Drug & Alcohol Rehab in Netherlands

Although drugs like cocaine and heroin are illegal in the Netherlands, the country has a famously tolerant approach to drug use and possession.

Interestingly, despite the Netherlands’ reputation as a drug-friendly country, global statistics indicate a relatively low amount of drug abuse compared to other European countries.

The Netherlands ranks 83rd in the world in terms of opiate use, and 109th in terms of drug overdoses per year.

Some experts argue that this can be attributed to the tolerant drug policies in place in the country.

Whether or not this is the case, there are still a great number of people in the country that need help overcoming drug or alcohol addiction.

If this applies to you, the best thing that you can do is go to rehab.

At Rehab 4 Addiction, we can use our industry-leading expertise to get you into a private rehab in the Netherlands that meets your needs.

To get started, call us on 0800 140 4690 (if you are in the UK) or +44 345 222 3508 if in the Netherlands.

The Admissions Process Into Rehab

Addiction is complicated, but getting help doesn’t have to be.

Rehab 4 Addiction is here to make your transition into rehab as quick and easy as possible, and to provide whatever assistance or advice you need as part of the service.

The process starts by calling us on the number provided above.

You will be put through to a Rehab 4 Addiction advisor, who will be able to start your consultation whenever you are ready.

This will involve asking some basic questions about your drug or alcohol use, and what your current circumstances and needs are.

When we have enough information to go on, we can consult our vast database of clinics to match you with a suitable rehab clinic in your area.

Once we have suggested a clinic, we can provide pricing and other detailed information.

If you are happy to go ahead with our suggestion, we can take care of the paperwork and refer you to that clinic with a quick turnaround.

When you arrive at the clinic, you will be welcomed by staff and settled in, before beginning your in-person assessment.

The purpose of this assessment to is to assess your wellbeing and mood, as well as conducting a risk assessment, in order to be sure that you are not a risk to yourself or others.

They will also ask questions about your recent drug intake and your general patterns of substance abuse.

Please be assured that when the staff do this, they are not ‘grilling’ you – they just want to be sure that you get the treatment that you need while you are under their care.

It is a completely safe and non-judgemental environment, and whatever you tell the is in confidence, and will not get you or anyone else into any kind of trouble.

Once this assessment is complete, you will begin your detox programme, which we go into more detail about in the sections below.

The Alcohol Detox Process

Alcohol withdrawal can be very challenging, with the prospect of severe physical and psychological withdrawals symptoms always a possibility.

This is why you should never try to detox by yourself, and always do it under proper medical supervision.

Detox is one of the many services that is provided at rehab, and is usually the first thing that you will need to do.

Detoxing from alcohol at rehab will usually involve the administration of a drug called Librium, which is a sedative commonly used to manage alcohol withdrawals.

Symptoms from alcohol withdrawal can include muscle pains, headaches, shaking, and anxiety, all of which can be managed.

Some rehab clinics offer something called a ‘wet’ alcohol detox, which involves giving people a lesser amount of alcohol from one day to the next, before coming to a complete stop.

Only a minority of clinics offer a wet detox.

In some cases, it may be possible to do a guided detox at home with the use of Librium, which will be sent out to you in the mail.

However, this is only suitable for certain people and strict criteria must be met.

Firstly, you must be consuming under 30 units of alcohol per day, and you must also have a relatively stable home life.

The advantage of guided home detox is that it is costs considerably less than treatment at rehab.

The disadvantages are that you will not be supervised as you detox, so it will not be as safe.

We understand that affordability of treatment is always a major concern for anyone considering rehab, but it is important to think carefully about whether home detox would be right for you.

This one of the many things that we can discuss during your initial telephone consultation.

Rehab For Alcoholism

Alcohol is widely consumed all over Europe, and for many of those countries, it is an integral part of their culture.

While most people can go out and drink on an evening or weekend without ever developing an addiction, there are many for whom alcohol becomes a serious problem.

Alcoholism, along with the lifestyle and health implications that come with it, ruins millions of lives across the world every year.

Excess drinking carries a huge risk to mental and physical wellbeing.

In the short term, there is the risk of alcohol poisoning, as well as the increased risk to oneself and others that comes with behaving recklessly while drunk.

In the long term, alcoholism can cause major organ failure and other serious health problems, as well as increasing the risk of depression, anxiety, stress, psychosis, and antisocial personality disorders.

