After making the brave and life-changing choice to get yourself started down the road to sobriety and into an addiction treatment program something funny happens; a world of possibilities opens up before you to explore. Addiction treatments of all types and kinds catered to your individual needs. It’s truly a beautiful thing to discover, but in spite of the robustness of options, in the back of your mind, you’re left wondering about certain things. It may seem trivial but whether your treatment is gender-specific or a coed drug rehab, is a huge thing to consider when making a decision.
What Is a Coed Drug Rehab?
Mixed-gender addiction treatment, also known as a coed drug rehab, is just as it sounds. It’s a co-ed treatment where you’re in a facility that accommodates both men and women. It’s certainly possible to find success in both environments, but it’s crucial to consider the positives and negatives before settling on a treatment center.
Pros of Coed Drug Rehab
- Diversity of perspective – Men and women are inherently different which oddly enough highlights some of the sameness with which addition affects us. It’s good to learn that not only are you not alone as a man or woman dealing with addition but that both men and women deal with the scourge of it.
- Real-world preparation – The world is full of people from both sexes and being able and willing to address your battle scars in the company of the opposite sex, when you’re at your most vulnerable, is a powerful testament to your strength and would serve you well when treatment is finished.
- Improved relationship with opposite sex – Similar to real-world preparedness, while addiction can be borne from issues with the opposite sex, listening and learning from them can ultimately shed some light on your own history and help you work towards improving your relationships with those of the opposite sex more broadly
Cons of Coed Drug Rehab
- Inability to open up properly – Having the opposite sex in close proximity may make you uncomfortable or could cause you to develop feelings of being exposed to the point that you aren’t able to open yourself up. That could significantly impede your journey through recovery.
- Possibility of romance (if you identify with being heterosexual) – Kind of a no-no in rehab, romances with those in treatment have the potential to cause issues with your program and are highly discouraged. The issue here is that patients will focus more energy on the budding relationship than on their recovery. The risk of this is naturally higher where both men and women are together all the time.
- Triggers – Simply being near the opposite sex can trigger you due to past experiences coming to the surface in recovery. One note; there are certainly cases that absolutely warrant gender-specific treatment like those that involve some type of sexual abuse as a trigger, for example.
Deciding What’s Best for You
There is a lot to consider when looking at the landscape of addiction treatment options available to you but at the end of the day, the most important thing is your peace of mind. What is going to put in the best position to succeed in your recovery goals? For some, it could be a big net positive to be in a co-ed treatment facility and for others, it might cripple their efforts.
Know that making this decision isn’t something you have to do by yourself, Addiction Treatment Solutions is a free service that can help you through this process. Our dedicated team can help match you with a treatment program, mixed gender or gender-specific, that best fits the needs of you or your loved one. Contact us today to learn more.
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