Addiction Treatment

Since 1974, well before addiction was widely accepted as a disease deserving of professional medically based treatment, Virginia Hospital Center has offered hope and help to patients struggling with substance abuse. As the first addiction treatment program approved for third-party reimbursement by Blue Cross/Blue Shield of the National Capital Area, Addiction Treatment at Virginia Hospital Center has always recognized addiction as a chronic, progressive and potentially fatal disease that can be arrested with appropriate professional care and patient education. By helping substance abusers understand and accept the fact that they have a disease, we can then help teach them the tools and techniques they need to manage their illness and take responsibility for their own health.

From intensive inpatient care to outpatient programs, every aspect of the Addiction Treatment program reflects our emphasis on interdisciplinary treatment. By utilizing the skills, training and experience of a wide range of professionals, we bring all the expertise available to help patients free themselves of the constraints of dependence.

Inpatient Treatment

Inpatient Treatment most often begins with the difficult process of detoxification—eliminating the substance from the patient's body. A team made up of an attending physician, nurse and counselor monitors and controls the detoxification process to ensure a safe and complete withdraw.

Addiction Treatment's inpatient program features a flexible length of stay, rather than a set number of days, to allow for the individualized design of treatment plans for each patient. Once detoxification is complete, the patient care team works together to devise a comprehensive treatment program for each patient.

Every treatment program has at its core a program of individual and group counseling. In addition, the 12-step program philosophy used by Alcoholics and Narcotics Anonymous features prominently in the recovery process. Classes, programs and counseling emphasize four critical steps that each patient must take: understanding their addiction as a disease, accepting their addiction; learning effective methods to maintain their abstinence; and assuming personal responsibility for their recovery.

Outpatient Detoxification

Not every patient requires hospitalization in order to detoxify safely. For those whose withdrawal symptoms are mild to moderate, and who have no potentially complicating medical conditions, our unique Outpatient Detoxification service offers an alternative to inpatient care. Patients are carefully screened to ensure this program is safe and appropriate for them. Following detoxification, these patients go on to one of Addiction Treatment's outpatient recovery programs.

Outpatient Treatment

For those patients who can maintain abstinence while going ahead with their daily lives, Outpatient Treatment offers yet another alternative. Individual and group counseling sessions conducted in the evenings are designed to help these patients continue to work toward goals of accepting their addiction, learning to manage their disease, and taking responsibility for their abstinence.

Dual Diagnosis Program

It's not uncommon to find patients with substance abuse problems who also suffer from psychiatric disorders. In fact, some 60% of patients with bipolar disorder are also substance abusers. When we see that a patient suffers from other conditions, we provide separate and concurrent care for each problem. Coordinated by a physician, the elements of psychiatric and addiction treatment are combined to benefit our patients. We use all the resources available at Virginia Hospital Center to develop custom treatment programs for our patients.

Families/Concerned Persons Program

Family members, friends, loved ones and co-workers are all affected by an addicted person's disease. The Families/Concerned Persons Program recognizes this fact and provides education and information about addictive diseases and how addiction affects the lives of those who care for the addicted person. The program also encourages families and friends to become involved with AL-ANON, and sponsors family discussion forums that focus on the adjustments that come following the patient's discharge and during ongoing recovery