Because of this, people in alcohol addiction are very often unpleasant to be around, which can cause considerable damage to the person’s social life.

Aside from tobacco, alcohol is the most common addiction there is, and is the motivation behind most people going to rehab.

Rehab is the most effective treatment for alcoholism, because it combines all aspects of alcohol recovery under one facility.

Firstly, you can go through a safe, medically supervised detox.

As mentioned in the section above, detoxing from alcohol can be a particularly rough ride, so it is best to go through this pain barrier at rehab.

Rehab isn’t just about getting clean – it’s also about addressing the underlying issues that contributed to your alcoholism.

This may involve exploring and reconciling past trauma, relearning behaviours, and picking up coping techniques to manage your cravings.

This is what takes up the remaining weeks at rehab after you have finished your alcohol detox.

Through various types of therapy and exercises, the mental health team at a drug & alcohol rehab in the Netherlands will be able to teach you how to manage your addiction effectively.

One of the issues around alcohol rehabilitation is that, with alcohol being a legal and widely-available drug, there are challenges to consider that wouldn’t apply to other drugs.

For example, during the course of a given day, you might have to walk past several open pubs, see several adverts for beer or spirits, and overhear conversations about drinking.

These are all potential triggers, which is why it’s important to be able to learn to manage them in a healthy and effective way.

By the time you leave the facility, not only will you be sober but you will have a much better understanding of how your alcoholism can manifest, and how to use your skills and coping techniques to stay one step ahead of it.

Rehab For Cocaine

Cocaine is a commonly-used party drug that makes users feel confident, energetic and hyper-social.

Although most users take it infrequently as a ‘recreational’ drug, for many it can become a problem very quickly.

Not only is cocaine very expensive, but it is also extremely addictive.

It is also a highly dangerous drug, with severe risks to physical and mental health.

Anyone who uses cocaine runs the risk of a heart attack, even if they are young, fit and healthy.

Long-term use can lead to heart problems, anxiety and paranoia, as well as damage to the nasal cavity.

Behaviourally speaking, using cocaine can easily make people violent, obnoxious, and confrontational.

Indulging in this kind of behaviour can very easily result in undesirable situations, and get users into all kinds of trouble.

If you have developed an addiction to cocaine and wish to get help, the best possible thing you could do is go to residential rehab.

There, you will be able to get clean and sober and deal with the underlying causes of your addiction through an intensive course of therapy.

With drug & alcohol rehab in Netherlands, all of the services you need are combined under one roof, with a cohesive treatment plan that will give you the best chance of putting cocaine abuse behind you for good.

Rehab 4 Addiction is here to make your transition into rehab as straightforward as possible.

Detoxing from cocaine is slightly different from detoxing from heroin or alcohol, in that there is less risk of major physical symptoms.

It also does not usually involve the use of any specific medication.

However, there is still risk involved in cocaine withdrawal, and your detox will have to be carefully monitored by medical staff.

Crucially, they will also help you to manage any psychological symptoms you experience, which can include increased anxiety, restlessness and intense cravings for cocaine.

You will be able to have these symptoms managed in a way that doesn’t damage your chances of recovery, before moving on to your therapy sessions to address the underlying issues that may have led to cocaine addiction in the first place.

Rehab For Heroin

Heroin is a powerful opiate that ruins millions of lives across Europe every year.

As well as having a high rate of overdose, heroin use can cause an any number of serious health problems, including major organ failure, collapsed veins, and a host of bloodborne viruses such as hepatitis and HIV.

Heroin is one of the most addictive drugs on the market, as well as being one of the most readily available.

Without medical assistance, the withdrawals from heroin are almost unbearable, meaning that those in heroin addiction will often steal or commit other crimes in order to obtain their next fix.

The only way out of this cycle of misery is to seek professional help, ideally at residential rehab.

Heroin detox can be particularly challenging, especially if you have been using for a long period of time.

It can involve:

• Vomiting
• Shaking
• Profuse sweating
• Muscle spasms

This is why at drug & alcohol rehab in Netherlands, heroin detox will almost always be carried out with the use of medications.

This will likely either be Subutex or Methadone, which are the two most commonly-used medications in heroin detox.

Your symptoms will likely peak after 1-3 days, and overall your detox will last for about 10 days, although you could potentially be on your medications for longer than that.

Once the worst of your withdrawal symptoms are over, you can move on from detox into the next stage of rehab treatment, which is your therapy plan.

During the remaining weeks at rehab, you will go through a series of therapies and educational classes in a schedule that is put together with your needs in mind.

The idea is that you gain a much better understanding of addiction, and of how your own issues and proclivities have affected your relationship with substance abuse.

Although it will not be easy, by the end of rehab you will have learned a lot and explored your underlying issues in a healthy and constructive way.

This will stand you in good stead in terms of staying in long-term recovery once you leave the clinic.

Staying sober will also require that you make positive choices for yourself on an ongoing basis.

This is where your prevention plan and aftercare come into play – we go into more detail about this below.

Dual Diagnosis/Co-Occurring Disorders And Addiction

When treating people for addiction, it is very common to discover that they have another underlying mental health condition, which in most cases will not have been treated.

These conditions cause so much mental and emotional distress that they are often a contributing factor that causes people to turn to drugs or alcohol to cope.

Even if this is not the cause of an addiction, conditions like this can certainly worsen an addiction once it has manifested, or cause people more problems along the way.

If you have been suffering from addiction, it may be that you also have undiagnosed anxiety disorder, OCD, psychosis, or any other chronic mental health condition.

This is where dual diagnosis comes in – at your rehab clinic, the mental health team will be able to assess you and explore whether you might have any of these conditions.

If this is the case, they will be able to treat your condition through the administration of therapy and/or medication, and reassess your treatment plan to effectively treat your condition.

Knowing that you have a condition and being able to treat it is a huge step forward in terms of your long-term recovery prospects.

How Much Time Does Rehab Take?

Everyone’s rehab experience will be slightly different, as they will have been using drugs for a different length of time than others, and abusing drugs to a different extent.

However, most people will stay in rehab for a total of about 28 days.

This covers everything from your initial admission and assessment to detox, therapy and aftercare planning.

The only potential variable is that some people may take longer to complete their detox than others, for example if they have had a severe level of substance abuse.

This could mean that detox takes slightly longer to get through, and in turn that could mean that the person’s overall stay would be longer.

In general, you should expect to be at rehab for a period of about a month.

We understand that this is a long time to leave your regular life and responsibilities behind.

However, it is important to make an investment in yourself in order to get sober and improve your future

As part of our service at Rehab 4 Addiction, we are more than happy to provide free and confidential advice on how to handle responsibilities, such as childcare or work, while you are away receiving treatment at rehab.

Types Of Therapies At Rehab in Netherlands

At any drug & alcohol rehab in Netherlands, there will be a team of mental health practitioners on site.

As well as helping people to settle into their new surroundings, they are there to administer a therapy plan which will help you to recover from addiction.

This plan will likely include a combination of:

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
• Dialectal Behavioural Therapy
• Contingency Management
• Motivational Interviewing
• Counselling
• Holistic Therapy

We know that this sounds like a lot, but bear in mind that this plan will be spread over several weeks, allowing you to take it slow and build your knowledge gradually.

It will be explained to you, in detail, what each therapy entails and the specifics of how it helps you in your efforts to get into recovery.

Throughout your rehab treatment, there will also be a great deal of group therapy sessions and community activities.

Sessions like this give you a great opportunity to learn from the wisdom and experience of others, as well as providing a platform for you to vent your own issues and problems.

Although some people may first be a little apprehensive about opening up to others who are basically strangers, you may find that, as the weeks go on, you find great value and comfort from sharing with others.

These sessions will usually be overseen by a mental health professional, which allows a safe, non-judgemental space for the community to share with one another.

Another part of the schedule at drug & alcohol rehab in Netherlands will be complementary activities that are enjoyable and also boost your wellbeing.

This might include mindful activities such as gardening and meditation, and forms of gentle exercise such as Pilates, tai chi and yoga.

Addiction is not just a disease of the mind – it is very important to aid the body’s recovery as well.

As well as making you feel better while you’re doing them, these activities may also provide you with a new hobby or interest to focus on.

This could be very handy once you leave the rehab clinic, as in recovery it is important to have a focus to occupy your time in a healthy and constructive way.

The 12-Step Approach

When it comes to addiction, there are a few different schools of thought in terms of how to treat it.

