Couples Rehab For Alcohol & Drug Addiction In Ohio

Manish Mishra, MBBS

Medically Reviewed By: Manish Mishra, MBBS

on June 6, 2023

Sometimes couples engage in substance abuse together, or both partners develop substance use disorders independently. Understandably, this strains relationships or causes both partners to enable one another. Thankfully, both partners can participate in couples treatment separately or together.

Thousands of Ohio residents live with substance use disorder. There are devastating effects for the relationships of those with drug and alcohol addiction, whether one partner is using drugs or both are using together or independently.

In couples rehab, both partners attend the same drug or alcohol rehab program together or participate in couples-focused behavioral healthcare services. This offers a powerful and cohesive solution for long-term substance use disorder recovery for both family members.

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Couples & Substance Abuse

There are some couples who use drugs together, bonding over their shared drug abuse and the pleasure and risk that comes with it. 

In other situations, one partner will misuse a substance, like prescription opioids, while the other becomes dependent on another substance, like benzos or alcohol use, to escape the resulting sense of pain, helplessness, and emotional distance.

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Enabling

In either case, both parties directly or indirectly enable and reinforce the negative activity of the other, leading to increasingly damaging physical, behavioral, mental, emotional, and relational patterns as a result.

Common issues that couples dealing with substance use disorders experience include:

  • frequent arguments about substance abuse, neglect of personal responsibilities, hygiene, finances, and being present
  • codependent behavior, including covering for one’s partner, making excuses for them, and minimizing the effects of their behavior on oneself
  • engaging in domestic violence, including emotional, verbal, physical, and sexual abuse
  • turning to substances like alcohol or benzodiazepines to ease the stress that negative relationship patterns cause
  • needing to use drugs to improve one’s mood, affection, or passion
  • becoming isolated and distant from one’s partner or partners together becoming isolated and distant from outside friends and loved ones
  • being separated or displaced by legal issues, incarceration, recovery treatment, housing issues, or other problems

However, with appropriate intervention this negative cycle can be broken and new, healthier patterns can be established.

How To Find Couples Rehab Centers Near You

To locate inpatient couples rehab treatment, you can use the SAMHSA helpline or find treatment tool to identify inpatient/residential treatment programs in various regions of Ohio. 

Then, check the provider’s website or contact them directly to see if they specifically offer treatment options for couples.

What To Expect From Couples Rehab

As with other inpatient rehab programs, couples drug rehab programs generally conform to a four-step process:

Assessment

Incoming couples participate in a medical and psychiatric evaluation conducted by an admissions navigator to determine a personalized treatment plan and ideal levels of care.

Detoxification

Medical detox services are likely offered to help both patients navigate withdrawal symptoms if needed. Couples may attend a medical detox program separately or together.

Addiction Treatment

While hosted inside a comfortable residential drug rehab center, couples will participate in behavioral therapy, group therapy, individual counseling incorporated with behavioral couples therapy and/or family therapy, and dual diagnosis care for other mental health issues if needed.

Aftercare

Provided after participants leave their rehab facility, personalized aftercare programs are designed to lower participants’ risk of relapse through services like:

  • peer support groups
  • recovery contracts
  • outpatient programs
  • sober living housing
  • medication-assisted treatment options
  • case management

Do Couples Rehab Programs Work?

Recovery from a substance use disorder is a lifelong process, and one that many people are reluctant to fully embrace or never truly believe can be successful.

This is why it is so important that those entering addiction treatment programs find their motivation, something that can keep them going and committed to the recovery process long-term. 

For many, couples rehab programs can provide this valuable and enduring motivational drive.

After all, no one wants to let their loved ones down. When couples are able to participate in alcohol or drug addiction treatment together, they’re often able to understand and support one another and keep one another accountable in a unique way. 

Ideally, the motivation of each party will build together, reinforced by their mutual love and commitment.

Behavioral Couples Therapy (BCT)

Therapy sessions provided through couples addiction treatment centers can help partners learn how to express themselves and their emotions more clearly, navigate decision making, set boundaries, and improve the relationship in other ways.

BCT is a type of treatment specific to couples experiencing some form of marital distress, which includes those with substance use disorders. 

BTC focuses on helping couples resolve problems and improve their communication and problem-solving skills while rebuilding cooperation, trust, and intimacy.

Couples Addiction Recovery & Insurance

Insurance providers, including private health insurance and government health insurance programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Tricare, may cover at least some, if not all, of the cost of substance abuse treatment.

This can include inpatient and outpatient treatment provided to both spouses or partners in a relationship.

If your insurance benefits do not cover the full amount, your treatment facility may be able to arrange a payment plan or point you to financial aid programs dependent on your income and other factors.

If you would like to check your insurance coverage and benefits for couples rehab, please contact Ohio Recovery Center today.

  1. Addiction Science & Clinical Practice — Behavioral Couples Therapy for Substance Abuse: Rationale, Methods, and Findings https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2851021/
  2. American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy — Substance Abuse and Intimate Relationships https://www.aamft.org/Consumer_Updates/Substance_Abuse_and_Intimate_Relationships.aspx
  3. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment — Behavioral Couples Therapy for Alcoholism and Drug Abuse https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3215582/
  4. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) — TIP 39 Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Family Therapy https://store.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/SAMHSA_Digital_Download/PEP20-02-02-012-508%20PDF.pdf

Written by Ohio Recovery Center Editorial Team

© 2024 Ohio Recovery Center | All Rights Reserved

* This page does not provide medical advice.

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