Research studies on alcoholism and substance abuse treatment usually have classified various modalities into multiple basic categories. Individual programs and treatments continue to diversify and evolve, and new approaches are developing all the time. While the main categories are drug abuse treatment, alcohol abuse treatment, and substance abuse therapy, there are also several sub-categories, such as social work or marriage and family therapy, which often overlap with the others. As you can imagine, this makes the field of treatment much more complicated than simply lumping all addicts together in one category. The first thing to recognize when considering addiction treatment is the fact that it is a complex and diverse field. In some cases, the field may be so broad that it is difficult to sort it out. For example, in a drug rehab program, the addiction center may incorporate various different components, such as medication detoxification and counseling. The same is true for Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) centers. If the person seeking help is an alcoholic and a substance abuser, then there may be numerous different areas of treatment. For an addict who has a co-occurring disorder, such as depression, anxiety or other mental illnesses, it may be difficult to decide what is best. Another area of specialization is within an addiction rehabilitation program. There are many different types of drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs. Each program will have its own set of goals and specific requirements that a patient must meet before they are deemed eligible for treatment. Drug abuse treatment programs will require that patients undergo detoxification and drug monitoring, while alcohol abuse treatment programs will generally require a patient to stop consuming alcohol before they are considered to be “free.” In order to qualify for a specific addiction rehab program, a person must have either a serious mental illness or substance abuse disorder that they need to address. It is important to remember that many of the people who are considered to be “at risk” for an addiction are actually not suffering from serious mental illnesses or substance abuse problems. It is possible to get help for an addiction at home, but there are a number of different things to look for that may signal that the person is truly in need of treatment.