The most popular method is the 12-step programme, which has been the basis of the Alcoholics Anonymous programme since it formed in the early 20th century.

The 12-step approach is also applied to Narcotics Anonymous, Gamblers Anonymous, and other similar organisations.

The 12 steps are meant to be followed one-by-one, as written below:

• Step 1: We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.
• Step 2: Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
• Step 3: Decided to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
• Step 4: Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
• Step 5: Admitted to God, ourselves, and other human beings the exact nature of our wrongs.
• Step 6: Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
• Step 7: Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
• Step 8: Made a list of all persons we harmed, and became willing to make amends to them.
• Step 9: Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
• Step 10: Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, admitted it.
• Step 11: Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
• Step 12: Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

As you can probably tell, the 12-step programme centres around spirituality as an integral part of recovery, and instructs its adherents to give themselves over to a higher power, however they may interpret that.

It is not a requirement to have any kind of religion, but the higher power element is a key part of the philosophy.

It’s an approach that works for millions of people around the world.

However, there are some people who do not like the idea of a higher power, or who find the 12-step programme otherwise objectionable.

These people are catered to as well.

You do not necessarily need to go to a 12-step rehab for treatment.

There are plenty of different types of clinic, and there is often a great deal of overlap between them in terms of the type of treatment they offer.

This is something that can be discussed in detail during your phone consultation.

We can make sure that the clinic you are referred to is right for you, and that you don’t have to participate in the 12-step programme if you don’t want to.

Everyone is different, and we are here to ensure that anyone who is vulnerable gets the treatment and care that they need.

Relapse Prevention Planning At Rehab

Getting through a course of rehab is a big challenge for anyone, and as you approach the final days at rehab, you should be proud of how far you have come since you arrived.

However, it is still important that you try to stay grounded and be mindful of the fact that you will soon be going through another major transition – going back into the outside world as a newly-sober person.

This can be just as much of a challenge as going to rehab in the first place – after all, the same anxiety is at play: the fear of the unknown.

It’s perfectly normal to have anxieties about this.

What is important is that you face these fears and do something proactive to maximise your chances of a successful reintegration.

This is where your relapse prevention plan comes in.

Your relapse prevention strategy will be mapped out with the help of some of the mental health staff on site.

It is basically a document that sets out proactive steps that you can take to stay in recovery, as well as places, things or people that you should avoid.

For example, a lot of people benefit from going to regular therapy sessions or group meetings – this might be something to consider committing to.

This would be considered a proactive step.

Another step you might take is limiting your contact with a loved one who is still abusing drugs or alcohol – that would be a reactive step.

The idea is to make use of all the things you have learned about addiction at rehab, including coping mechanisms and techniques.

You will also need something positive to focus your attention on – perhaps this could be a healthy new hobby you have picked up at rehab.

Aftercare & Fellowship Groups

For many people who have been through addiction, it is the first year in recovery that can be the most challenging.

Doing everything again for the first time can be thrilling, but also overwhelming at times.

This is why it’s best to have additional help during these first 12 months, which can be arranged through your clinic’s aftercare programme.

At any clinic that you are referred to through Rehab 4 Addiction, there will be a full year’s worth of aftercare services included as part of the treatment cost.

This means that, at weekends, you can go back to the clinic for catch-up meetings if you would find it helpful.

You don’t have to do this, but it can be very helpful to have familiar people around you while you’re going through the early stages of recovery.

You will also be able to help those who perhaps are not as far along the recovery journey as you, which can provide a great sense of personal wellbeing, as well as allowing you to stay ahead of your own addiction.

How To Get Help Through Rehab 4 Addiction

Addiction is a horrible thing to live with, and sometimes it can make one feel hopeless about the future.

However, recovery is always possible and addiction help is just a phone call away.

Call Rehab 4 Addiction on 0800 140 4690 if you’re in the UK, or +44 345 222 3508 if outside the UK.

Once we get to understand your needs a little better, we can refer you to a quality drug & alcohol rehab in Netherlands, with a very quick turnaround.

Please also be assured that we handle all telephone calls in complete confidence, and we will not pass on your information to any third party without your permission.

We know that addiction is a sensitive topic for many people, but your information is safe with us.

You are also not obligated to take up rehab treatment by calling us – we are happy to provide free information and advice if that’s all you are looking for.