Studies have shown that people who have been sober for 15-25 years after treatment have changed in many ways. They have new daily routines, new friends, different ways of dealing with problems, and new self-care habits. Being successful in treatment means helping someone become a different person who views sobriety as a positive thing, not a difficult challenge.

If you’re considering rehab, you may be wondering if it will help you stay sober. The short answer is that people who go to rehab are more likely to stay sober than those who try to quit on their own. But for treatment to be successful, two things must happen:

First, the person must see their drug or alcohol use as a problem and truly want to change their ways. Treatment should help the person understand why they want to stop using and help them adopt new thoughts, behaviors, and beliefs that support a sober lifestyle. This is called “cognitive reorganization.” People who are motivated to change from within are more likely to stay sober in the long term, rather than people who are motivated by external factors like guilt.

Second, staying sober means making a choice to live without drugs or alcohol. This requires a change in the way a person thinks about their addiction and sobriety, which is called a “cognitive reorganization.” Treatment should motivate someone to make a real change in their life and help them find new hobbies, careers, and friends who don’t use drugs or alcohol. These changes help give a person a new identity as a sober person and make it more difficult to relapse since it would mean giving up things they care about.