Traveling for Treatment
Of my son’s multiple rehab visits, all but one were relatively local. By local, I mean within the state of Michigan, which is where we live. But it wasn’t until he went to treatment 2,300 miles away from home that real progress was made.
When you first find out your child has a drug problem, chances are you don’t know exactly what to do. I know my wife and I didn’t. That’s the nature of the beast. Often times a child’s addiction sneaks up on you and grabs you before you even realize what’s happening.
For most people—myself included—the first inclination is to find a treatment facility close to home. You want your child to get the help they need, but you also want it to be convenient. Let’s face it: Being able to drop your loved one off at treatment with minimal hassle and being able to visit them easily are two positives people see in the local option.
Well, I’m here to tell you that the local option is not necessarily the best option. Choosing a rehab facility for your loved one shouldn’t be about convenience. It should be about what’s going to be effective and make a difference in their life.
The last time my wife and I sent our son to treatment, we were all set to send him to a local hospital he had been to a few years earlier. That facility didn’t produce any magical results, but it was…convenient. Unfortunately—or so we thought at the time—they didn’t have any beds available. So we had to seek out an alternative.
A Google search directed us to Michael’s House, a treatment center in Palm Springs, California, that specializes in co-occurring disorders, which our son had (addiction and depression). Michael’s House looked to be the perfect place for our son, but my wife and I wondered how on earth we could send our son so far away for help he could possibly get just a few miles from home.
Long story short, after a couple of phone calls our son was on a plane to Palm Springs two days later. And you know what? It was the best decision my wife and I ever made with regards to our son’s addiction.
I think a lot of people tend to look at only the pros that apply to local treatment, and only the cons that apply to “distant” treatment. A local facility is close by and something they’ve probably heard of before. A distant facility is far away and maybe totally new to them. But the fact of the matter is, sending a loved one on a journey to start their recovery has some tremendous advantages.
When your loved one goes to treatment far away from home:
- They know they can’t leave. Or that if they do, they’re going to be faced with being in a place where they don’t know anyone, don’t have a place to live, don’t have money, etc. So staying in treatment is the best option.
- They are far away from familiar places, habits, and people (including their substance-using friends). This helps limit the number of “triggers” they experience and also takes away their known sources for drugs or alcohol.
- They are in a totally new environment, and the change of scenery helps them relax, clear their head better, and focus more on recovery.
One more positive that my wife and I experienced had to do with phone calls from our son. While he was in treatment in Michigan, he would constantly call us and beg us to come pick him up and bring him home. While he was in California, we didn’t get a single call like that, because he knew us coming to get him was not a possibility. It may sound like a little thing, but the elimination of those emotional telephone calls allowed my wife and I to relax and finally start working on our self-care plans.
Is going to treatment in another state, or across the country, more expensive? Maybe. But many people don’t realize that most insurance companies don’t care where your loved one goes for help. That’s one thing that came as a big surprise to my wife and me. Our insurance company provided the same amount of coverage for our son’s California rehab as they would have if we had sent him to a place around the block.
After our son spent 38 days at Michael’s House, he spent two months in sober living in Palm Springs. Again, being far away from home was, I believe, a huge factor in him getting his life back on track.
So if your child or loved one has a problem with drugs or alcohol, and you’re shopping for a treatment facility to send them to, I urge you to explore all your options. I also encourage you to think outside the box a bit and consider rehab facilities that aren’t so close to home. Putting some distance between a person suffering from addiction and their “home base” for that addiction can be an incredibly beneficial thing.
If you are in recovery, or if you have a loved one who is in recovery, please consider sharing your story on the Heroes in Recovery website. By sharing, you can offer hope and inspiration to others while doing your part to help BREAK THE STIGMA.
You can share your story in one of two ways:
1.) Go to the Heroes in Recovery page, share your story directly, and let them know Dean sent you.
2.) Contact me on Facebook (Dean Dauphinais) and I can help you through the process. Or we can talk on the phone and I can help you write your story.
Also, please feel free to share this blog or leave a comment below. I’d love to hear any feedback you might have.
Peace.
–Dean