It is a fact that just getting drug or alcohol detoxification is not enough. You can’t just dry out and expect that everything is going to be fine from this day forward. Without counseling and education to learn how to manage stresses and life changes without self-medicating with drugs and alcohol, the cycle will continue to be repeated. Thus, it is important that the Baby Boomers who go into treatment remain in treatment after alcohol or drug detoxification. The only way treatment will be able to prove effective is if they stay in the program tailored for them through completion.
Some individuals may do well in a 30-day or short-term detoxification treatment program, while others with chronic substance abuse may need a treatment program lasting 60 days or even longer. Aftercare or continuing care programs are also important to help ensure long-term effective sobriety. Family programs can help others in the household learn how to support the Baby Boomers post-treatment as they begin recovery. There is no guarantee that treatment for substance abuse detoxification will be effective with Baby Boomers, just as there is no guarantee that treatment will work for any other age individual. What is known is that without detoxification treatment, substance abuse will only worsen along with the complications and consequences associated, and this is particularly true with older adults.
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Relapse Prevention
What happens during the relapse prevention phase of treatment for Baby Boomers as they are overcoming substance abuse? According to SAMHSA, a successful relapse prevention treatment approach utilizes the cognitive-behavioral and self-management intervention in a counselor-led treatment setting to help older adults overcome substance use disorders. Treatment modules should consist of the following:
An analysis of substance use behavior
The first module consists of having the individual learn how to analyze their behavior by looking at their substance abuse behavior patterns, what prompted it, the behaviors themselves, and the consequences associated with that behavior.
Learning how to manage social pressure
Refusal skills are an important method for individuals to use when social pressures create high-risk situations for substance abuse relapse. Here the objective is to teach the individual how to control their behaviors while still being able to socialize.
How to manage situations at home and alone
Learning how to cope with boredom and loneliness and manage leisure time is taught in this module.
How to manage negative thoughts and emotions associated with substance abuse
This module teaches the individual how to recognize repetitive thoughts and negative self-talk, how to interrupt those negative patterns and to find ways other than substance abuse to cope with mood changes.
How to manage anxiety and tension
It is important that the individual learn how to manage feelings of anxiety, ways to avoid situations that produce these feelings, as well as skills on how to reduce those feelings.
How to manage anger and frustration
The importance of using assertive behavior to handle feelings of frustration and anger is taught in this module.
How to control substance abuse cues
This involves recognizing personal substance abuse cues as well as practicing skills on how to avoid those cues.
Preventing a slip from becoming a relapse
One slip doesn’t have to lead to a relapse, negative self-talk can be replaced with positive self-talk, and self-management skills and requests for help can be used to avoid a relapse.
