The Changing Face of Christian Addiction Rehab

Over the years, as our knowledge of the effects of substances on the body and how to treat disorders of the human mind has increased, addiction treatment has changed for the better. Not only have mainstream approaches to treatment become better able to help patients, but Christian addiction rehab has also changed and improved vastly in the past several years. If you or a loved one are in need of addiction help, you can be confident that there is a successful Christian treatment program available to help you overcome this addiction.

What’s different about Christian addiction treatment today? How can you be sure a faith-based approach can provide true healing? We’ve summed up the answer in five points below:

Better Integration of Treatment Options

First and foremost, effective Christian rehab programs now combine spiritual guidance and renewal with medical knowledge and practices. It wasn’t always this way. In the past, Christian programs were viewed as lacking substance, denying the benefits of proven medical methods, and being strictly for the overtly religious. Religious treatment programs of the past were more social and peer-based for those willing to submerse themselves in a certain teaching.

Today, Christian treatment programs do a great job of integrating faith-based and clinically based approaches. For example, studying God’s word, learning His will for our lives, and following His guidance are effective for redirecting and healing a person spiritually, but for most people with addiction, additional intervention is necessary. Proven therapies with a Christian direction, as well as medication at times, are vital to treating the addict.

Christian treatment programs today also offer different levels of care, from outpatient therapy, to partial hospitalization, to residential treatment. Designing a faith-based treatment plan for the individual’s unique needs helps improve results and decrease relapse. We know that for complete healing, an individualized, holistic approach is best, and that’s exactly what Christian rehab offers today.

Better Qualifications

The face of Christian drug and alcohol rehab is also changing because facilities are recognizing the benefits of hiring experienced, credentialed staff. While someone who has been through addiction and recovery themselves has practical knowledge of how to work with the addict, and pastors and spiritual leaders certainly can provide godly guidance, utilizing trained and experienced addiction professionals as well yields even greater results. Again, using a combination of resources – experts in recovery as well as experts in God’s word – makes Christian treatment programs much more effective today.

Today, at a faith-based program, you can expect to see a combination of spiritual leaders, medical staff, and licensed addiction professionals all working together with the client to help them achieve sobriety. Each of these professionals brings their own expertise to the treatment program, and together provide a multi-faceted approach to recovery.

Christian treatment centers themselves are also going through more rigorous assessments and reviews. Whether it is through licensing or accreditating organizations, through local or state government, or simply through previous patient reviews, Christian treatment centers need to show they offer effective, high quality programming in order to be respected in today’s world. This means you can find out exactly what your rehab center offers and what level of care they provide before even enrolling.

More Accessible through Insurance

Christian recovery programs are more common today, making them more accessible to those who really need it. They are more widely recognized as an effective option for recovery by both referring physicians and by the medical field in general. Christian rehab is also more affordable because of different options like insurance benefits. In fact, many insurance companies will now cover treatment offered at certain faith-based rehab facilities. This is due to the renewed focus on offering high quality programming, and the understanding that there are many different pathways to recovery, involving physical, social, and spiritual growth and renewal. Addiction recovery is a complex process, one that requires multiple disciplines, and insurance companies will now allow policy holders to choose programs that are the best fit for their needs, including those that are spiritual. Be sure to check with your insurance company to learn about your benefits.

More Widely Accepted by Society

Not only are insurance companies and referring physicians more accepting of the idea of Christian drug and alcohol rehab programs, but society in general is also recognizing the effectiveness of such programs. Addiction treatment has come a long way in the past 15 years and is more respected by the public, and this is especially true about faith-based programs. Even individuals who do not consider themselves religious are able to see the advantage of going to a faith-based program which offers integration of various proven techniques and spheres of healing. Christian drug rehab is not exclusively for the religious anymore, because a spiritual approach, when combined with clinical methods, serves as a framework for true recovery of any person’s entire being.

Open to All Religious Backgrounds

While Christian drug programs of the past became their own society of like-minded believers, today Christian rehab is more open and welcoming. Christian addiction treatment is not just for the practicing Christian. Its benefits extend to people of all religious backgrounds, and even to those who do not consider themselves religious. Everyone, despite their faith life, has a spiritual component to their being, and experiencing the growth and healing a Christian perspective provides can lead to a more complete recovery. As humans, we have an innate knowledge of right and wrong, and it is natural to experience guilt and turmoil over the weakness of addiction. Spiritual guidance helps restore peace to the individual and encourages renewal and revitalization. Most Christian rehab programs will welcome individuals of any religion who are open to learning from the teachings presented to them, and most individuals who enroll in a Christian treatment find their recovery is much more complete than it would have otherwise been in a secular environment.

Christian drug rehab continues to develop and change for the better. By combining spiritual, social, and physical healing techniques, faith-based programming addresses the person’s entire being, helping them learn the background of their addiction and providing real solutions for sober living. Recovery is not a struggle we need to go through alone. With the help of a recovery community and through the forgiveness and guidance of a loving God, we can put addiction behind us and begin a new life.