Some addiction treatment centers approach addiction treatment through the lens of faith and spirituality. 

And while faith-based drug rehabs aren’t for everyone, they have achieved moderate to high success rates when treating people with strong religious or spiritual beliefs. 

Several studies indicate that addicts who believe in a higher power are less likely to relapse than those who don’t. 

Although similar to non-religious substance abuse treatment facilities, faith-based rehabs rely heavily on religious principles and, as such, expect patients to conduct themselves in ways that reflect the institution’s religious values.

Read on to learn more about faith-based drug rehabs, their main features, and advantages.

What Is A Faith-Based Drug Rehab?

A faith-based drug rehab is an addiction treatment facility that centers its rehabilitation programs on faith and spirituality. Such institutions view addiction as a way people compensate for internal emptiness. 

Faith-based rehabs insist on spirituality and often create drug and alcohol abuse treatment programs that enhance their patients’ inner strength through belief in a higher being. 

Most of the therapies offered in faith-based treatment centers focus on purposeful living, spirituality, and acceptance. These types of therapies allow patients to heal and seek forgiveness for past mistakes. 

It’s common for faith-based rehabs to include activities such as scripture reading, church visits, devotionals, and pastor visits in their programs. 

What to Expect In A Faith-Based Rehab

Although faith-based addiction treatment programs center their treatment programs on spirituality, they also integrate a variety of evidence-based treatment methods. 

Therefore, while the main focus will be connecting you to a higher power to receive inner healing, faith-based rehabs also incorporate basic addiction treatment principles to ensure you recover fully. 

Some faith-based rehabs also have worship centers or churches on-site, which besides enhancing spirituality, allow patients do the following: 

Meditate: Meditation is a crucial part of rehabilitation as it helps strengthen intent and motivation to quit drugs and maintain lifelong sobriety. Faith-based rehabs have amenities like churches that allow for prayer and personal meditation. 

Reflection: By spending a considerable amount of time in prayer and meditation, patients get to reflect on their past flows and goals. Reflection helps amplify small milestones, in the process reducing  the chances of relapses as patients feel they’ve already achieved so much. 

Mindfulness: Regular meditation and reflection helps create self-awareness, which is vital in both short and long-term rehabilitation. Patients in faith-based rehab centers learn to conduct moral inventory and develop positive coping mechanisms to replace bad habits. 

Advantages of Faith-Based Drug Rehabs

Acceptance and Submission

Faith-based drug rehabs urge patients to submit to a higher power and accept that they’re powerless against their respective addictions. 

Acceptance is a massive part of rehab and helps ease pressure on patients, especially those who’ve relapsed multiple times. 

Once you enroll in a faith-based rehab, you’ll learn to let go of what you can’t control and instead trust that a Higher Power will give you the necessary strength to deal with your weaknesses positively. 

Increased Self-Awareness

By focusing on religion and spirituality, faith-based rehabs help their patients become more self-aware. Therefore, instead of receiving treatment for a particular substance, patients learn more about themselves and their true purpose in this world. 

Increased self-awareness plays a massive role in long-term sobriety, which explains why most patients from faith-based rehabs are highly likely to overcome cravings and triggers long after completing treatment. 

Higher Chances of Lifelong Sobriety

Completing treatment is one thing, but maintaining lifelong sobriety is another. Perhaps one of the greatest advantages of faith-based rehabs is their focus on life after treatment. 

Patients get to learn useful values such as meditation, mindfulness, and reflection, which besides improving self-awareness, help reduce the chances of relapse. 

Faith in a higher being allows patients to trust that they’ve got supernatural assistance to cope with cravings. Moreover, increased self-awareness ensures that patients firmly understand their long-term sobriety goals and work towards them without fail. 

Smooth Post-treatment Transition

Faith-based rehabs observe similar principles that govern support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA). The similarity in spiritual beliefs means that alumni will find it easy to transition to important aftercare programs. 

For instance, it will be a lot easier for a Christian to adjust to the 12 steps and traditions of AA compared to a non-christian seeking to join the support group. 

Increased Ability to Overcome Crisis

Studies show that recovering addicts that believe in a higher power are better placed to handle challenges and triggers compared to non-believers. 

In addition to developing positive coping mechanisms to cravings and triggers, patients in faith-based drug rehabs are taught to trust in a higher being, which increases optimism that better days lie ahead. 

As a result, people who receive treatment from spiritual-based rehabs leave with a renewed sense of optimism towards life. 

Faith-Based Vs. Non-Religious Rehab: Which Is Better?

The better option between faith-based and non-religious rehab depends on personal preferences. 

Faith-based rehabs work best for people that want a spiritual approach to addiction treatment. Non-believers can also join faith-based rehabs as they follow the same evidence-based methods used by non-religious rehabs. 

Are there Any Good Faith-Based Drug Rehabs?

Several faith-based rehabs offer top-notch addiction treatment services across the country. 

And while some faith-based rehabs operate as nonprofit organizations, others offer luxury services in serene, well-secluded environments. 

Therefore, when choosing a faith-based rehab, remember to consider factors such as budget, services offered, and location to ensure you enroll in one that best suits your preferences.