Addictions Resources

I am far from familiar with the vast majority of the 11,000 programs around the country that offer treatment, so I am in no position to make recommendations about any one program, but I do know what I value about their websites and the Betty Ford Center’s is exemplary.Right on their program page you will find costs and what they cover. Never mind that they are too expensive for most of the people I know, the fact is that the cost is out there for all to see and I value that and if you’re looking for treatment you should too. What’s the use in taking the next step of making a phone call if there is now way that you could afford the program.

A second best option is a statement like the one De Paul Treatment Centers in Portland Oregon has that reads:

De Paul is a private non-profit agency governed by a volunteer board of directors. Support comes from Federal, State and county governments, public and private insurance and contributions from foundations, corporations and private individuals. Methods of payment for services include a sliding fee scale for all services, Oregon Health Plan and many private insurance plans, and Multnomah and Washington County-funded residential and outpatient slots.

At least from this I know they don’t have a one size fits all cost structure. I also have a pretty good idea that they are an affordable program for the less than wealthy.

If budget is a consideration in your decision for choosing a treatment program look for such statements on the websites of treatment centers your screening. However, know that most don’t do this and don’t rule them out for it, but do encourage them to add their cost structures to their sites.

Without a doubt, privacy policy pages and terms of use and condition pages represent best practices on the Internet. At the same time, alcohol and drug treatment centers should be among the institutions most concerned with privacy. This is why I find it so surprising that so many treatment center websites don’t have them or don’t make them easily visible. One treatment center site that I reviewed had pages for these with “coming soon” text. Those pages had Google page rank (Google’s scale for determining page reputation) of 6. Let me tell you, a 6 is not that easy to obtain so those pages had most likely been there for quite some time.

Once you do find a center site with a privacy policy look for language like the following:
1. This website does not collect personal information from your computer when you view this site.
2. “Cookies” are strings of text that a Web site stores on a user’s computer to facilitate their visit. This website creates a temporary cookie - one that expires when you turn off your browser.
3. When we ask you for personal data in any of our forms the information is transferred over a Secured Sockets Layer (SSL) line provided you are using an SSL enabled browser such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator. (Note: I still suggest you call the center rather than providing personal information online).
4.Patient and Alumni information is protected by the Code of Federal Regulations , Title 42 Part 2 and HIPA.

Not having an online privacy policy doesn’t mean the treatment center isn’t qualified, but it is worth noting and adding to your pile of information for evaluation.

If you are looking at a treatment center website and can’t easily find information about where the treatment center is located or the address, move on.

It’s not good enough that the drug or alcohol treatment center comes up at the top of a search saying “Nevada Drug Rehab…” that doesn’t mean that they have treatment in Nevada or whatever state, it only means they understand how Google, MSN, or Yahoo! machines work for indexing web pages. In fact, if you’re reading this post on the day I write it and you go out to and Google “drug rehab Tennesee” or “Drug Rehab Nevada” you’ll find the number one site for both of these (and I bet many more states) doesn’t tell you if they have a treatment center in the state only that you should call to find out. In this case they are a national outfit that I won’t name here, but they don’t have treatment centers in all the states they show up for. And believe it or not this is true for several treatment sites that show up at the top of such searches.

So what’s my problem with this? Simple, it’s less than transparent and that is not a good basis for a relationship that your health and ultimately your life could depend on. What other things aren’t they telling you? There is absolutely no reason, even if it’s a national treatment chain, that they can’t give you a list of the states and cities they are operating in.

Want to see a list of what addiction treatment centers exist in your city or state - simply pop over to this addiction treatment center directory and click on your state or any other state. Ignore the listings immediately under the “ads by google” text, go down to the table, find your city and those are the treatment centers in your state.

Of course, not all websites need to give a physical address / location, but I think it is a must when it comes to treatment center websites.

I am on the Internet a lot and I spend a lot of time thinking about what makes a good site. Lately, I’ve been thinking about what makes a good site for a treatment facility from a potential client’s perspective. Over the next few days I am going to tell you a few things I think make good sites.First, never give out personal information over the Internet. I know I said this in a previous post, but I can’t over emphasize it. Treatment centers will tell you that they will not share your information with any third party and that is all confidential, and you know what - for the most part I believe them. I don’t think 97% of the directors of those treatment facilities would ever share your information. The problem is that cyberspace is not that secure of an environment. There are way to many Internet miscreants trying to get personal and identifying information. I’ll go as far as to say that I think it is irresponsible of treatment centers to ask you to give information in this way and that it may be simple ignorance about cyberspace on their part, but if it isn’t and they are just being careless what does that say about the records they generally keep?

Okay, more tomorrow.

Let me just say at the start that this is not about whether or not people should attend treatment, but about what we call it and why that is important to all addicts, alcoholics and their family members.At least monthly if not weekly or even every couple of days a story hits the media of some actor or actress, athlete, talk show host personality, or Ms. America going to “alcohol or drug rehab.”

But why do we call it rehab. Lets think for a second about the term rehab. It’s derived from the term rehabilitate, which means what? Well, according to what is no doubt the most authoritative source on the English language Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, it means “1 a : to restore to a former capacity : REINSTATE b : to restore to good repute : reestablish the good name of.”

Is that really what it is all about. Restoring someone’s reputation, or reestablishing their good name? I am not even sure that it is about restoring someone to a former capacity, because let’s face it. In that former capacity are many of the factors that lead to the spiral of addiction.

Now I am not saying that there is a cure for alcoholism and drug addiction. Clearly at this time, there’s not. But, it is a disease and it may be the only disease that one goes off to rehab for. We don’t rehab cancer, diabetes, or coronary diseases. Why not, well because they are diseases. And we don’t rehab disease we “treat” them.

Imagine a news anchor saying “Today, actor (insert famous actors name here) was admitted to rehab for lung cancer.” You would never hear it.

When someone goes to alcohol and drug treatment the primary goal is to get treatment for a disease. A disease that is chronic and persistent and often deadly, in the way that many other disease are.

In the wake of addiction and alcoholism one often ends up trashing their good name and positive reputation, which need rehablitating, but before that process can start one needs treatment. Rehabilitation is another process alltogether.

Here’s a tip for pre-screening a treatment center via their website. See if you can find out if they are accredited. Some sites make this nice and easy Cirque Lodge, for example, has put their stamp from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) about half way down their home page on the right hand side.

Of course, not any accreditation will do, JCAHO and CARF Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities are both reputable and there are others as well. In addition, you can check with your single state agency contact though they may go by different names in different states these are the agencies that oversee alcohol and drug treatment liscensing in individual states.

Here we go again, another miracle cure treatment center for alcoholism and drug addiction. Can 10 days of amino acids really cure alcoholism and addiction?

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In our drug rehab program reviews we provide a summary of the program and invite you to write a review in the comments if you have attended the program.

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The marketing branch at drug maker Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals Inc., must have been slapping themselves on the back when this pharmaceutical company, which makes Suboxone / Bupernorphine, launched their Addiction411 MySpace page. Why the joy? Read the rest of this article »