Residential rehab for alcohol is a controlled environment where everyone who is admitted for treatment gets searched first. This is absolutely critical because then there is no chance for relapse while the alcoholic is in rehab. The person is guaranteed to stay sober. This is a small blessing in itself, one that makes residential worthwhile. You can’t get this level of control with other forms of treatment.

In inpatient treatment, you get to meet a group of peers and actually get close with them. This is much different than meeting a group of peers in outpatient therapy or even in group therapy. The connections and the relationships you form in a residential rehab setting are much more deep and meaningful than they are with other forms of treatment. Living with your peer group changes the nature of the therapy (and the quality).

When a client is wrapping up their stay at a residential drug rehab, they have the luxury of having a therapist work with them and find them a good aftercare plan for when they leave rehab. This is not the case with other forms of treatment. For example, the therapist might send them to long term treatment, or outpatient rehab, and so on.