The rehab experience can be as individual as those who seek recovery from a substance use disorder (SUD). One thing is undeniable. Trust and safety are critical to a successful rehab experience. In many cases, women feel more comfortable and secure in a women-only addiction treatment program. When it comes to inpatient rehab for women, the round-the-clock community of other women is reassuring and familiar. Women often report that they can get to work on their healing better without having to navigate male-female dynamics. If you’re interested in women’s rehab, consider the many benefits of this option at The Right Step Houston.
Understanding Addiction in Women
Some biological factors affect how women become addicted and to what substances. For example, specific hormones and body size often factor into substance abuse and addiction in women. However, the key differences in addiction between the genders seem to be more about life experience. The stressors, cultural influences, and personal experiences of women tend to affect their substance abuse.
For example, factors that are significant to addiction in women but rarely cited by men include:
- Sexual abuse or assault
- Domestic violence
- Loss and grief
- Poor self-esteem
- Anxiety about parenting
- Single parenthood
Many women have experienced or continue to experience trauma that leads to or exacerbates co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders. In a women’s rehab program, women are more likely to open up vulnerably about their life experiences than in a treatment setting that includes men.
The Benefits of Inpatient Rehab for Women
How women experience rehab is critical to their recovery outcomes. Specific strategies and treatment approaches can be beneficial in helping women find health, sobriety, confidence, and hope in a women’s rehab:
- Safety – Rehab programs seek to make their clients feel secure. When a woman trusts that she’s safe, she can be more vulnerable in a rehab setting. Sharing her experience is one of the most important aspects of a woman’s early recovery.
- Being nurtured – Women tend to be socialized and perhaps genetically inclined to be nurturing. Many women have experienced nurturing others but have experienced little, if any, nurturing themselves. In a women’s rehab program, the culture of caring and support can make women’s recovery journey start strong and last a lifetime.
- Interpersonal connections – Peer interaction and support actively increase successful outcomes for men and women. Often, women rely on close friendships and alliances with other women to navigate and endure challenges and hardships. A women’s inpatient program amplifies the opportunity to forge new, lasting relationships.
- Therapy that focuses on a woman’s experience – In a women’s rehab program, individual and group therapy can address women’s challenges. Common issues for women with addiction include body dysphoria, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to rape or assault, parenting guilt about being absent due to substance abuse, and also due to seeking treatment for substance abuse.
- Relapse prevention – Women are more likely to relapse, and a women’s rehab program can focus on the relapse prevention skills and strategies most helpful to women.
Ironically, many women in treatment for addiction end up feeling guilty that they’re getting help. They question whether they deserve such unconditional support. They focus on what rehab is keeping them from—responsibilities to others like children, a spouse, or colleagues. Self-care feels wrong to them.
In our inpatient rehab for women at The Right Step Houston, our staff dispels these feelings of guilt and unworthiness. You deserve to live a healthy, happy life. You deserve to be supported and nurtured. We welcome you.
Start Your Recovery in Women’s Rehab at The Right Step Houston Today
In a women-only rehab, the emphasis on safety, nurturing care, interpersonal connections, and gender-specific therapy helps women open up, build resilience, and develop effective relapse prevention strategies. By addressing these unique needs, women’s rehab programs empower individuals to embrace self-care, overcome guilt, and build a foundation for lasting sobriety.
Don’t wait until tomorrow, next week, or next year. Contact our team online or call 1.844.768.0169 now. Putting off your well-being stops today. Let The Right Step Houston staff help you get started on the path to recovery in our inpatient rehab for women.