A drug treatment center, commonly known as a rehabilitation center or a clinic, is a place specially designed for the treatment and rehabilitation of drug addicts. Through the expert care of the medical professionals and specialists employed there, these centers help addicted people to cope with their mental and physical problems and find a way of returning to a normal life. Generally they help the drug addicts through medical help and psychological therapy. In addition, these centers also provide counseling to their family and close friends so that they can understand the situation better.

There are many drug treatment centers all over the country and throughout the world that follow this concept. They treat their patients according to their physiological and psychological needs. Each and every drug treatment center has some difference in the type of programs they offer. However, the basis of all these programs is generally the same.

Drug rehab centers generally are the following types: outpatient center, residential drug treatment center or inpatient center, long-term drug treatment center, adolescent treatment center.

An outpatient center offers several important services. These include medication, individual counseling, group therapy and different types of life-skill education. They also schedule a normal life-hour around the patients and oblige them to follow a timetable. Minor or moderate degrees of addiction can be treated and cured through the programs at outpatient centers.

For severe addiction, treatment at a residential or inpatient drug treatment center is advised. Residential treatment makes it easier for the addicted person to follow treatment in a positive and healthy manner in a drug-free environment. This assists the patient to begin a new life rhythm and to get rid of their old lifestyle.

Long-term treatment centers, as the name suggests, are meant for providing long-term or life-long treatment to the patients. They are also for patients with severe or a long history of addiction. Treatment can stretch for a year or even more. Sometimes the patients may have to follow certain guidelines for a lifetime to avoid a relapse.

Adolescent treatment centers are meant for providing treatment exclusively for teenagers and pre-adults. Young people from this age group experience a lot of physical and mental changes. This is quite a precarious stage in life and they are highly susceptible to drugs at this point of time. They need special care including suitable therapy and counseling. Adolescent treatment centers serve this purpose.

All drug treatment centers have certain general functions. The primary aim is to help an addicted person overcome his or her addiction and return to a happy and normal life. These centers provide physical, mental and emotional support to a recovering addict. They administer the best de-addiction medication to help the patients quit drugs. They devise special programs like individual and group therapy, counseling, meetings and social outings. It is considered as a great opportunity for the recovering addicts to interact among themselves during different activities.

Detoxification of the body is one of the major medical functions of a drug treatment center. Detoxification or detox is the process of removing harmful substances from the body and cleansing the body of all traces of drugs. When a patient undergoes this process it is generally followed by withdrawal symptoms in them. To counter these debilitating symptoms, the patients are subjected to other aspects of the treatment in addition to medical remedies. They are provided very good nutrition and made to do light physical exercises.

The detoxification process is strictly supervised by medical professionals. Regular counseling and therapy sessions are conducted with the patients who undergo this process. The therapy and counseling can be done individually or in a group. If needed, family sessions are also conducted.

These days, most drug treatment centers also try to develop life skills of the patient like social interaction, handling pressure and coping with stress. They also assist them with issues like finance and job placement, which assures their adaptation to society. The treatment given to the patients let them live more confidently after recovery.

The success rate of the recovery programs is dependent on the willingness of the patient. No recovery program can be successful without the consent of the patient.

¨Yasmin¨ first contacted me several months ago asking for help to come off crystal meth, or tik, as it is known in South Africa. She had seen my advertisement for stopping smoking hypnosis with EFT, and she wanted hypnosis for her addiction. I advertise my services as hypnosis with EFT, or I call it Advanced Hypnosis, as EFT, which stands for Emotional Freedom Techniques, is not really known in Cape Town, where I work. Anyway, last week and after many emails and promises to see me, Yasmin finally made that first brave step.

Well, actually, she had made that first brave step about three weeks ago, when she started using only on alternate days, totally of her own volition. However, she just could not stop and was plagued with cravings. Drugs can sap anyone of money, and Yasmin is a single parent, so I am seeing her at a fraction of what I normally charge in return for writing her story. I am truly grateful for this opportunity to help, and even the first session left us both feeling very optimistic.

In taking Yasmin´s details, she said that she had first started with tik when she had her baby a few years back. The baby kept crying and stayed up all hours. Her boyfriend at the time suggested tik so that Yasmin could cope, and the rest was history. I then asked her what number out of 10 of craving for tik she had at that moment, and she answered a 5.

Yasmin asked me if hypnosis was indeed the best route for her, and I explained that hypnosis only achieves relaxation, and it is the treatment we do in or out of trance that actually does the work. I briefly explained EFT and that I would do the EFT tapping on her as she was lying down, in a hypnotic but fully awake sort of way, and that at the end of the treatments, her reward will be a deeper hypnosis relaxation.

