Many of us have heard of rehab centers. After all, a new starlet or rock star is entering one every other week, and for some reason the media feels it’s essential to report it on the news. But how much do we know about residential drug treatment centers?

A residential treatment center is a live-in facility that provides treatments for those who are addicted to drugs and/or alcohol. Sometimes this is used as a last resort when no other treatments have worked. Some who are admitted to these facilities do so by their own choice, but other times (esp. in the case of minors) they are compelled by family members or by court order.

Many of these residential treatment centers focus specifically on minors who have problems that range from drugs and alcohol to sex/pornography, psychosis, and more. These centers focus on kids with severe problems that have not found success through intervention or out-patient counseling. The purpose of these facilities is to give these kids a place where they can be supervised 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Here they have therapy to help them understand their problems and learn how to cope with addictions.

The hope of residential drug treatment centers is to help kids find long term solutions to their addictions or problems. By providing a stable environment where these kids can get away from their issues and learn about how destructive drug addiction can be, many kids are able to lead successful, productive lives.

Typically in these treatment centers, schooling is not a priority. Although this might be hard for parents to understand, education is second to helping these kids overcome their problems. As the child becomes more stable, education can be brought back in slowly, with time for the child to adjust. But no matter what, residential treatment centers should not be mistaken as a boarding school.