Usually, when people talk about drug rehab, they are either referring to in-patient drug rehabilitation at a 24-hour facility or they are simply referring to the plethora of options available to people seeking professional help for substance abuse disorders, such as alcoholism and drug addiction. I will use Florida Springs Wellness and Recovery Center in Panama City, Florida as a baseline to talk about different treatment options because Florida Springs offers the widest array of programs that I have seen in the Florida Panhandle vicinity. Every person looking for drug treatment options in Panama City or anywhere else in the country for themselves or a loved one has an incredibly important decision ahead of them. Every individual is different, and this is especially true for people with substance abuse issues. There are people who have been using for vastly different lengths of time, with different drugs, and at different frequencies. People have different life circumstances that make a difference when choosing a program.

I will now talk very briefly about each program that is commonly offered at the best facilities, including all drug abuse treatment offered at Florida Springs Wellness and Recovery in Panama City, FL. Detox, or drug detoxification, is the 3 to 10 day period when a person is supervised by medical personnel and given medication if needed in order to rid the body of alcohol and drugs of abuse. Detox is often the first step for people that later enter another treatment step. Partial hospitalization is an intensive program aimed towards keeping a person sober long term, which involves daily work, but does not require the patient to live at the facility 24 hours a day. Residential treatment is often what people are referring to when they say, “drug rehab”. Florida Springs, my employer, is a residential treatment facility in Panama City, Florida that also offers every other type of treatment that I mention in this article. Intensive outpatient treatment and outpatient counseling are similar, but intensive outpatient, or IOP for short, is a more robust plan of action with more days of the week and more requirements in order to complete the program successfully. Outpatient counseling takes the least time each week, as little as one or two sessions, but is usually reserved for those who have already completed another program. However, anyone who needs outpatient counseling can seek that treatment option. Telehealth, or Telehealth Aftercare, is a treatment and counseling regimen that is completed from the comfort of home over a computer with an internet connection, and Florida Springs has led the way in offering this service to clients that prefer that route. Medication-assisted treatment is when people who are dependent on a substance and will go through withdrawal if they stop cold turkey, are helped by medical staff to come off of the drug of abuse slowly over time. If you need more information on any of these programs or help of any kind, please visit FLASprings.com and seek contact information from the great staff in Panama City.

By Tim Cannon