Preparing For The Rehab Treatment That’s Right For Your Needs
Sometimes, there are points in life where a change may be needed. That can be with our finances, relationships, and our health.
You may need to change your diet or take on an exercise routine. For some people, the need to make a change may be more behavioral or with an addiction.
When you reach the point that you need to make a change in your life and rehab is on the table, many questions can be swirling around in your head.
Questions abound, such as, what about my friends and my family?
What about my job?
What will I do with my pet?
While these are all important questions, getting the help you want and need is most important at the end of the day. With proper planning, you can relieve the stress of preparing for rehab so that you can focus on what’s most important: starting the journey to recovery.
Preparing Work And Your Family
When preparing for a rehab treatment program, the most important thing to do is be honest with your family, friends, and colleagues.
Being secretive can create the potential for misunderstanding and a possibility for you to relapse due to social triggers that you were around before your decision.
To be honest with your family is the most important thing. Be truthful about why you decided what you hope to accomplish, and leave them with the understanding that this is something that is important for your health.
Is there a stigma associated with treatment? Yes, sadly, that’s true. But by being honest with the people most impactful and essential in your life, you can help reduce some of that stigma for when you return from your program, helping you reacclimate to your life.
Being truthful means informing your employer about your decision, your need for treatment, and the approximate time you plan to return to work. Check with your employment terms, as you may have unpaid leave or personal time off available depending on your employment agreement and the state in which you reside.
And with work colleagues, only mention what you’re most comfortable sharing, but let people know that you’re looking to take some leave to focus on your health.
Planning Your Pet Care Or Consider Including Your Dog In Treatment
In addition to preparing your friends, family, colleagues, and employers, you must make plans for any pets you may have.
Depending on the type of treatment program, such as outpatient or in-patient clinical programs, you’ll need to create a plan to care for any pets you may have.
If you go the treatment route without your dog, consider asking a friend or family member to look after your pet. Just remember that it may be a difficult time for them as well, having just gotten the news about your decision for treatment, and you don’t want to make them feel obligated or obliged.
Another option is to find a professional dog sitter or pet watcher. If you hire a pet sitter, you’ll want to find a reputable one. Here’s how:
- Find one that has a wealth of experience and credentials
- They have a list of reviews on social media
- Are they available to meet your expected time frame
- They are willing to share contacts of past or current satisfied clients
- Ask questions about their philosophy and strategies for pet-sitting
- Introduce them to your pet and see how they interact with them
- Trust your instincts
In some circumstances, because your pets are vital to your well-being, some treatment facilities may encourage you to interact with your pets as much as possible.
Research suggests that pets, especially dogs, can provide crucial emotional support for individuals in treatment, so you can alleviate the stress of finding a pet sitter by finding a program that allows individuals to include their dogs in their recovery.
When preparing for your recovery, it’s important to review different treatment facilities, like a rehab that allows dogs and will incorporate them into your recovery efforts.
A rehab that allows dogs will have specific activities and meetings to include them, but remember that these are services and aspects of your treatment program and not a dog-sitting service for when you’re in treatment.
Many programs don’t have support staff to handle dogs long-term, so research the program and see their options.
Managing Your Finances And Obligations
The good news is that you’ve realized you must change your life. Taking action and following up is next, leading you toward recovery.
The unfortunate side of entering into rehab is that life doesn’t put itself on hold.
You still have bills to pay and other obligations to uphold. When you begin to prepare for rehab while taking care of your loved ones and pets, setting up a system to pay and handle your obligations is the next phase of your preparation.
You can consider setting up auto-pay for specific bills. Perhaps put a notice to stop mail delivery when you’re in treatment. Contact your health insurance to see what treatment options are covered and what may have to be paid out-of-pocket.
If you have mandatory obligations such as court appointments, you’ll need to communicate with those authorities so that you’re not behind during and after your program concludes.
Making the decision to seek treatment doesn’t mean you must go it alone. Research the treatment options available, including if you can have your pet dog as an emotional support animal in your program.
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