Addiction is a complex disease. One person might decide it’s time to change after just a few weeks of painkiller abuse. Another might have been a heavy drinker for decades until a health scare led to a desire to get sober.
It makes sense, then, that treatment is not one-size-fits all.
ASAM Levels of Care
A much-needed collaboration began in the 1980s to establish one national set of guidelines for care in the treatment of addiction. The goal was to be able to provide each person with individualized, results-oriented treatment.
The result is the ASAM Criteria. (ASAM stands for American Society of Addiction Medicine.)
The Criteria is comprised of five broad levels of care, with 0.5 (early intervention) being the least intense and 4 (medically managed intensive inpatient services) being the most.
In this post, we’re going to talk about level 1.
ASAM Level 1
ASAM Level 1 refers to outpatient care.
For this type of outpatient program, you’ll put in nine or less hours a week, often early in the morning or at night. One of the major benefits of out patient care is that it allows you to continue working or going to school. Because you’re not paying for room or board, these programs are also usually less expensive than higher ASAM levels.
Outpatient programs also allow you to keep closely connected to friends or family which, as long as they’re supportive of your goals, is a good thing.
Lastly, this kind of treatment allows you to practice the new skills you learn as you go along. You might, for example, learn a skill for coping with frustration in the morning, then have a chance to use it at your job later that day.
Addiction Recovery at The Raleigh House
The goal of rehab is to find what works for you. At The Raleigh House, based in Denver, we offer both inpatient and outpatient treatment. Not sure what’s right for you? Fill out our form or contact us today to learn more about the treatment programs at The Raleigh House.
