Home » Therapeutic Community » What’s the difference between a therapeutic community and a drug rehab?

addiction recoveryBoth therapeutic communities and drug rehabs have distinct models of treatment.


Residential Facility: both therapeutic communities and drug rehabs 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 strives to make each and every day of a resident’s recovery full of daily activities and structured programs, read more about what daily life is like in a therapeutic community.

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.


If you’re interested in hearing some personal stories of Manor of Hope residents talking about their experience at the Manor and the Building Futures program, visit our Manor of Hope testimonials page