Until you need one of the drug and alcohol treatment centers located in your community, you probably never even noticed they were there.  Or maybe you knew the place was there, but you’ve been ignoring it.

The truth is that not even the best drug and alcohol treatment centers can help an addict take back control over his life unless he wants help.  So if you’ve come to this website, that’s really the first step.  Whether you’re looking for help for yourself or a relative, keep reading.

Addiction specialists are generally social service counselors who work in tandem with medical doctors to provide the best treatment options for the clients who contact them.  These specialists have achieved at least a Bachelor’s degree, with many of them educated to the Master’s level or even beyond.  Most of them hold additional licensure and certification that can only be obtained by thorough knowledge of addiction medicine.

At the time of your initial contact, you’ll be scheduled for an assessment.  This is an appointment at which the health care worker interviews you about the length of your addiction, what substance or substances you’ve abused, and whether you have an abuse or a dependency diagnosis.  He or she will also help you understand what factors complicate your addiction, such as family matters or legal stressors.

Treatment centers typically are run by behavioral health or social service agencies.  There are many ways to find one that will meet your needs:

• Look in your community’s telephone directory under the headings for Social Services or Behavioral Health Agencies.
• Search online.  You should type the name of your city or town into the search engine, along with words such as Drug Treatment or Alcohol Treatment.
• Call your local hospital and ask for the names of drug and alcohol treatment centers or programs.  If the person who answers the phone cannot help, ask to be transferred to the Social Services Department.
• If you can only find the name of one treatment center, call it.  If you’re a woman and the place only treats men, the chances are very good they will know of a place that can help you specifically.
• Many communities operate Help Hotline numbers.  If one of these operates in your area, call and tell them what you’re looking for.
• In the United States, you can check with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).  Their number is 1-800-662-HELP (4357).  Or you can visit http://www.findtreatment.samhsa.gov/ to locate drug and alcohol treatment centers in your location.
• In Canada, visit http://www.canadiandrugrehabcentres.com/ to find services in any province.
• In Australia, look for http://www.adin.com.au/content.asp?Document_ID=38#nt, where you can choose your territory or state.  You should also visit http://www.ancd.org.au/links/getting-help.html, which is the website of the Australian National Council on Drugs, for the phone number of the Alcohol and Drug Information Service in your area.
• If you’re in Ireland, you can find information about drug and alcohol treatment centers at http://www.addictionireland.ie/about/default.asp.
• In England, visit http://www.rehab-online.org.uk/ for a directory of programmes maintained by the National Treatment Agency for Substance Abuse.

Alcoholics Anonymous is a great place to start for a person with any kind of addiction.  AA brings people to the realization that they cannot control their addiction and that it has, in fact, begun to control them.

The worldwide link for this organization is http://www.aa.org/pages/en_US/find-local-aa.

And if you seek a program outside of the United States or Canada-anywhere from Brazil to Australia-visit http://www.aa.org.

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