washington, Massachusetts to across the country in California and down in Florida. It doesn’t matter what part of the country you are from, our post-rehab support program is one of th ebest and most comprehensive programs you will find for young men needing help with overcoming their addiction. It can be easier for our residents to concentrate on becoming healthy and immerse themselves in the program without distraction. That said, we have made parents, friends, and family a huge part of the Manor of Hope program and nurturing these supportive relationships can be transformative. We have many “get-togethers” throughout the year, for example: Father’s Day picnics, celebrating Christmas, golf outings, special meals and many more for extended families.
A successful outcome can often depend on the amount of time a person stays in treatment. An inpatient addiction treatment program is defined as a facility that offers residential services, like The Manor of Hope. This treatment is much different from an outpatient program because the resident is completely immersed in the program 24-7. All meals and activities as well as therapy are part of the program. The Manor of Hope is a Therapeutic Community, which is an inpatient support program that is focused on a long-term outcome. Most residential programs range in length anywhere from thirty to sixty to ninety days. The Manor of Hope’s program is very uncommon in that it is a twelve to sixteen month program.
An outpatient addiction treatment program is one in which a person may live at home, go to school or work and commit to rehabilitation services a few hours per day or a few days per week (depending upon the program). To participate in a program like this requires that a person has been successfully withdrawn from their substance of abuse. A person must be able to arrive at the meeting on their own accord and monitor their addiction recovery on their own.
Because everyone’s situation is different there is no “better” addiction treatment. If a person has struggled with addiction for a long time, an inpatient residential treatment program will be more effective. If a person can not take the time to be part of a residential inpatient program, or leave their home or job responsibilities, then an outpatient program may be best.
The differences between sober living houses or halfway houses and therapeutic communities are significant. Historically, the term half-way house was in reference to a residence or house setup for people recently released from prison; a place to give them time to integrate them back into the general public. These houses offered a safe place to learn skills and to adapt to the challenges of reintegration into society. Now we are finding that many of these halfway houses are serving people in recovery or those who are seeking a supportive place for sober living.
Halfway houses focus on reintegration back into society and teach the fundamentals of becoming a law-abiding and productive citizen. Basic skills are taught by life coaches or staff members and include job coaching To this end, halfway houses tend to offer more help with job searches, assistance getting to work, financial management and other life skills needed to survive in today’s society.
A therapeutic community is focused not only on basic reintegration into society, but more importantly on the emotional aspects of personal growth: intensive therapy to determine the root cause of their disease, development of healthy attitudes and behaviors and education in healthy and sober living. These skills are taught and reinforced by staff and professional therapists and also by residents within the community.
At The Manor of Hope, we apply a holistic approach to recovery. Our goal is to educate, motivate and guide our residents daily. Exercise therapy, yoga, meditation, art therapy, financial aptitude, computer skills, job appropriate placement, healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle, are incorporated into our program. By completely absorbing our residents in a program of healthy and structured living each and every day, our residents unlearn the behaviors of addiction and learn to live a life substance free.
Both therapeutic communities and drug rehabs have distinct models of treatment. Both feature a residential facility for the treatment of addiction. A drug and alcohol rehab facility generally has shorter periods (30, 60, 90 days) of extremely intensive professional therapy and enforced sobriety whereas, a therapeutic community incorporates an extended period (12-18 months or more) of therapy and structured living.
The Manor of Hope’s therapeutic community (or TC) model assumes that the resident has successfully completed detox and chooses the Manor to get support for continuing sobriety and to learn essential life-skills to overcome addiction for a lifetime.
Drug rehabs may give privileges of unsupervised time or let the resident out for a few hours during the day to work whereas, within a therapeutic community like The Manor of Hope, every resident is under supervision 24-7. The Manor of Hope’s Building Futures program does allow residents to work after 90 days at the Manor. The Manor hand selects small, vetted businesses that provide safe, drug-free environments in which residents acquire tangible skills they can use after they’ve left the Manor. We have more information about the difference between a Therapeutic Community and a Drug Rehab here
A therapeutic community (TC) is a participatory, group-based approach that improves the likelihood of long-term recovery. Substance use disorders often erode social functioning, education/vocational skills, and positive community and family ties. Thus, recovery involves relearning or re-establishing healthy functioning, skills, and values as well as regaining physical and emotional health. Some TC residents may have experienced highly disordered lives and may never have acquired functional ways of living. For these people, Manor of Hope may be their first exposure to an orderly life, and recovery for them involves habilitation- learning for the first time the behavioral skills, attitudes, and values associated with functional and healthy living.
Manor of Hope uses a highly regulated daily regimen with clearly stated expectations for behavior to help build or rebuild self-esteem and confidence. Manor of Hope focuses on empowering our residents by highlighting their strengths and building upon them.
Do you have a question about rehabilitation or about the Manor of Hope’s addiction program? Please use our form below and we will add your question to our list or directly reply to you.
Submit your question to the Manor of Hope