According to most people who are suffering from addiction, there seems to be little or no hope for recovery. The rate of drug and substance abuse has persistently risen over the years. Drug and substance abuse affects more people currently (Rawson). Luckily, there exist a large number of trusted, reliable rehabilitation facilities which gives hope to minimise the effects of drug and substance abuse. Rehabilitation is aimed at providing the subjects with the necessary means of fighting addiction, recovering from its effects and living a healthy life after. However, rehabilitation is not a onetime treatment, but it is a demanding process that needs a proper approach to counter. There exist some rehabilitation centres with each having their approach method towards addiction treatment. Though the approach differs with the facility, there are two main treatment methods that are adopted by most successful addiction treatment facilities; the 12-step rehabilitation program and the non-12-step rehabilitation program. Deciding which rehabilitation centre to might be difficult, but it’s easier to begin by deciding which program is the best for you.
The 12-step program
This is one of the commonly adopted approaches towards treating addiction. The 12-step recovery program is based on integrating the philosophies of both Alcoholic Anonymous(AA), and the Narcotics Anonymous(NA) programs are which are run through personal and community controlled treatment meetings ( Desertcoverecovery.com). It involves working through a set of 12 guidelines aimed at bringing change in the addict’s life. One of the main step(step 1) is personal admission to being powerless over Alcohol, and that life has become unmanageable (Lucida).
The specifics of treatment vary with the venue of treatment; whether in A rehab centre or a public place. However, the 12-step program focuses on three main things; social responsibility, commitment and acceptance. The 12-step program is a philosophical approach focusing on admitting that you’re a problem and you are powerless over it, willingness to take social responsibility and seek help from others, and committing to the treatment by regular participation in the program (Ireta). The program takes community as a sole motivator towards self-addiction treatment and helping other addicts.
Other addiction treatment programs have emerged from the 12-step rehabilitation by supplementing the 12 steps. For example; Desert Cover Recovery 12-step program works towards convincing patients that nobody is perfect, and each makes mistakes at some point in life. They demonstrate that personal improvement can be achieved through courage and motivation despite addiction making you feel powerless. All you need is accepted then you can work on amending the wrong done and live a healthy life after ( Desertcoverecovery.com).
Non-12-step
The 12_step program is a social therapy and not individualised. Non-12-step recovery programs aim at individualising treatment along with providing group supports. The method is also called a smart recovery approach and focusses on personal responsibility to action to change and improve yourself.
The treatment program focusses on a holistic approach to drug and substance addiction. The main areas addressed by this program are; Physical and emotional parts of addiction and improving the addict’s determination and confidence in his or her life ( Desertcoverecovery.com). The recovery program starts by going through the holistic and scientifically monitored process and move towards eliminating the drugs or substance one’s body. Secondly, the process handles the physical resilience of the drug/substance abused and proceeds to regain shape by providing the necessary nutrients (Services). Finally, the program goes to after recovery services; provision of mental and emotional aid to subjects and the person will be ready to live a drug or substance-free life again.
The SMART (Self-Management and Recovery Training) provides support through the recovery process and still provide structured support after recovery. In contrary to the 12_step AA/NA program, SMART recovery is not religious thus comfortable to all types of people regardless of personal spiritual denomination. It concerned with self-empowerment, recovery encouragement and tools for self-change (Services). Also aimed at providing educational meetings on prescription medication, mental and psychological treatment
Figure; SMART recovery process (Services).
The non-12 step recovery program combines both SMART recovery and holistic address to the background reasons for addiction thus moving past the 12-step program (Services). For example; the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy(CBT) is aimed at providing a primary address to the thoughts and feelings that induces the urge for drug and substance abuse. This is conducted by professionals thus safe ( Desertcoverecovery.com).
12-step vs non-12-step programs
There are a variety of differences between the two addiction treatment programs. Many Rehabilitation centres will have their ways of incorporating the steps thus offering different philosophies in the same programs. Mostly, the two differ in the following ways; Treatment and recovery focus
The 12-step program is a social-driven treatment approach which is aimed at helping yourself recover by helping other. Its main focus is group treatment and forming a community of addicts who in turn help themselves. The program does not check the causes of the addiction but rather, the addicts are encouraged to avoid the drugs or substances and amend the effects for them to live a healthy life (Ireta). The main advantage of this is that many addicts feel powerless over the addiction and cannot fight it alone thus by focusing on community, acceptance and interactions amongst the addicts will provide better comfort and strengthen the subject.
On the other hand, Non-12-step program treatments are primarily individualised, and its main area of concern is self-treatment and addressing personal flaws and improvement instead of focusing on restarting your life. The program may sometime focus on holistic approaches which involve physical, mental and spiritual concerns. It is also aimed at finding the root cause of addiction to remove and ensure that it will not happen again (Services).
Rate of recovery
Since 12-step programs do not attend to addicts at a personal level, their effectiveness remains low. Research conducted showed that about 7% success rate is achieved in 12-step programs (Rawson). The main reason for this being associated with the one-size-fits-all in the program for example in the Alcoholic Anonymous(AA) approach. With the same success rate most people still adopt it since it’s straightforward and at least there is a chance for recovery. On the other side, Non-12-step programs showed a success rate of up to 60% (Rawson). The main reason for the high success rate being individualisation of the addict’s needs.
Subject Care
The 12-step program does not give individualised support. But instead, assign each addict another recovering addict or a recovered addict as a partner who in turn act as his or her primary aid. The partners are not professionals and lack experience and qualifications to monitor an addict though they do understand the challenges faced by an individual during the recovery process. Despite the level of qualification of the partner, the addict finds it comfortable working with someone in his or her degree. For Non-12-step treatment approach, treatment approach is much individualised, and additional group therapy may be provided to provide auxiliary aid to the addict (Lucida). Addicts are assigned a professional therapist who will address his or her problems and look into the deep root causes of addiction.
Cost and Availability
The 12-step rehabilitation programs are relatively free and readily available. For example; Alcoholic Anonymous (AA and Narcotics Anonymous(NA) are run on a voluntary basis thus open to the addicts at any time. Though Hybrid 12-step programs need to be paid for, they are still readily available. On the other hand, the Non-12-step treatment programs require an appointment and are costly. This is because the non-12-step programs are individualised and run by professional therapists. Their cost depends on personal specifications while their availability varies with the location of the addict, but still one can get one centre easily.
Conclusion
As seen, both the 12-step and the non-12-step recovery programs are aimed at getting addicts to quit drug or substance abuse thus choosing one plan over the other may largely depend on your own needs and interest. There are some programs attempting to combine both 12-step and non-12-step programs to get advantages of both. Research showed that combining the two will probably increase the rate of recovery and success rate. An example of a rehabilitation centre is the Desert Cove Recovery centre attempting to implement both 12-step recovery and the SMART recovery ( Desertcoverecovery.com).
References
n.d. < https://desertcoverecovery.com/blog/12-step-rehab-vs-non-12-step-rehab/>.
Comparing 12-Step and Non-Step Models of Addiction Recovery - IRETA | Institute for Research, Education " Training in Addictions. n.d. .
How Effective Is 12-Step Vs? Non-12-Step Recovery? | Lucida Treatment Center. n.d. .
Rawson, RA. Pubmed Research. California, n.d.
Services, Elevate. Non 12 Step Rehab Center in California | SMART® Recovery Programs. n.d. < https://elevaterehab.org/experience/non-12-step/>.
