Just as each person has arrived at rehab from their path, riddled with distinct trials and tribulations, everyone offers a unique set of personal strengths that will prove the foundation of their future healing. At Gulf Breeze Recovery, we believe that holistic addiction treatment, tailored to the needs of the individual, is the key to lasting recovery and finding true happiness while living in sobriety. Call our team today at 833.551.2304 to learn about the many physical, emotional, and psychological supports we offer to ensure you, too, remain on the road to wellness.
What Is a Non-12 Step Rehab Program?
For nearly eight decades, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) remained the go-to model for most recovery programs. Although AA’s renowned 12 Step program has enjoyed a long tradition of helping members maintain sober lives, there are now multiple evidence-based alternatives to support individuals during rehab and aftercare.
Among these, mindfulness-based programs, which focus on overall healthy living and wellness, offer clients the most comprehensive support and the best opportunity to replace problematic habits with better coping mechanisms. These programs ask clients to focus on positive action to improve the overall quality of their lives, allowing them a blueprint for future positive decision-making. This model also allows the client to actively unearth the underlying causes of their substance abuse and maintains that they can thrive in sobriety only when those basic needs are met.
Benefits of Non-12 Step Rehab and Non-12 Step Treatment
There are a number of reasons why 12-Step programs do not serve all clients equally well. Some of the unique benefits of Non-12 Step rehab and Non-12 Step treatment programs include:
- Respect for an individual’s spiritual or secular preferences (Although the AA Charter labels the organization as nondenominational, many of its members equate the requirement to “acknowledge a higher power” as holding potentially religious overtones).
- The ability to cultivate increased personal agency and independence, both during rehab and in aftercare (12 Step programs require individuals to acknowledge they are powerless over substance abuse, which may not apply to each individual’s relationship to drugs and alcohol)
- More flexibility in structuring customized treatment plans (12 Step programs demand strict adherence to the originally outlined protocols).
- Reduces the inherent shame implied with anonymity (Allowing individuals in recovery to choose whether or not they would prefer to remain anonymous).
- Alternative plans do not require individuals to self-identify as an addict or a person who can never permanently heal from a substance abuse problem (Known as the disease model of recovery).
- Permits the option of pharmaceutical supports such as Naltrexone or Acamprosate to be used when and where deemed appropriate by licensed physicians (Whereas AA relies strictly upon abstinence and group accountability as tools to promote sobriety).
- Allows for talk therapy as one of many potential therapeutic measures, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or Neurofeedback Therapy performed by clinical experts (Instead of limiting individuals to peer-based talk therapy).
In addition, non-12 Step programs can better account for the needs of clients with co-occurring conditions, who are in treatment for multiple dependencies, or who are healing within a residential program. They also do not require members to continue to attend organized group meetings for life, which may prove a prohibitive barrier to some.
Learn More About Non-12 Step Rehab at Gulf Breeze Recovery
At Gulf Breeze Recovery, we see each of our clients as individuals with specific wants, needs, and assets that should be capitalized upon to promote their overall wellness. Call our team today at 833.551.2304 to learn more about our many successful treatment options, and allow us to begin finding the right course of treatment for you.