Concerned friends and relatives, as well as patients themselves, often do not fully grasp what Drug Rehab Centers are really like. In many cases they may visualize a frightening, mysterious medical facility. But they are anything but frightening and mysterious; they are specifically designed to surround patients with a relaxed, quiet, easygoing atmosphere. Every part of the process is made perfectly clear to each participant so that they can easily apply healing techniques in their own lives, all while enjoying the caring, protective environment a drug rehab center provides.

This is not to say that these Drug Rehab Programs are ineffective, or that they are nothing more than a sunny walk in the park. Despite their pleasant aspects, they do attack addictive behavior from every angle. Among other things, these programs will monitor your eating habits and they include a support staff that is highly trained in nutrition, so that you will be privileged to receive expert medical advice on how to best nourish your body as you purge it of addictive substances.

Addiction Treatment at Cliffside Malibu involves much more than just a physical problem. It is standard practice for centers to offer psychiatric counseling so that patients, no matter what their background or mental state, can enjoy the luxury of a caring and trained professional who is always ready to listen to whatever they might want to say. Having a friendly ear and a helping hand in these situations has been proven an essential part of the healing process.

Counseling is available for other things as well. Most addictive substances cause emotional distress in the immediate family. Family programs offer you and your loved ones the chance to talk through your issues and make a fresh start together. A place where family atmosphere can be developed is at your mandatory support group. Here, you can talk through anything, knowing that everyone in the circle understands exactly where you are coming from. At every step, you will be equipped with the necessary tools to live permanently substance-free.

Each Drug Treatment Center is going to be different in its own way, so if you or a loved one is considering this path, it is best to research each option thoroughly. No matter what you are looking for, it shouldn’t be too difficult to find the best match for your needs. Treatment centers can be found in hundreds of locations all across the country. Customized centers often include extra treats—for example, you may discover that one center has a spa option, while another specializes in gourmet meals, and yet another center may have lots of outdoor recreation available, such as tennis courts or nature hikes. Some centers such as Cliffside Malibu combine all of these features to provide you with a truly well-rounded and enjoyable healing experience. Most of all, rest assured that no matter which Drug Rehab Center you choose, you will be treated as a person first and an addict second.

I can remember those nights, the nights before I realized I was an alcoholic. Sitting at the bar telling myself that I’ve worked myself to death all day and that the 8 hour day was only the beginning to what I was going to see this week. Since it was only Monday, I told myself I was going to take it easy and not have too many. Then I began to think about everything. My boss, my co-workers, the work I had sitting in front me waiting on my desk for the day tomorrow. With that, the drinks began to flow a little more freely. I thought it wasn’t that bad a deal, what is one more drink after all? That was the worst thing I could tell myself. By the end of the night I was closing the bar down, I had spent more than I had planned with my account already bordering the bottom. At that point I knew I was facing an issue.

I was tired of waking up the same way day after day. Broke, not feeling well and wondering when it was going to end. I kept telling myself I had it under control and in the long run I could not have been more wrong. Addiction treatment was going to be my only option. It was just finding the right place to help me battle the demons I had running through my mind and defeating the ones that had consumed my body.

Just like everyone else I had told myself over and over again, “I don’t need alcohol rehab. I can beat this on my own.” The problem was that it had consumed me enough that even the best self-help book or seminar wasn’t going to lead to a solution. I was going to need something deeper than just an AA program. I needed something more than a group of people just talking about their problems and wondering if they were in the right place to find help.

An alcohol rehab center was going to be my only choice. I just had to find the right one. Low and behold, I found Sunset Malibu. More than just a rehab facility, their trained professionals were able to help me see both the inner lining of the problem I was dealing with, as well as getting me through the addiction. They were able to show me a better way of life, and had a great system to get me sober, get me to open up about why I turned to alcohol and help me to find healthier and better solutions to face my problems.

Growing up in a strong Christian home I was to some what of an extent sheltered. I was brought up to say no to drugs, no to sex (that is until married), no to alcohol, bars and anything that had to do with “evilness” in the churches eyes. My father and mother have been involved in ministry for over 25 years and now they are pastors of a church in the southwest. Before my father got involved in church or should I say walking the righteous path, he wasn’t so holy to say the least.

My Dad got into drugs and alcohol at a very young age. He is a great musician and has been playing the saxophone since he was six years old. So, by the time he was thirteen, he was sneaking out of the house at night time to go play music with his buddies. At a very young age, because of his talent and who he knew at the time, he was able to play in bars and night clubs until very late at night. He began to get involved with cocaine at a very young age, as well as marijuana and alcohol. My father was able to go places and do lots of things because of the connections he was making. He played in many different bands all throughout Detroit, Michigan and ended up recording with quite a few Motown recording artist’s such as BB King, Janis Joplin, The Temptations etc…

By the age of nineteen he was off to Las Vegas Nevada to begin a new life of fun, partying, and music. His Drug habits seemed to have gotten much worse. With a four thousand dollar a week cocaine habit his life was only headed one way, and that was towards destruction. I asked him if he ever considered drug rehab back then, and he said that he was too busy to ever get treatment and that drugs were a part of his life and somehow they intertwined with the whole musician/Las Vegas lifestyle. My father met and fell in love with my mother in Vegas.

During that time, she was performing in a couple of all-girl bands. So music was definitely what they had in common. My mother was never in to the whole drug thing however, she did consider herself to be an alcoholic. They got married and began to perform together. Discreetly, my dad was hiding the whole cocaine addiction from her and somehow managed to stay an addict until four years after I was born. I believe that if my mother knew about it then she would’ve encouraged my father to seek out a local drug treatment center. After finally realizing that my dad had a drug problem, she stressed the urgency of him getting addiction treatment.

Then, in 1979 it happened, there my father was on his death bed from what appeared to be a drug overdose. They removed four feet of his intestines and his esophagus was completely ripped in half. Drugs had eaten away so much of his insides that the doctors said that he only had a few days to live and that not even drug detox would save him. He claims that the next morning he saw a light in his hospital bedroom window and he heard the voice of God tell him to give up drugs and surrender his life to him, and from that day forward, my father did a complete 180 and changed his life around and his life was sparred.

He has been clean for almost 30 years now. This experience definitely sobered up my mother being alcohol free for almost 30 years as well. Today they are very much involved in ministry and in music, Drug and alcohol free. It’s comforting to know that they can have a long healthy life a head of them without fear of addiction. Now I know why my parents wanted to protect me from everything. So I wouldn’t fall into the path of a self destructing behavior.