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Medically Reviewed

Can I Visit a Rehab Center Before Committing to Treatment?

- 8 sections

Medically Verified: January 5, 2025

All of the information on this page has been reviewed and verified by a certified addiction professional.

Addiction can be difficult to overcome, especially because it affects every area of your life. When you are abusing drugs and alcohol, you can experience strained relationships, financial issues, legal trouble, mental health problems, and long-term physical health concerns. You can even experience life-threatening overdoses.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 105,007 drug overdose deaths occurred in 2023.[1]

Because of the risks of addiction, you should always seek professional treatment. When you are choosing an addiction treatment program, you want to make sure it is right for you. That being said, how can you know whether a rehabilitation center suits your needs without visiting it first?

Thankfully, reputable rehab centers allow you to tour the facility before you commit to the program. These tours are given in areas that are not being used by patients to maintain privacy and confidentiality. When you visit a rehab center, you should examine things like the cleanliness and atmosphere of the facility, whether the staff is behaving professionally, what activities or amenities are offered, and listen to the information the tour guide gives about the program itself.

In this article, you will learn:

  • Can you tour an addiction treatment program?
  • How are tours conducted in a manner that ensures privacy?
  • What should you look for during a tour of an addiction behavioral health center?

Can You Tour a Rehab Before You Enter the Program?

When you have narrowed down your list of potential rehab centers to a few options, you might be wondering how to choose the best one. Sometimes, it is easier to tell if a program is right for you by visiting the facility to get a feel for what the program will be like. If so, you are probably asking yourself whether it is possible to visit an addiction treatment center before committing to being treated.

While not every rehab center offers tours, many of them allow potential clients to tour the facility to ensure that they feel comfortable attending the program. Visiting a treatment program makes it easier for you to visualize yourself attending the program, allowing you to imagine whether the facility will be a good fit for your needs.

It is recommended that you attend rehab for at least 90 days to achieve long-term recovery, so you’ll probably want to see the place you’ll be living for a minimum of 3 months.[2] During a tour, you will be able to see common areas, meal halls, different options we offer for rooms, and amenities like gyms or spas.

How Can Tours Be Given While Maintaining Privacy?

Many people who are recovering from addiction do not want other people to know. This could be for several reasons, including ensuring their employer does not find out about their substance use disorder and unfairly terminate their position. Even if there is not a clear reason, privacy and confidentiality are important among reputable rehab programs like the Mandala Healing Center.

If rehab centers value privacy, how do they offer tours to potential clients?

When conducting a tour,staff do not bring the visitors into areas currently used by current patients. This could limit the areas shown during a tour, they tend to be scheduled during convenient times of the day. Vacancies in dormitories sometimes make it easy to show visitors what their living accommodations would look like.

Many programs offer in-person tours, but there is another option. Some have virtual tours that are posted on their website. These tours will be guided by a staff member who talks about each location, what the room is used for, and answers common questions like what services are offered and how the program works.

Virtual tours are ideal for people who are traveling to another state for rehab and cannot visit in person beforehand. They are also helpful when the addiction treatment center is close to capacity and cannot clear out common areas to maintain privacy during an in-person tour.

Mandala Healing Center accepts the following insurance providers

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What to Look For When Touring an Addiction Treatment Center

If you are planning on touring a drug and alcohol rehab center, you might not know what you should be looking for to ensure the program is up to standard.

When visiting a rehab program, you should look for the following qualities:

Cleanliness and Comfortability

The first thing you’ll want to pay attention to is how clean the facility is. You could be spending three months living there, so you want to make sure the program is clean, comfortable, and up to your standards.

In addition to cleanliness, you should be thinking about whether the atmosphere is comforting to you. During your stay in rehab, you will be tackling some difficult topics, overcoming past traumas, and learning how to better yourself. After hard days in therapy, you want to return to a room that feels more like home than a hospital.

Professionalism Among Staff

During your tour, you will interact with a variety of staff members. Some rehab centers even let you meet therapists, doctors, or other important faces of the program. When you are meeting or observing these individuals, pay attention to how they behave.

If the staff members are not acting professionally during a tour, that is a clear indicator that the program is not being run efficiently or safely.

Activities and Amenities

You should also pay attention to what activities and amenities are offered by the program. The tour guide will go over what a typical day looks like, which means you’ll get a clear picture of what fund activities you’ll be engaging in during downtime. You will also tour the amenities that the program offers, so make sure they offer the comfort services that are most important to you.

Information About the Program

Lastly, you should be hearing information about how the program works during the tour. You want to make sure the staff members mention individualized treatment planning, evidence-based services, and what types of therapies they use. Paying attention to this information will allow you to decide if the program’s method of treatment is right for you.

Get Connected to a Top-Rated Drug and Alcohol Rehab Center

If you or a loved one suffers from substance abuse, it’s time to seek professional help. At the Mandala Healing Center, we offer compassionate and evidence-based treatment, providing you with the services you need to achieve recovery while keeping you comfortable throughout the process.

Contact us today for more information on how to tour our alcohol and drug addiction treatment center.

References:

  1. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Drug Overdose Deaths in the United States, 2003–2023
  2. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA): Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment