Key Takeaways
- Overcoming addiction requires professional treatment due to the brain’s chemical dependency on dopamine and the underlying effects of past trauma.
- In considering inpatient vs outpatient rehab, inpatient rehab is often the first step in treatment for its detox programming and 24/7, structured care.
- Outpatient rehab provides a step-down level of care for continued treatment while living at home and resuming regular life.
- Sana at Stowe, with its comprehensive addiction treatment programs, is here to help you start your addiction recovery journey.
Does your loved one need substance abuse treatment? If so, you’ve likely come across inpatient rehab and outpatient rehab in your research. Each of these treatment stages is equally important—and equally different. So what’s the difference between inpatient vs outpatient rehab? And what should your loved one expect in each rehab experience? Understanding this information is vital to helping your loved one start their recovery on the right foot.
At Sana at Stowe, a luxury residential detox and treatment center for substance abuse located in Stowe, Vermont, we offer a full continuum of care for addiction recovery, including inpatient and outpatient rehab. No matter where your loved one is on the recovery journey, we can help them break free from their struggles and reclaim their life.
Inpatient vs Outpatient Rehab: Why Go in the First Place?
In exploring the difference between outpatient vs inpatient rehab, what’s the point of going to rehab at all? You may be wrestling with this question as you consider the finances, time, and resources required to commit to treatment. Why can’t your loved one just quit their substance? Couldn’t they just learn better self-discipline and make healthier choices?
If only it were that easy. Unfortunately, achieving sobriety isn’t about willpower, self-discipline, or better choices alone. Behind the scenes, addiction comes as a result of the brain’s chemical dependency on the dopamine generated by your loved one’s substance of choice.
As your loved one uses drugs or alcohol, their brain releases dopamine, indicating that the experience is rewarding. This dopamine rush drives your loved one to use substances again and again, until they develop a dopamine tolerance. At that point, they need to use more drugs or alcohol in greater frequencies to recreate those pleasurable feelings. This heightened regularity, however, can lead your loved one to become addicted. And due to the brain’s chemical dependency on dopamine, it’s hard to quit substances on your own (and sometimes dangerous).
Underlying Trauma and Addiction
In considering inpatient vs outpatient treatment, there’s also the added layer of trauma tied to addiction. Ongoing drug or alcohol abuse is often rooted in the lingering effects of unresolved past trauma (even childhood or generational trauma). In fact, about 3 out of 4 people with a substance use disorder have experienced trauma in their lives, according to the National Governors Association.
The effects of trauma can drive your loved one to use substances to cope in the first place. And the sad part is that substances only provide temporary relief, driving your loved one to use again and again when trauma’s effects persist. Therefore, if your loved one is going to achieve long-term recovery from addiction, they need to overcome their past trauma as well.
These underlying struggles mean that addiction isn’t something anyone can overcome on their own. They need professional help in addiction treatment. But looking at inpatient vs outpatient rehab, where should they start in rehab?
Inpatient vs Outpatient Rehab: What is Residential Treatment?
When participating in addiction treatment programs, most people start their recovery in inpatient treatment (also known as residential treatment). Like our inpatient treatment at Sana at Stowe, this begins with onsite detox and withdrawal management. This process involves the safe, supervised removal of the substance’s toxins from the body. Your loved one receives around-the-clock support to navigate the ensuing withdrawal symptoms that come from stopping substance use.
Once detox is complete, your loved one continues into residential treatment. In comparing inpatient vs outpatient rehab, residential or inpatient treatment is a live-in program for addiction and mental health disorder recovery. Your loved one lives at the residential treatment facility long-term and full-time. They receive 24/7 care and supervision throughout their recovery during residential treatment.
With residential treatment programs, clients live with others who are also on their recovery journeys. This helps everyone build a mutual support system and camaraderie in a caring, intentional environment away from distractions or addiction triggers.
