The 3 Questions Every Mother of a Drug Addict Should Be Asking About Addiction Treatment Centers in Florida

As a mother, it can be devastating to learn about your adult child’s struggles with addiction. It can be hard to know where to look for help or how to judge whether Florida treatment centers have the expertise and skills necessary to effectively treat your child’s disease. You may be unsure of which questions to ask. There are three questions that you should ask about any treatment center: how long does the program last, does it teach coping skills, and does the facility measure recovery.

How long does the treatment center’s program last?

Many support groups distinguish between short term and long term treatment programs. The degree of physical addiction, emotional addiction, and length of use can all affect the time needed for your adult child to achieve sobriety. When assessing whether a center is right for your child, it is important to ask about the length of their programs. Many individuals require more than 28 days to achieve stable sobriety.

Does the treatment center teach coping skills?

Defeating physical addiction will only be the first step in your child’s journey to recovery. After treatment, he or she will reenter the real world with all of its joys and challenges. It is therefore pertinent that he or she be ready and able to cope with stresses, sorrows, challenges, and emotional turmoil without turning back to drugs or alcohol. As you talk to potential treatment centers in Florida, ask each director about how they help prepare residents for reentry into their communities. Ask about what coping skills they teach and how they are taught.

How does the treatment center measure recovery?

Finally, all treatment centers will share information about their success statistics. It is important, therefore, to understand how each treatment center measures its success. Do they consider completion of the program success? Are they assessing for continued sobriety one month, one year, or multiple years after the program has ended? Are other factors, such as the ability to work or increased stability at home considered when measuring success? There is no perfect bar for measuring success. It is important that the center’s measure for success matches your and your adult child’s expectation for success.

Addiction is scary, especially when it is your child’s addiction. By asking these three simple questions, you can gauge whether a particular Florida treatment center is right for your child.