Navigating mental health and substance abuse treatment is like trying to order a meal in a restaurant where the menu is in a language you don’t speak, and you’re not even sure they’re serving food at all.
There are endless considerations. Do you want a residential program, outpatient, 12-step-based, harm reduction (good luck finding that)? What about insurance, what about the fit with your life, your family, your career? These are questions that demand real, honest answers, not just a slick sales pitch.
Speak to an admissions counselor, and it will feel more like you’re buying a timeshare than making a decision that will weigh heavily on you and your family. That’s the hard truth: the business of treatment can be as shady as a used car lot. A lot of people are in it for the money, not the mission. The websites are full of glossy images and promises of transformation, but they rarely tell the real story—how treatment can be a revolving door, how relapse isn’t a moral failing, and how no program, no matter how expensive, isn’t a magic bullet.
Is it all just a street corner scam? A shell game? An argument can be made that it is. Lack of training among staff, insurance fraud, an evangelical approach to AA, and the abysmal rate of success all lead to some very serious questions. Caveat emptor.
Think about the previous career of many people in the rehab industrial complex—drug dealing. Oftentimes, that’s the ethical standard being applied to their new life.
One of my favorites? There’s a program that offers petting a wolf. To be clear, there is no peer-reviewed research to support petting wolves as treatment for mental health, but the website implication is that it is. Might be an interesting metaphor or activity, but it’s not really doing anything for your recovery.
Sadly, it seems that it’s a lot like the weight loss industry, where the real profit is in failure—so the industry closely holds an ineffective system. You keep coming back, and they keep taking your money.
And here’s something else to consider: the overwhelmingly vast majority of treatment options out there aren’t really treatment at all. They’re 12-step indoctrination camps, which might be okay for you—but it might not. If you don’t want to be force-fed the same dogma as everyone else, you have to dig deeper and find an approach that aligns with your needs, your beliefs, and your circumstances.
With all this said, treatment can be helpful in gaining a running start into one’s self-regulated recovery. The key is finding what’s right for you. I’m often asked, “What’s the best rehab?” My answer is always: the best rehab is the one that’s best for you.
That’s why it’s so important to take your time. Ask questions. If it feels wrong, it probably is. If it feels like a high-pressure sales call, hang up. You’re not buying a timeshare; you’re trying to find help.
If you want to explore treatment in a way that’s grounded in reality and compassion—not glossy marketing—I offer a free discovery session Let’s see if it makes sense to work together. No bullshit, no pressure. Just real talk about what might work for you.
— Joe Schrank