REACH OUT TO US TODAY
Contact us to learn more about Gulf Breeze Recovery!
Despite their innate equality, men and women often require different approaches to substance use treatment. This is not a comment on women’s or men’s respective abilities to heal; gender-specific, personalized treatments have been empirically proven to accelerate recovery in many cases, allowing clients to enjoy faster and more permanent change.
Although each individual became a drug or alcohol user due to a unique set of circumstances, certain gender-based patterns must be considered when pursuing addiction treatment programs.
At Gulf Breeze Recovery Center, our holistic treatment protocol considers the unique issues that female users face and their unique emotional, spiritual, and physical needs. Contact our team at 833.551.2304 for more information about our gender-specific addiction therapy programs.
Why Do We Offer Rehab for Men and Women Individually?
Women and men often start to use controlled substances for different reasons. For example, women often rely on these as coping mechanisms for trauma or to tolerate domestic abuse. Because there is a higher expectation for men to use controlled substances and alcohol in social settings, women are more likely to develop these issues in secret. Despite being the fastest-growing demographic to develop problematic relationships with alcohol, they are the least likely to identify as an alcoholic.
In addition, women are more likely to develop a dependency on prescription medication and are more likely to relapse when encountering psychological triggers or acutely stressful events. These tend to develop faster for women than men, so substance use can quickly spiral out of control unbeknownst to friends or loved ones. They are also more likely to develop certain concurrent disorders, such as low self-esteem, chronic anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and body image dysmorphia. Unfortunately, they are also more apt to leave therapy prematurely to attend to perceived responsibilities (for example, for fear they will lose child custody or that no one will be available to tend for an ailing family member).
In addition, an expanding body of research supports that men and women respond differently to various therapeutic interventions, in part because women often receive less social support upon the conclusion of recovery. There are also physiological differences to consider, such as the women’s unique responses to chemical dependency, hormonal reactions, and the impact of body composition on nutritional or pharmaceutical treatments.
Benefits of Separate Rehab for Women
The overwhelming majority of women also need to explore a concurrent mental health condition while in recovery. Women’s rehab permits clients to enter the specific environment required to investigate the underlying causes for both their substance use and inner pain and identify potential relapse triggers.
Some of the other benefits of entering a residential program specifically with the needs of women in mind include:
- Creating a safe space in which female clients can safely discuss unwanted sexual, violent, or traumatic encounters with men
- Encouraging the development of individual friendships built upon trust, freed from the potential of unwanted romantic pressure
- Establishment of a relaxed environment, allowing female clients to collectively detach from external demands to focus on healing
- Allowing women to appropriately assert themselves in therapeutic settings
- Developing the communal connections required for many women to succeed in recovery
- Enabling women to explore socially imposed pressures and domestic responsibilities (for example, in their roles as spouses, mothers, or caregivers)
- Creating the appropriate pace for recovery, as women often discover faster gains than men
- Exploring ongoing tools to prevent relapse in the face of daily pressures, such as critical self-care measures
How Women’s Rehab at Gulf Breeze Recovery Can Help You
The more customized your treatment to meet your needs, the better chance you will find yourself on the road to permanent recovery. Contact our staff at 833.551.2304 to learn about how women’s rehab at Gulf Breeze Recovery can help you permanently break the cycle.