Gay Drug Rehab and Gay Alcohol Rehab Programs in Texas

When a person thinks of the state of Texas, they think big everything. Unfortunately one thing they are not big on is inpatient addiction treatment for the GLBT population. In cites such as Dallas, San Antonio, Fort Worth, Austin, Houston or Abilene, there is a growing gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender population. As with any population growth comes a need for certain healthcare services, in this case, we are speaking of gay friendly addiction treatment or gay friendly drug rehab programs in Texas.

Can?t Gay Men and Lesbians Go to Existing Drug Rehab Programs in Texas?

The answer is yes they can. For gay men and women who are secure in their sexuality, sexual preference and the issues that surround them such as internalized homophobia, homophobia, coming out and others, then any drug rehab, alcohol rehab or addiction treatment program may suffice. Unfortunately, that is not usually the case. Most drug rehabs or alcohol rehab programs are not gay friendly, which means having the addiction treatment services and addiction treatment staff necessary to address the issues mentioned above. Without a gay friendly environment or gay friendly addiction treatment staff, the gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender will probably experience attitudes similar to that of discrimination, prejudice and feelings of being judged.

What Are the Advantages of a Gay Addiction Treatment Program in Texas?

In gay addiction treatment programs or gay drug rehabs, the environment is gay friendly. What that means is that the alcohol rehab or drug rehab will have an addiction treatment staff free of homophobia and judgmental attitudes. There will be addiction treatment services specific to the GLBT population, with a staff dedicated to the same. While the internal healing takes place, the GLBT population still participates in addiction treatment services with the rest of the drug rehab.

If you need help locating a gay friendly drug or alcohol rehab, call the national addiction treatment helpline at 1-800-511-9225 or go to www.gay-rehab.com. If you happen to have a psychiatric problem along with a drug addiction or alcohol addiction go to www.lakeviewhealth.com

Jonathan Huttner is a partner in a gay friendly addiction treatment center called Freedom Rings. Part of Lakeview Health Systems, freedom Rings is dedicated to providing state of the art treatment to the GLBT community.

A Drug Rehab and Dual Diagnosis Treatment

National statistics have shown that drug addicts and alcoholics who attend a long term addiction treatment and drug rehab programs, where their dual diagnosis is addressed, have a higher recovery rate. Although individual addiction treatment and dual diagnosis programs can vary, the average length of time of such a treatment program is approximately four to six weeks.

Detox and Dual Diagnosis

Drug rehab is a series of addiction treatment services with very specific focus to each. Alcohol detox and drug detox is only the first step to completing drug rehab. Alcohol detox or drug detox alone is not sufficient to change the patterns created by drug addiction and alcoholism. Recovery from drug addiction or alcoholism involves an extended addiction treatment process which usually requires the help of drug rehab professionals.In most cases, a person?s dual diagnosis is not fully addressed in detox. The reason for this, is that so many of the symptoms associated with alcohol withdrawal or drug withdrawal mimic psychiatric symptoms, it is best to wait until the patient is medically stable. It is usually in the drug rehab portion of addiction treatment that the dual diagnosis is more fully diagnosed and treated.

Why Detox in Drug Rehab

Denial is a significant barrier in treating dual diagnosis and drug addiction. Almost all addicts tell themselves that they can conquer their drug addiction or alcohol addiction on their own without the help of addiction treatment resources. Unfortunately, this is not usually the case. When an addict makes an attempt to discontinue drug abuse and alcohol abuse without the aid of professional drug rehab help, recovery is short lived, sometimes due to intense cravings and sometimes due to overpowering alcohol withdrawal or drug withdrawal symptoms. An addict or alcoholic who wishes to recover from their drug addiction or a dual diagnosis needs more than just strong will power. Trying to overcome the barriers to living a drug-free life without the guidance of a successful drug rehab as the foundation can be extremely difficult. For additional information on dual diagnosis or addiction treatment program, call 1-800-511-9225 or go to www.lakeviewhealth.com.

Jonathan Huttner has 25 years experience in the field of addiction treatment and dual diagnosis. He is a partner in Lakeview Health Systems which specializes in the treatment of drug addiction and dual diagnosis.

Flipping Houses Ethics: Ethical Rehabbing

In wrapping up my article series on the ethics of flipping houses and real estate investing in general, I?d like to share a word on rehabbing houses ethically.

First, for those who may be unfamiliar with the term, ?rehabbing? a house is simply the act of making repairs and/or renovations to put the house into ?fair market condition? ? or, as I prefer it, ?like new? or ?better than new? condition.

The purpose is typically to build value into the property where value currently lacks ? either for the sake of equity or profit at resale.

When I rehab a house, I tend to go over and above, spend more and do more than your average real estate jockey.

When I rehab homes, I like to do them ?right.? I don?t cut corners or hide things that should really be fixed, and if you strive to be an ethical investor, neither should you.

If I encounter something that could be costly, I always explore all of my options as long as the final result will provide my customer, the ultimate homeowner, with a quality product. Though I?m not opposed to finding the cheapest way to get things done, I want the job done properly rather than just covering up defects which should really be fixed. And whenever I'm helping newer investors learn how to get started right in the house flipping business, that's exactly what I teach them.

Of course, just like settling all of your deals, rehabbing houses properly can be difficult at times ? especially if you find yourself working on a shoestring budget.

But in the end you have to sleep well at night. And you can sleep well knowing that you?ve virtually eliminated any risk of a lawsuit from an angry homeowner and created a good name for yourself in the community to boot by rehabbing something the right way. As with settling your deals, this type of reputation can go a long way, particularly if you are focused on rehabbing homes in a particular area. And shoddy work yields a shoddy reputation.

Lastly, I must caution those of you who know the types of rehabs that I do today not to get caught up in thinking that you must do full-blown gut rehabs to do them ?right.? This is just my preference, and I?ve told you in other articles why I personally prefer the ?gut rehab?.

You can do cosmetic ?paint and carpet? rehabs and still do them ethically as I?ve described. I still like to complete one of these myself every once in awhile, as it?s nice to get an easy deal here and there.

My main point is this. If you know there?s a leaky pipe in a wall that no one else can see, fix it! Don?t hide or gloss over necessary repairs, even if you think no one will find out for a long time. If you make this a business practice, it will catch up with you in one way or another.