What Happens After Outpatient Treatment?

Planning for Discharge

Discharge and aftercare planning involve multiple healthcare providers from various fields working with the individual and their loved ones. This approach is used to ensure that individuals are offered a smooth and successful transition back to the community and their new normal. Aftercare planning is build on the individual’s personalized treatment plan as well as the following components

• Assessing and addressing physical, psychological, and social needs
• Defining goals and steps for ongoing recovery
• Identifying further treatment options, including therapy, support groups, and healthcare
• Locating potential options or community resources for stable housing, such as sober living facilities 
• Locating job placement services or vocational training options
• Providing guidance on financial management and connecting with financial assistance programs, if needed
• Evaluating and maximizing the individual’s support system and fostering open and honest communication within
• Developing a relapse prevention plan that outlines steps to take in case of relapse
• Addressing legal issues by locating potential resources and connecting with criminal justice agencies

The overall goal is to provide resources and comprehensive support to help those in recovery establish a happy and stable life by addressing essential ongoing needs, including psychiatric care, housing, financial stability, and a strong support system. 

Sober Living

Sober living homes provide a transitional environment intended to support those who are in recovery from addiction. These facilities provide a safe, secure, substance-free setting where residents can practice and refine the skills they’ve learned needed for living independently. 

Features and benefits of sober living housing include:

• Transitional living space to help residents in recovery gradually regain independence
• Substance-free environment with adherence to sobriety strictly enforced
• Peer support, sharing, and encouragement fostered in a community setting 
• Established and predictable rules, scheduling, and expectations for residents
• Recovery attendance meetings often required

The aim of sober living housing is to provide a structured environment to help residents establish healthy habits and routines that foster long-lasting recovery. 

Continuing Therapy

Continued therapy or counseling after outpatient treatment is strongly recommended for maintaining long-lasting sobriety. This provides ongoing support, helps prevent relapse, and addresses any underlying issues, such as depression, anxiety, or trauma that may have contributed to substance misuse. 

Common ongoing therapies include:

• Individual therapy — Provides one-on-one engagement with a trained therapist or counselor typically using an evidence-based psychotherapy, such as CBT
• Group therapy — Offers a community-like environment where peers can share experiences and learn from others
• Family therapy — Focuses on repairing relationships and fostering productive communication within the family unit
• Cognitive behavioral therapy — Focuses on how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are connected and offers effective ways of altering negative patterns of thinking
• Dialectical behavioral therapy — Helps individuals better regulate their emotions and behaviors and accept their present circumstances while working toward positive change
• Eye movement desensitization & reprocessing (EMDR) — Uses bilateral eye stimulation to foster healing from emotional distress from trauma or difficult life experiences

It’s important to remember that recovery is a lifelong endeavor and ongoing psychiatric care can significantly improve an individual’s likelihood of experiencing long-lasting sobriety. 

12-Step Programs

A 12-Step program such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or Narcotics Anonymous (NA) has served as a keystone of recovery for millions of individuals for many decades.1.2 These programs offer a structured approach to overcoming substance use and fostering a new life in recovery. Among their benefits include promoting a sense of community, providing sponsorship and accountability, and fostering spiritual growth.

By working through the 12 Steps, individuals learn to surrender control over their addiction, make amends for past wrongdoings, and develop new, healthier coping strategies. The focus on spiritual growth is intended to help individuals foster resilience and a deeper sense of inner peace.

Alternative Support Groups

Although 12-Step programs are the most popular form of peer support groups, many people new to recovery have found that an alternative such as SMART Recovery is better suited for them.3 Like AA and NA, this approach can also serve as an effective long-term support option. SmartRecovery focuses on methods that use components of both motivational enhancement therapy (MET) and CBT to promote the change of self-destructive behaviors. Other options include Life Ring and Secular Organizations for Sobriety (SOS).4,5

Alumni Program

Staying connected and fostering a sober, post-treatment community is an essential part of building a new life in recovery. Alumni programs offer ongoing peer support and are designed to help individuals maintain sobriety, prevent relapse, and foster long-lasting wellness. At Guardian Recovery, we offer an alumni program that promotes ongoing personal connections and offers a range of recovery-oriented activities and events throughout the year.

Events we regularly organize include:

• Group volunteer activities and community engagement
• Regular peer support group meetings exclusively for alumni
• Enjoyable activities, such as picnics and beach outings

In addition, we offer ongoing support through alumni-related social media groups. Many individuals who’ve graduated from our New Brunswick drug rehab program are still deeply involved in our alumni community years later.