Phase III (Weeks 10-12):
The Journey Continues

Purpose

The purpose of this final phase of the twelve-week program is to help you maximize your capacity to successfully transition from the safety and supervision of a structured treatment setting back to the community, prepared to assume full responsibility for your recovery. Our twelve-week length of stay is consistent with research by the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), which concluded that for most individuals, “the threshold of significant improvement is reached at about three months in treatment.”

This time frame correlates with the most challenging period of post-acute withdrawal, which can continue for weeks or months after you complete medically-supervised detoxification. Active addiction dramatically changes brain functioning in the areas that govern thinking, feeling, and behavior. During post-acute withdrawal, when the brain and body are beginning to heal and rewire themselves to adjust to living without substances, difficulties in thinking, concentration, judgment, memory, sleep, appetite and mood are quite common. The discomfort of post-acute withdrawal is a driving factor in the relapses of many people during early recovery. A twelve-week length of stay has the additional benefit of providing therapeutic shelter until the storm of the most severe symptoms of post-acute withdrawal can pass. We want to give you the best possible chance to continue your recovery.

Philosophy

Like any structure, your recovery will only be as strong as the foundation on which it is built. Phase III assists you in solidifying the foundation of your recovery by providing you with expanded opportunities to practice your new recovery-oriented lifestyle in a setting where positive changes in your thinking and behavior can be nurtured. Moreover, your emerging attitudes and behaviors can offer positive models for newer clients. In Phase III, you are allowed additional privileges, such as off-site passes and attending twelve-step meetings with your temporary sponsor. This gradual, progressive, and supervised reintegration into your family and the community gives you the ability to process difficulties as they are encountered, while in the safety of an intensive inpatient treatment environment.

Click here to download our brochure on Phase III