Yasmin lay on the couch. I made sure she was comfortable, and also covered her for warmth, as people can get chilly when they relax. I sat behind her head, and explained that I will be tapping on the Top of her Head, her Eye Brow, Side of Eye, Under Eye, and Collarbone. I tap in feathery strokes gradually moving between the points tapping all the way in a continuous movement. I do this for two reasons. One is that it is reasonably comfortable for me in that position to concentrate just on those points, and another is that it feels nice for the client.

I started with a progressive relaxation in the waking state as I tapped continuously on Yasmin, in order for her body to relax gradually but surely, from her head to her feet. Somewhere along this process, I asked if the craving was still as five, and as she thought of it, what image did she get in her mind. Yasmin said that it was, and the image was of smoking it in the toilet at work. Once we had reached the feet, I started the treatment.

I tapped continuously as I started the EFT statements. I started with an Ericksonian story. Erickson, the great hypnotist, helped his patients by telling them a therapeutic story using metaphor. The story was about two girls in a club who had just taken a cocktail of drugs and were rushing (high). They were doing the usual drug-talk and started by saying how good they felt. One girl then said that she felt sorry for normal people (people who do not take drugs), because they will never get the opportunity to feel this good. In a flash of clarity, the other girl said: ¨But what if normal people always feel this way, what if they don´t need drugs to feel this good?¨, and that was a turning point in the first girl´s life. She realized that what her friend had just said somehow rang true, and there must be a way to feel that good naturally. She just had to find it. And she did.

I then carried on tapping to the following statements.

• “Even though you can imagine yourself smoking in the toilet, you can accept, love, and forgive yourself anyway”
• “Even though when the baby was crying, tik was a solution, maybe the baby was just trying to communicate something, or maybe she was just very active. You found a way that helped you stay up, and have more energy, and concentrate, you found a way that worked. Even though it has become the problem, you can accept, love, and forgive yourself, and allow yourself to move forward.”
• “Even though you can imagine yourself smoking in the toilet, you can love, accept, and forgive yourself anyway, even if you don´t totally buy into loving, accepting and forgiving yourself.”
• “Even though you have this tik craving, you can accept yourself anyway.”

I asked again for a craving number out of 10 (SUDS), and it was 0. I then suggested to Yasmin that the next time she gets a craving, she can go to the toilet and tap, and reassured her that I would show her how. Having earned her reward, Yasmin then happily went into a hypnotic trance to a peaceful paradise Island, where she relaxed even further. I then awakened her and gave her EFT homework. She took two; one for emergency cravings, and the other was to tap as she read the Serenity Prayer.

Yasmin must have been happy with the EFT. She asked about Reiki, and I said I can use it instead of hypnosis next time, combining it with EFT, and she was happy with that suggestion. Our work continues next week.

It is great that Yasmin found EFT. She has no option of going into rehab, because despite the chaos that the tik had caused in her life, she manages to hold down a job and has a relatively good relationship with her family, who would probably abandon her if they found out. Going into rehab would mean that she would lose her job and family, and EFT is giving her control over her life now. She is not dependent on a rehab program. She will soon not be dependent on me either. And she has a technique to help her with cravings in-between sessions. EFT is empowerment.

Even though there are no explicit testing rules applicable on employees but a drug free environment is very important. Stats show that almost 70 percent employees are found under the influence of drugs and alcohols and are abusers of these addictions. Drug testing is an important factor required especially in the workplaces and it is for this reason that the practice of drug testing has been declared mandatory in most work places for the sake of security but also for the sake of work force efficiency and productivity. Many companies also under take Re-employment drug testing methods for a safe hiring phase. This way they ensure that the company is following standards when it comes to factors like integrity, discipline, professionalism etc at workplace by ensuring a drug free environment. Drug testing whether post or Re-employment has become an important process in many organizations as it helps keeping away employees who are in the habit of drug abuse from joining the organization.

This way the organization benefits a lot as it helps save costs that are lost in employee health care and compensation given to drug abusing employees. Drug free and healthy work environment promotes positive traits like productivity, professionalism, discipline, integrity etc. Employees who are in the habit of drug abuse decreases productivity, corrupts the environment of the workplace it also promotes negative traits and unprofessional activities. It is the responsibility of employees to undertake drug testing methods for the safety of other people. Many work places implement dot drug testing methods that make testing even simpler and more authentic.

Dot drug screen has a set of rules and procedures which ensures accurate results and proper procedures. Under the Dot procedure which includes random testing, the employers are randomly put to a drug and alcohol test which can point to the abuse habits of any employee who will be caught without guard. Employees should be regularly tested and at least the count of tests undertaken for each employee should be four times. It is noticed that removing drug addicted employees improves productivity of other employees and reduces workplace accidents. Apart from that drug testing is an effective tool which can ensure a drug free and healthy environment at workplace, enhance employee productivity etc. This way the company can cut down on the costs which are related to health care and other medical treatments which are invested for employees who undertake drug abuse.