subject: Drug Rehab For Women [print this page] Addiction: The great equalizer Addiction: The great equalizer
Drug addiction is a chronic disease that, if untreated, destroys the lives of those it affects. The disease of addiction pays no mind to gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or any other outside identifier - it affects people from every walk of life.
Despite the fact that these identifying factors do not decide who becomes an addict, they can subtly influence the way that addiction affects a person. In the case of gender, the differences are pronounced. Drug and alcohol addiction has a detrimental effect on both men and women, but the specifics are distinct, making drug rehab for women a separate endeavor than drug rehab for men.
The female addict
Women who have a long history of drug abuse generally have not led easy lives. Studies indicate that 70 percent of such women have suffered physical or sexual abuse, some of which may have led indirectly to the initial use of drugs, and other of which may have resulted from the unhealthy lifestyle that tends to come with drug addiction. Low self-esteem and depression, which are also prominent in women who abuse drugs, are similar in that they manifest as both causal agents and consequences of drug abuse.
Drug rehab for women
Too often, drug-addicted women do not receive the help they desperately need, in part because the prospect of entering drug rehab for women can be intimidating. As with all addicts, coming out into the open as a person who needs help feels vulnerable, and poses the risk of judgement by friends, family, coworkers and community members.
Though the disease of addiction is grave, and it is difficult to admit to needing help, women who have lost control over their lives due to drugs and alcohol have the chance to start over by entering drug rehab for women. Safe Harbor Treatment Center, located in Costa Mesa, California, utilizes a multilateral approach to help drug-addicted women get their lives back. Through a combination of structured therapeutic groups, individual counseling, 12-step meetings, and opportunities to cultivate healthy life skills, Safe Harbors treatment program allows women to heal and reinvent themselves.
Gender-specific treatment:
Why it works best Until recently, it was presumed that drug rehab for women was essentially the same process as drug rehab for men. By neglecting the opportunity to talk about the female experience of drug addiction and alcoholism, treatment programs give women the impression that issues like abuse, eating disorders, and sex and love addiction are separate problems. This is not the case. All unhealthy behavioral patterns are linked to the disease of addiction, a disease which causes unhealthy modes of thinking and action.
Safe Harbor Treatment Center aims to fully embrace its role as a drug rehab for women and women only. Safe Harbors treatment program addresses not only substance abuse, but the multitude of ways that addictive thinking can sabotage a womans life. In most cases, addictive thinking shows itself early in life, long before a woman ingests her first drink or drug. Group and individual therapy sessions help women to identify early patterns of unhealthy thinking and behavior, helping them to understand that the disease of addiction needs to be treated from the roots up. It is only by acknowledging and working through core issues that thought patterns can be reformed, and it is only by reforming thought patterns that a woman can hope to eliminate drugs from her life forever.
