What Length of Time Is Needed for Addiction Recovery to Work?

Addiction recovery is a lengthy journey. As much as you would like to, you cannot get rid of your addiction overnight.

Looking back on your addiction history, how long would you say you have suffered? A year or more? Several? Compare that to the journey ahead. Compare it to times when you thought you were in the clear—times when you believed you could achieve continuous sobriety only to fall short. For so many, one or two weeks without drugs or alcohol feels like a lifetime.

Successfully achieving long-term sobriety requires consistent effort and vigilance. Unfortunately, there is no correct answer to the question: “How long does it take for substance abuse treatment to work?” However, addiction recovery can be broken up into different stages based on your length of sobriety and how much of an impact treatment has had on your behavior and mentality. These stages help you self-reflect on how well you are doing in your recovery treatment.

What Is the Transtheoretical Model or Stages of Change?

The transtheoretical model, also known as the stages of change model, represents the progress a person demonstrates when experiencing a change in health. This model also applies to a person’s mentality during substance abuse treatment. The stages of change pertain to the early, middle, and late stages of treatment. The five stages of the transtheoretical model are as follows:

1. Pre-Contemplation
2. Contemplation
3. Preparation
4. Action
5. Maintenance and Relapse

As stated in a treatment improvement protocol for substance abuse treatment involving group therapy, published by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the five stages of treatment differ “in the condition of [those affected], effective therapeutic strategies, and optimal leadership characteristics.”

An example is a person in early treatment and largely suffers from withdrawal and cravings. For a person in this position, treatment would majorly focus on “immediate concerns: achieving abstinence, preventing relapse, and managing cravings.”

Stage 1: Pre-Contemplation

The pre-contemplation stage of the transtheoretical model precedes any actual treatment. It is when a person who suffers from addiction is not yet ready to admit to themselves that they need help. Either they are unaware or are actively defensive about their addiction-related behaviors. In short, the person has not considered a need for change.

How do you transition from stage 1 to stage 2 of the transtheoretical model?

This transition typically happens with the support of others, such as family, friends, or a recovery specialist. They guide you toward the contemplation stage of substance abuse treatment by informing you about the consequences of addiction while reinforcing the idea of positive change.

Stage 2: Contemplation

The second stage of the transtheoretical model is the contemplation stage. When you actively contemplate your readiness for change, you seek treatment for your addiction. In this stage, you are already informed about the benefits of getting help; however, in this stage, you likely also still consider the addictive effects of drugs or alcohol as not entirely dangerous. You are on the fence.

How long it takes for you to transition from pre-contemplative to contemplative and then to stage 3 (preparation) does not follow a strict timeline. Instead, your progression relies on your ability to accept that addiction is a disease and your willingness to change. If you put addiction recovery on a timeframe, you might set yourself up for unrealistic time-oriented goals.

Lastly, the contemplation stage signals a change in the person’s understanding of addiction and how they are personally affected by it. Consider this stage important to opening up the conversation about getting treatment.

Stage 3: Preparation

The third stage of the transtheoretical model is the preparation stage. A person in the preparation stage demonstrates a more dramatic change in behavior. They do not yet recognize entirely the harms addiction has caused them; however, they see the flaws in their current way of being.

For example, they might not yet seek treatment, but they start taking better care of their health in other ways, such as eating healthier, exercising regularly, or starting therapy. Although the person does not admit themselves to a treatment center during the preparation stage, they may follow suit with other beneficial behaviors and temporarily cut out drugs or alcohol.

Being in the preparation stage does not guarantee that you will progress to stage 4 of the transtheoretical model. Without a recovery-based support system built up around you or the resources or strategies for avoiding relapse, slipping up is a looming threat.

Stage 4: Action

Stage 4, the action stage, follows suit with the preparation stage. The person with addiction implements further changes in their life with a more significant commitment to abstinence. As such, they are able to abstain from drinking or using drugs for more extended periods. Further changes in their life unfold, such as seeking professional help for addiction and attending support groups. These actions are taken as preventative measures against relapse as well as recovery steps if the person does relapse.

An example of a behavior that a person who is in substance abuse treatment would demonstrate is admitting oneself to a treatment facility. As per Very Well Mind’s article titled “The Stages of Change Model of Overcoming Addiction,” “the action stage starts in a detox or treatment center. Here, trained professionals provide support through the early phases of discontinuing an addiction.”

