Massachusetts Aftercare Services For Addiction At Spring Hill

Aftercare services for substance abuse are a form of follow-up care that help you maintain addiction recovery. Aftercare services offered by Spring Hill include alumni programming and support, case management services, and other continuing care services.

Entering a drug rehab program for drug or alcohol addiction is only the first step toward achieving lifelong recovery. For most people, recovering from addiction is a process that will take months or years.

Continuing care, also known as aftercare, is a form of substance abuse treatment that serves to connect people in early sobriety to outpatient and community-based resources for maintaining their commitment to recovery.

Massachusetts aftercare programs are a low-intensity form of care that typically follows a more intensive treatment program for substance abuse, such as detox at Bedrock Recovery Center (our sister facility) or the inpatient or residential rehab program at Spring Hill.

Aftercare services available to you after completion of our rehab program may include:

  • alumni programming
  • case management services
  • outpatient counseling
  • medication-assisted treatment
  • community support groups

Our aftercare services can also include helping you access local community resources as well as assisting with legal concerns or medical appointments.

Aftercare Services In Massachusetts At Spring Hill

Aftercare services for addiction focus on relapse prevention and ensuring individuals who have recently completed an intensive treatment program are able to continue their treatment on an outpatient basis.

Goals of addiction aftercare programs include:

  • maintaining sobriety from addictive substances
  • developing supportive strategies for relapse prevention
  • achieving self-sufficiency and greater confidence in sobriety

Aftercare programming at Spring Hill leans heavily into alumni support to serve as living proof that you can trust the addiction treatment process. Here are some of the most common types of aftercare services we provide after you finish our residential treatment program.

Alumni Program

Alumni are individuals who have received treatment at Spring Hill Recovery Center. This may include people who attended rehab at the same time as you as well as those who completed treatment before or after you left our addiction treatment facility.

Some examples of the alumni events we offer at Spring Hill and our other facilities include:

  • Bowling nights
  • Spin classes
  • Golf tournaments
  • 5K runs
  • Snow tubing
  • Holiday-specific events
  • Quarterly events, such as a road trip to Six Flags New England

We also offer supportive resources to help you stay involved in your life and community, including:

  • Volunteering opportunities
  • Tuition guidance for continuing education
  • Resume building techniques
  • GED prep courses
  • Hobby-specific workshops
  • Scholarship and sober-living opportunities

Having access to a recovery-focused alumni support network can help you remain connected to others in recovery, receive peer support, and stay in the loop about recovery-oriented alumni events hosted by Spring Hill.

Case Management Services

Case management services are a critical component within the addiction treatment process.

Your assigned case manager at Spring Hill, along with a patient liaison and aftercare coordinator, is tasked with coordinating continued care within our inpatient rehab program as you transition back home or into an outpatient treatment or community care setting.

In collaboration with our clinicians and other treatment professionals, our case managers can identify the types of treatment services and recovery resources most suitable to meet your individual needs.

From there, a case manager can search for these resources to refer you as you move forward in your treatment process.

Case management services can help connect you to the following support services:

  • housing assistance
  • employment assistance
  • self-help groups
  • mental health counseling
  • educational/vocational services
  • other community recovery resources

Outpatient Counseling & Behavioral Therapy

Attending individual, group, and family counseling sessions on an ongoing basis can be one of the most important parts of aftercare following our residential program. In fact, we can help refer you to various outpatient providers, including Northeast Addictions Treatment Center in Quincy.

Types of therapy proven to be beneficial for both during and after treatment include:

  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
  • Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
  • Motivational Interviewing (MI)
  • Family Therapy
  • 12-Step Facilitated Therapy

People with co-occurring mental health disorders or a history of trauma may also benefit from continued mental health counseling after the completion of our treatment program.

Attending individual counseling and group therapy sessions as part of a continuing care program can help you continue to develop supportive coping strategies. These sessions may also provide a space for you to talk about how you’ve applied the skills you’ve learned in real-life settings.

