No matter what form it takes, substance abuse treatment is a vitally important part of finding true recovery through confronting and overcoming the perils of addiction. But not every approach is the same. While many use similar clinical techniques, there are some that take a more spiritual approach, including those programs which fall under the umbrella of Christian rehab. But how, you may ask, does Christian rehab work?
In many ways, it works much the same as the average secular program. Licensed like a secular program, a Christian rehab program can use many of the same clinical techniques, from 12-step programs to group sessions and more.
On the surface, then, there’s not much difference. But dig deeper, and you’ll find a world of difference between the two approaches.
Secular rehab ultimately depends on the client to fight their addiction through their own willpower. The program can help the patient detox, can teach them coping techniques, can send them out into the world clean, determined and ready to confront life without substance abuse in the way.
But at that point it’s all up to the client to stay clean. Some will. But others won’t. Willpower alone is not always the best weapon against addiction, which is why many secular programs include group meetings, buddy systems and other accountability tools long after rehab is done to try and keep former addicts on the straight and narrow.
And addiction can be a seditious bedfellow. Even after you’ve shaken the chemical dependence on a substance, the psychological dependence can be tenacious, and can sometimes overcome even the strongest of wills.
Christian rehab takes a different approach. While clients will learn the same techniques to cope with addiction as those in secular programs do, Christian programs don’t expect their clients to rely on those alone.
Instead, a Christian rehab program brings a more spiritual approach to the issue of addiction. Clients are encouraged not to depend on their ability alone to resist addiction and temptation, but to lean on the power of God to push through the worst of times and find true recovery from addictive behavior.
A program such as Good Landing Recovery doesn’t proselytize, mind you. Secular patients are welcome and are under no pressure to convert. But each and every element of the program is saturated in a Christian worldview, in which Jesus is available to help take away burdens from those addicts who feel most heavily laden with them.
For many addicts, after all, addiction, even when seemingly gone, can leave a void behind in their life. Some will seek to fill it with other things, which can become destructive in its own right. Those from Christian rehab programs are encouraged to fill that void with Christ and find true recovery and healing from their addiction.
It works for many patients, too. Studies have shown that patients from Christian rehab programs are less likely to relapse than patients from otherwise similar secular programs.
What do you have to lose? If you or a loved one needs help with substance abuse, try a Christian rehab program such as Good Landing and see the difference it can make in a life, now and always.