At Sana at Stowe, our residential treatment program addresses the root causes of your loved one’s addiction. Taking a trauma-focused approach to treatment, our rehab programming includes:
- One-on-one counseling
- Group therapy
- Couples and family counseling
- Trauma counseling
- Wellness and holistic care
The Benefits of Inpatient Treatment
In comparing outpatient vs residential treatment, residential treatment programs offer unique advantages in the early stages of recovery. Some of the key benefits of inpatient treatment include:
- Community and support systems: Residential treatment allows your loved one to build a support system with others staying at the facility. They aren’t alone during the process because others with similar goals surround them. The medical team supervising and conducting treatment also provides immense support.
- Evidence-based treatment: Sana at Stowe relies on evidence-based treatment to develop personalized care plans for individuals on their recovery journeys. Residential treatment allows more intensive therapy sessions to ensure your loved one receives the care they need to overcome their addiction’s root causes.
- Safe withdrawal process: If your loved one is detoxing or going through withdrawal, staying in a monitored facility with professional support ensures they receive the care and treatment needed to keep them safe while experiencing unpleasant withdrawal symptoms.
- Structure and routine: A regularly structured routine is essential to help your loved one through long-term recovery. Residential treatment provides the structure necessary to sustain their recovery throughout treatment and empowers them to maintain their sobriety after the program ends.
Outpatient vs. Inpatient Rehab: What is Outpatient Treatment?
When your loved one completes inpatient treatment, their next step is to enroll into an outpatient treatment program. In outpatient rehab, your loved one visits a facility to receive treatment but then returns home after the session. With outpatient treatment, individuals are involved in a part-time program that offers more flexibility in their lives so they can keep up with work, school, and personal responsibilities.
Outpatient rehab may have treatment sessions every day or a few times a week. Regardless of how many meetings there are, your loved one goes home once the sessions are over. Alternatively, they may temporarily stay in a sober living home if that’s a safer option for their recovery. Outpatient treatment is usually a fit for those not requiring intensive care because their addictions are not as severe (or they’re further along in recovery having completed residential treatment).
The Benefits of Outpatient Rehab
In comparing outpatient vs. residential treatment, outpatient rehab helps your loved one maintain and build upon the recovery tools they learned in residential rehab. As a step-down level of addiction treatment, the benefits of outpatient therapy programs include:
- Greater flexibility: With outpatient rehab, your loved one can schedule sessions based on their availability and personal needs. This flexibility gives them greater independence and the opportunity to resume normal life during treatment.
- Living at home: Your loved one is allowed to live at home and be at home every day during outpatient treatment. For many, the ability to continue treatment while living at home gives them extra built-in support and encouragement from loved ones.
- Practical tools for long-term recovery: Outpatient rehab teaches your loved one healthy coping strategies and life skills for managing your recovery in everyday life. And because they’re living at home and resuming work, they can practice these skills in real time.
- Continued support in the real world: When inpatient rehab ends, there’s still more work to be done in recovery. Outpatient treatment allows your loved one to more easily transition into regular life with further treatment in tailored levels of care, including partial hospitalization programming and intensive outpatient treatment.
Start Your Recovery Journey at Sana at Stowe
Ultimately, whether you or your loved one chooses residential or outpatient treatment is up to the severity of the diagnosis and which program will be most beneficial. At Sana at Stowe, we can help you determine the best path forward, and we’re here to support both you and your loved one each step of the way.
Our New England-based addiction treatment and dual diagnosis treatment programs address addiction at its source, not just outward symptoms. Taking a comprehensive, holistic approach to care, we can help your loved one find healing in their mind, body, and spirit. That means they’re equipped to stay sober long-term and achieve their full potential. To get started, call our admissions team today.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is dual diagnosis treatment?
According to the Cleveland Clinic, a dual diagnosis means you have both an addiction and mental health disorder at the same time (also called co-occurring disorders). A dual diagnosis treatment program, like ours here at Sana at Stowe, can treat both disorders simultaneously, allowing you to receive comprehensive healing.
How long does residential treatment last?
Residential treatment programs vary in length of stay (especially due to the severity of the addiction), but many average about a month or so. Our residential treatment program at Sana at Stowe is 35 days.
