drug rehab in Atlanta Georgia

Often called the Hub of the South, Atlanta continues to be one of the most desired cities in the country to relocate to. With the busiest airport in the world and major Interstates that connect all corners of the state, it is also one of the nation’s most connected cities.

Unfortunately, Atlanta also faces serious substance abuse problems, much of which is still not being openly discussed enough. While there are instances such as the Heroin Triangle special report, there is a distinct lack of drug recovery programs, supportive services and public discussion about dealing with the epidemic on a local level. The whole state of Georgia desperately needs good residential treatment options for residents struggling with drug or alcohol addiction issues, as well as outpatient rehab in Atlanta which could be an easy commute for many with access to the city. 

Substance Abuse Treatment in Atlanta

Only recently have more alcoholism treatment program in Atlanta providers recognized this as being such an under-served community. The Atlanta metro area has roughly 6 million people and rising! Finally, more drug rehab programs such as Centered are opening to be able to help those in need. Finding the right outpatient rehab center in Atlanta for you may be difficult at first, but it is always possible. 

A quick search online will result in a few programs, and some are listed at the SAMHSA directory, but there are plenty of outpatient rehab options that aren’t easily found in either place. This may be due to the fact that there are some newer programs which haven’t been listed yet or may not have the budget to advertise to a wider audience. 

If you are looking for addiction treatment help for yourself or a loved one in the Atlanta area, please feel free to contact us today. Even if Centered is not the right program for you, we are always happy to help connect you to other local resources that may be a better fit. Reed Smith, the Director of Client Services as well as the rest of the admissions team at Centered take great pride in being a resource for the best residential treatment options in the south as well as the best outpatient addiction treatment facilities in Georgia. We have lived and worked in the Atlanta area for years and are well aware of the various treatment options for the Atlanta metro area and beyond, including the types of facilities, programs, and reputations of the addiction treatment centers in the surrounding areas. 

Preparing for Outpatient Treatment

Outpatient treatment Atlanta detox

Before you can enroll in an outpatient treatment in Atlanta, you must meet a few criteria. You must be medically cleared to enter outpatient treatment which means you should have already completed any withdrawal/detox from whatever substance(s) you were using, likely under medical supervision at a hospital, a standalone medical detoxification center, or as part of a residential treatment stay. This is for health and safety reasons as outpatient treatment does not usually include intensive physical health monitoring on a regular basis.

Detox facilities provide around the clock medical care for their patients because the process of eliminating alcohol and other drugs from the body can be medically dangerous if not monitored and managed by qualified medical professionals. There are physical, mental, and emotional symptoms that may occur. These symptoms vary from person to person, however, they can be more pronounced depending on the type of substance used, the amount, and the length of time of use. A person’s age and general physical health can also play a role in the severity of symptoms that a person experiences during detox.

The withdrawal process from alcohol and other substances may include:

  • anxiety
  • shaking hands
  • headache
  • nausea
  • vomiting
  • insomnia
  • sweating
  • hallucinations
  • confusion
  • racing heart
  • high blood pressure
  • fever
  • diarrhea
  • muscle tension
  • muscle cramps
  • hot and cold flushes
  • irritability
  • restlessness
  • delirium
  • seizures

Qualified medical detox professionals will provide as much comfort as possible during the detox process, including proper nutrition, regular physical assessments, and potentially medications which can help ease the symptoms of withdrawal. Patients are not able to be mentally attentive to counseling sessions or addiction treatment programming until they feel physically more stable and comfortable, so this is an important step that must not be skipped.

Outpatient Treatment at Centered

Outpatient Drug Rehab Atlanta Centered

Since Centered only provides outpatient addiction treatment services, it is common for people who need stabilization to first attend a medical detox facility and short-term residential center before admitting to our program. A short stay in a residential addiction treatment facility can help provide extra stability for a patient who has just completed detoxing from alcohol or their substance of choice. This allows patients to regain their appetite, get their sleep schedule back on track, and begin to feel more alert and focused so they can mentally participate in outpatient programming. 

While detox and residential treatment can provide the foundation for a successful recovery, much of the stabilization and framework for lasting success is found in outpatient treatment. Most patients are slowly transitioning back into their “real life”, engaging with family, friends, and careers that may elicit stress or triggers that patients in early recovery may find insurmountable. Outpatient recovery provides crucial support during this early recovery period, to help patients accept and deal appropriately with life’s stressors in a healthy way. Centered combines intensive educational groups on mindfulness, habits, and emotions with skills-building and therapeutic process groups to provide a complete body, mind, and soul transformation as part of our outpatient rehab program. Along with medical oversight from our Medical Director and individual counseling sessions from skilled clinicians, patients are able to learn the real reasons for their previous struggles and respond to situations in life with healthy responses rather than unhealthy reactions. 

Call 1-800-556-2966 today for more information.

Atlanta Drug and Alcohol Use

Although the state of Georgia generally has a lower level of substance abuse rates compared to national averages, those rates do increase when looking at Atlanta specifically. For example, there are more than 20,000 annual calls to the crisis hotline related to alcohol, and it is the most commonly reported substance abused, with marijuana being a close second.

Cocaine use was once very prevalent in Atlanta, though its use decreased for a while before seemingly starting to make another comeback in popularity. Methamphetamine use exploded around the city more than a decade ago before starting to taper off, but it is starting to rise once again as new combinations are introduced to people who use. For example, some people have been known to take opioid drugs or consume alcohol in combination with methamphetamines in an attempt to increase the “high”. There are also reports of people using marijuana or sleeping pills in combination with methamphetamines to combat the sensations of “coming down”. 

As with most other parts of the country, prescription drugs and heroin have been the substances wreaking the most havoc around Atlanta, especially considering the number of lives lost. Atlanta and the surrounding metro communities have been dealing with record numbers of overdose deaths year after year. Over a five year period, from 2012 to 2017, the deaths attributed to heroin increased exponentially, from 40 to 263. Deaths involving synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl, one of the strongest opioid medications known on earth, rose from 61 to an astonishing 419 during the same five year period. The largest number of opioid-related overdose deaths were attributed to prescription opioids, totaling at 568. 

Atlanta Drug Rehab Treatment

As long as residents of Atlanta and the rest of Georgia continue to struggle with alcohol and drug addictions, we will need quality, top rated addiction treatment in Atlanta to help provide the necessary education and treatment to potentially save a life. Centered Recovery Outpatient Alcohol and Drug Addiction Treatment in Roswell will continue serving north Atlanta metro residents in person as well as Georgia residents elsewhere virtually in an attempt to help create a stronger, healthier community for all. Whether you live near our Roswell location or not, you can participate in meaningful recovery with Centered that will help you not just survive addiction, but thrive in life. Centered has been providing effective mindfulness-based treatment to Georgia residents for years and has the best reputation among treatment facilities because we put clients first. 

If you are ready to move beyond addiction and start living the life you were meant to have, give us a call today at 800-556-2966 to speak to a member of our admissions team. Sobriety is within you, health is within reach. Centered can help you find it!