Part of the action stage is finding a way to cope with different types of stress. During the action stage, goal setting is important to mitigate stress by allowing yourself to focus on things other than addiction. A life without drinking or using drugs may feel empty; it’s important to give yourself time to adjust. Concentrating on positive change, finding a way of coping that fits you, and listening to your support system make long-term sobriety gradually easier and more doable.

Stage 5: Maintenance

The fifth stage of the transtheoretical model involves maintenance. You maintain your sobriety and consciously partake in positive learned behaviors to avoid relapse during this stage. This could include further physical exercise, new recreational hobbies, improving your mental health through therapy or other means, attending addiction-related support groups, and more.

The maintenance stage is ongoing. You do not rid yourself of your addiction; instead, you become aware of how it affects you. Because addiction is a progressive disease, the maintenance stage requires you to acknowledge that you risk falling back into old habits if you relapse, even if believed to be minor.

The maintenance stage is a continuation and progression of the action stage. It follows that you are entirely abstinent from drugs or alcohol, and you reduce addictive behaviors by employing recovery-based strategies and, likewise, relying on proven resources of treatment.

When stopping using drugs or drinking alcohol, you might substitute those behaviors with others, like food or sex addiction. In the action stage, you are aware of this type of substitution and monitor and regulate addictive behaviors.

Understanding the Length of Rehab

Aside from the five-stage transtheoretical model, many recovery options offer varying lengths of rehab treatment. Common models include a:

• 30-day program
• 60-day program
• 90-day program

Alumni of recovery programs hold these timeframes in such high regard due to the volatile nature of early recovery. Early recovery is a time of relearning healthy behaviors and ridding yourself of bad ones. You admit your life has not been manageable while under the influence and that you are powerless over your addiction. For some, this takes multiple tries. For others, this realization comes more naturally.

Think of these three types of programs as benchmarks in your own recovery. With 12-Step programs, like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or Narcotics Anonymous (NA), celebrating early recovery is more common than long-term sobriety due to the arduous nature of maintaining abstinence. Also, understand that if you are part of a program following one of these timeframes, managing your recovery is essential even after leaving their facility.

These timeframes are just a few options when seeking treatment for your addiction. For instance, at Real Recovery Sober Living, we segment your stay into three phases. We base each phase on the progression you make while getting better during recovery. Our sober living program is as follows:

• Phase 1 (0 – 31 days): The first month of your recovery is crucial to its success and your sobriety. During this time, you identify goals related to your recovery (including personal, professional, and educational goals), you become part of a community by attending 12-Step support groups, and overall, you gain an early understanding of how addiction has affected your life.
• Phase 2 (31 days – 6 months): Even after your first month of recovery, you are susceptible to relapse from the effect of triggers, cravings, and withdrawals. You also experience a lifting of a “fog,” in which you feel a general lift in your mood, optimism, and see the program’s benefits. This is also known as the “pink cloud effect.” During this phase, you heighten your involvement in your personal recovery community by further sharing experiences, developing your personal and professional life, and setting yourself up for self-sustainability once out of treatment.
• Phase 3 (9 – 18 months): Although most residents stay for at least six to eighteen months with us, it is not a strict requirement that they do so. During phase three, we hope and recommend that all residents complete all 12-Steps as well as gain at least one sponsee. Expectations during this phase include being an active and helpful member of our community, having a strong support group in and out of recovery, having stable employment, financial security, being self-sustainable, and having a post-treatment plan.

Unfortunately, addiction is a disease that affects you over a lifetime. Recovery and treatment programs are only designed to provide you with the tools, resources, and strategies for avoiding relapse. Learn to better manage your addiction, whether that means complete abstinence or moderation, for a greater chance at leading a healthier, longer life.

Addiction recovery takes time, commitment, and work. There is no one right solution to this progressive disease. There are, however, plenty of options to choose from when seeking treatment. Inpatient and outpatient treatment facilities, 12-Step recovery groups, and sober living homes all offer needed resources for persons recovering from addiction. The lattermost of these options is what we, Real Recovery Sober Living offer. We are a Tampa Bay, FL area sober living home for men in need of a safe and stable environment during their recovery. Although there is no right answer to the question: “How long does it take to get sober?” — our facility recommends a stay upwards of 6 to 18 months if possible. We help you tackle early periods of addiction recovery and prepare you for long-term sobriety: a life without drugs or alcohol. If you foresee treatment as a viable option in the future, please reach out by calling us at (727) 290-9156.