Outpatient treatment can also help you focus on developing skills to handle new stressors that arise in early recovery. Processing through stress in recovery, and learning how to cope with stress more effectively, is an essential skill in relapse prevention.

Medication-Assisted Treatment

Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) is an evidence-based service specialized for opioid and alcohol use disorders. When combined with behavioral therapy, MAT has shown to reduce the risk of relapse and overdose as well as increase your chances at long-term recovery.

Medications that may be available at Spring Hill include:

  • Antabuse
  • Campral
  • Remeron
  • Sublocade Injection
  • Suboxone
  • Subutex
  • Topamax
  • Vivitrol

If our assessment determines MAT works for you, and if we implement it into your residential treatment plan, we’ll also ensure it carries over into your aftercare plan. In fact, we staff a MAT coordinator to help you maintain this type of treatment for both during and after our program.

Community Support Groups

Attending support groups at least once a week is strongly encouraged for people in early sobriety and recovery from addiction. Support groups can serve as an important opportunity for skill development, receiving feedback, and gaining insight from people who are further along in their recovery.

Not all support groups are the same, and some groups may work better for some people than others.

Types of support groups that may be helpful for your recovery include:

  • 12-Step Groups like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or Narcotics Anonymous (NA)
  • SMART Recovery, Celebrate Recovery, and Refuge Recovery
  • Other Peer Support Groups
  • Psychoeducational Groups

Establishing a regular schedule can offer a helpful sense of structure as you’re transitioning back into a routine of going to work, attending school, taking care of family, and socializing with friends.

These steps can be challenging. Having a local support network can connect you to a group, or sponsor, who can help you weather the tougher moments in sobriety and avoid urges to return to drug or alcohol use. Others can also hold you accountable.

If you’re attending support groups, you’ll feel a greater obligation to be sober and participate in a way that can be meaningful for both yourself and others.

The Importance Of Aftercare

Drug and alcohol addiction is a complex but treatable disease that may require months or even years to overcome.

Aftercare programs, like alumni events, continued counseling, and other addiction services, can offer supportive resources for you on a long-term basis as you continue your recovery journey outside of our treatment program.

Benefits of our aftercare programs include:

  • connecting you to community-based recovery resources
  • access to social support services
  • continued opportunities for skill development
  • long-term recovery support
  • reduced risk for relapse

Relapse is a common struggle among people overcoming addiction. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, relapse occurs in up to 60 percent of people who receive treatment for substance abuse.

Learning supportive strategies for relapse prevention, and having access to ongoing support, can be critical to conquering a chronic cycle of substance misuse.

Aftercare services fit within a continuum of care approach to addiction treatment. This approach recognizes that recovery from addiction may require treatment at multiple levels of care, from inpatient treatment to a community-based support system.

Continuing care in some capacity after our inpatient program can help to bridge the gaps in treatment that can make you more vulnerable to relapse. Aftercare can also connect you to secure housing and employment assistance—both of which can be supportive to addiction recovery.

Spring Hill Recovery Center

Spring Hill Recovery Center is an accredited drug and alcohol rehab center in Massachusetts that serves the greater New England area. Aftercare is one of several key components of our drug rehab program in order to support the long-term recovery of our patients.

Aftercare support at Spring Hill is primarily offered through our alumni recovery support network. This network, which you have access to after you finish treatment, connects you to recovery-based alumni support groups and events.

To learn more about how we start planning your aftercare program from the day you arrive at Spring Hill, please contact us today.

  1. National Institute on Drug Abuse—Treatment and Recovery https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugs-brains-behavior-science-addiction/treatment-recovery
  2. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)—Comprehensive Case Management for Substance Abuse Treatment https://store.samhsa.gov/product/TIP-27-Comprehensive-Case-Management-for-Substance-Abuse-Treatment/SMA15-4215
  3. U.S National Library of Medicine—How effective is continuing care for substance use disorders? A meta-analytic review https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24075796/

Written by Spring Hill Recovery Editorial Team

© 2024 Spring Hill Recovery | All Rights Reserved

* This page does not provide medical advice.

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