San Antonio Drug and Alcohol Treatment—Managing Your Options

Maybe you live in San Antonio and prefer not to add the excess stress and expense of travel to the already daunting prospect of seeking addiction treatment. Maybe you commute to San Antonio for work every day and have always admired Alamo City’s aesthetic or history, and want to experience that environment for your rehab journey. Or, maybe there just aren’t any good treatment options where you live—and you appreciate the multitude of choices a bustling city like San Antonio can offer.

Whatever the case, finding a San Antonio-based drug and alcohol treatment center is not the difficult part of seeking treatment; you’re hardly ever more than fifteen minutes from a rehab clinic, no matter where in the city you go. Choosing between all of those options, however, may be a bit more of a challenge.

The key to this decision lies in establishing lines of direct communication with your top prospective treatment centers. Admissions representatives can help you better understand both their rehab facility’s options and whether it will be the best fit for you.

Contact an Addiction Treatment Facility

Even if you’re comfortable with phone calls in general (and many people these days are not), calling up an addiction treatment facility can seem a formidable undertaking. It requires speaking to a complete stranger about an incredibly personal matter, one that you may be still coming to terms with yourself, and that can prove an understandably difficult hurdle to overcome.

However, speaking directly to a staff member of a facility you’re considering can tell you much more about that facility’s amenities and treatment programs than you can glean simply from scanning their website or brochures, such as:

• Whether the information you’ve gathered is up-to-date. Many facilities use the same brochures for years, and just as many fail to update their websites regularly. Start by fact-checking what you’ve read so far to ensure that their offerings still line up with what you are looking for.
• Specific details that may not be accessible elsewhere. These are details that may change from day to day or may only matter to a fraction of prospective clients. For example, most facilities will boast nutritious meal planning, but few will share the exact details of their daily menus—and whether they can accommodate special dietary restrictions—outside of a direct inquiry.
• How well you, or your loved one, will be treated at this facility. Your call should be received with compassion and respect. If the admissions representative is rude, unhelpful, or judgmental, it may be time to move on to your next choice (though you may try asking to speak with someone else on the staff first).

To make your call a little easier to conduct, have a list of questions ready ahead of time to refer to while you’re on the phone. Keep in mind that the admissions representative may ask you questions about your personal circumstances and history of addiction. You are not required to answer these questions if you are not ready to yet; you can ask for information about a facility without providing any personal information of your own. However, keep in mind that the purpose of these questions is to help the representative determine what level and type of care you will most benefit from and whether their facility is equipped to provide that.

Organize Your Addiction Treatment Options

Whether you take notes during or after a call, do take notes. It can be all too easy to forget minor or even major details of a conversation, particularly if you find the experience stressful. Whether you prefer to scribble things down or leave yourself a voice memo, take notes in a way that will help you remember not only the facts but also the experience of speaking with a staff member, as well as how you feel overall about the facility. This is particularly important if you’re still comparing two or more potential San Antonio drug and alcohol treatment centers.

Did the information you receive line up with what you read or heard about them before your call? Does their facility offer all of the necessary amenities to ensure your treatment experience will be a positive one? If you have any lingering questions, be sure to call or write back for more information.

Once you gather all of the information you need to make a decision, it may quickly become obvious which rehab facility is your best option. If it doesn’t, consider talking through the pros and cons with someone you trust, whether that’s a loved one or a medical professional (perhaps even the admissions representative you spoke with in the first place). Or, write them out—putting your options, and all of their benefits and disadvantages, down on paper can help clarify things and pave a path to a clearer choice.

San Antonio Drug and Alcohol Treatment is Just a Phone Call Away

Like all journeys, your journey to recovery will not begin until you take the first step forward. It may not be an easy step to take, particularly if you are still struggling to accept the idea that you may need help. It is, however, a vital one—and once taken, will bring you one step closer to wellness and a future to which you can look forward with hope.

Evaluating your options for San Antonio drug and alcohol treatment will take time, patience, and a bit of effort. Taking clear notes and relying on the expert help of admissions staff members who can help guide your search will make it that much easier, however, to choose wisely.