Detox Programs
Take The First Step
Deciding to stop is easy. The hard part is the days right after, when your body objects to a decision your mind has already made, and getting through it alone stops being about willpower and starts being about safety. At Lighthouse Behavioral Health Solutions, detox treatment happens through residential withdrawal management, a medically supervised program designed to help people safely and comfortably stop using substances like drugs or alcohol that cause withdrawal.
What Drug Detox Entails
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) clinical guidance defines detoxification as a set of interventions aimed at managing acute intoxication and withdrawal. In plain terms, it’s the medical process of getting a substance out of your system without the withdrawal doing harm on the way out.
That guidance breaks detox into three parts:
- Evaluation establishes what is in your system, at what level, and what else is going on medically or psychiatrically.
- Stabilization is the medical and psychosocial work of getting you through acute withdrawal to a stable, substance-free state, often with medication.
- Treatment: The third part is preparing you to enter treatment once withdrawal is behind you.
What Happens at Lighthouse
Lighthouse provides detox in a residential setting with 24/7 medical monitoring. Medical providers and nurses administer medications and therapies to manage withdrawal symptoms, and the clinical team handles psychiatric and general medical needs alongside the withdrawal itself.
Care during a detox stay includes:
- 24/7 medical supervision. Nursing staff monitor vitals, administer medications, and provide round-the-clock care.
- Medication-assisted treatment where clinically appropriate, to ease withdrawal symptoms and reduce cravings.
- Mental health evaluations. Licensed clinicians assess for co-occurring disorders.
- Individual counseling, starting early in the stay.
- Peer support services from certified peer supporters who have been through it themselves.
- Case management to plan the next step of care.
- Random drug and alcohol testing.
We build a personalized detox plan for every client, weighing substance use history, medical conditions, mental health status, and personal goals. Lighthouse continually assesses and adjusts those plans as the stay progresses.
How Long Detox Takes
Withdrawal timelines vary depending on the substance, how long and how heavily someone has been using, and what else is happening medically. Published averages exist, but they describe a population rather than a person, and holding someone to an average is how people are discharged before they’re stable.
Because our plan is built around your history and adjusted as withdrawal progresses, the admissions team can give you a realistic picture for your situation once they know the specifics.
Does Detox Work?
Detox carries someone through acute withdrawal safely. What it doesn’t do is treat addiction. SAMHSA is direct about this: a detoxification program doesn’t resolve the longstanding psychological, social, and behavioral problems associated with alcohol and drug abuse.
SAMHSA reports that only 15 percent of people discharged from emergency rooms for detoxification go on to receive treatment. The other 85 percent get through withdrawal and then get nothing.
What makes detox work is what’s waiting on the other side. Case management at Lighthouse starts planning the next step during the stay, from residential treatment to a partial hospitalization program (PHP), intensive outpatient care (IOP), or other services. Aftercare includes recovery housing and outpatient programming. If a higher level of care is what you need, Lighthouse can arrange it within its own continuum.
Who Detox Is For
Residential withdrawal management is built for people who:
- are in active substance use and need 24/7 support during early detox
- have had difficult or dangerous withdrawal symptoms in the past
- need a supervised and structured environment to safely begin recovery
- are preparing to enter residential treatment or a partial hospitalization program
- are managing co-occurring mental health conditions that could complicate detox
Starting Detox at Lighthouse
Call admissions at (614) 334-6903 or send the contact form to begin the process. From there, the team verifies your insurance, a clinician completes the phone screening, and placement is scheduled according to your needs. What you say in this process is protected. Substance use disorder treatment records fall under 42 CFR Part 2, a federal rule with stronger confidentiality protections than standard HIPAA. Nothing can be disclosed without your written consent, outside of very limited legal exceptions.
Caring is here. Belonging is here. Hope is here. The first call is the hardest one, and it’s the only one you have to make alone.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does drug detox take?
It depends on the substance, how long and how heavily it was used, and what else is going on medically, which is why a fixed number is not a useful answer. Alcohol, opioids, and benzodiazepines all follow different withdrawal courses, and benzodiazepine withdrawal in particular can run well past what people expect. Lighthouse builds a personalized detox plan around your substance use history, medical conditions, mental health status, and goals, and adjusts it as the stay progresses. The admissions team can give you a realistic picture once they know your situation.
Does insurance cover detox?
Most insurance plans include some coverage for substance use disorder treatment, though what is covered and at what level varies by plan. Lighthouse works with most major insurance providers and verifies your benefits during admissions. Have your insurance card handy for that first call if you can.
Can I detox at home?
For some substances, this is uncomfortable but survivable, and for others it can be dangerous. Alcohol and benzodiazepine withdrawal can produce seizures and delirium tremens, which is a medical emergency rather than a rough patch. Anyone who has had a dangerous withdrawal before, is using heavily or daily, or is managing other medical conditions should detox in a supervised setting. If you’re asking this question because supervised detox feels out of reach, call and ask rather than deciding on your own.
What if I have a mental health condition as well?
Then it needs to be part of detox, not a separate appointment later. Licensed clinicians at Lighthouse assess for co-occurring disorders during withdrawal management, and the medical team handles psychiatric needs alongside the withdrawal itself. Co-occurring conditions are one of the situations residential withdrawal management is built for.
What happens when detox is over?
Case management plans the next step during the stay, whether that’s residential treatment, a partial hospitalization program, intensive outpatient care, or other services, and aftercare includes recovery housing and outpatient programming. Lighthouse can arrange the next level of care within its own continuum rather than referring you out.
