Narconon New Life Center is the featured drug treatment program of the week.

Narconon is one of our preferred rehabs for referral if appropriate. The program is often a good fit for those who are looking for an alternative to the twelve step module.  

Narconon Approach

Though not a part of the original Twelve Step tenets, most Twelve Step programs approach addiction as a disease.   The Narconon program encourages addicts to take responsibility for their choices in life and provides the tools to help individuals make good choices.

 This can be a more acceptable approach for those individuals who do not consider themselves powerless over their addiction. This philosophy is one of the contributing factors to Narconon’s 76% success rate.

Narconon History

Narconon was started in 1966 by a former heroin addict, William Benitez. William was an inmate in a prison in Arizona. He had been constantly in and out of prison for many years due to what seemed to be a hopeless heroin addiction.  He had tried several programs, all to no avail, but didn’t give up on his search for an answer to his addiction.

While in prison he read many self-help books in attempts to understand and conquer his addiction. He knew that every mistake he had made in his life was due to his drug addiction, including the ones that landed him in prison, yet he had been unable to stop. He desperately wanted to find a way to get away from his addiction once and for all.

One of the books he read, Fundamentals of Thought brought him to the realization that he had the power within to improve himself and he wasn’t powerless.  He started to apply some of the techniques and to his amazement he began feel better and his drug cravings started to diminish. He regained control over himself and this control included his cravings.

William felt that this new found knowledge and techniques would be helpful to the other prisoners who were there because of drug abuse.  He petitioned to start a rehab in the prison;

In those days, rehab in prison was a new concept – prisons didn’t have treatment.  Gaining approval for the concept took some work, but he was determined.

He finally got approval and founded the first Narconon inside the Arizona state prison. After a few years upon his release, he supported the beginnings of a fledgling Narconon in California.  Word of the program’s workability quickly spread and the program expanded. Today, Narconon has centers all over the world in many countries.

Narconon General Facts

Narconon is one of the first addiction treatment programs founded by someone who battled drug addiction as opposed to alcoholism and is a viable alternative for many addicts who have failed with the Twelve Steps.

Narconon treatment times can vary with individual needs with treatment lasting anywhere from two and a half months to six.  Narconon is a private treatment program and while it is an alternative treatment, many insurance companies will assist in payment.

 Narconon centers are well known for doing their best to keep beds available. A waiting period to check into rehab can mean the difference between life and death.  As is customary with most drug treatment centers, Narconon does not accept individuals into treatment who do not want to receive help.

Narconon Treatment Stages

Narconon is a two stage program. The first stage, called the Narconon New Life Detoxification Program deals with the bio-physical aspect of addiction- the aspect that relates to physical cravings.  Addressing cravings before dealing with the other areas of an addict’s life is one of the ingredients for the Narconon success rate.

Addressing the Biochemical Aspect of Addiction  

The Narconon New Life Detoxification Program employs an exact regimen of nutrients, exercise and sauna time under medical supervision.  The purpose is to help the body release drug metabolites that are stored in the fatty tissue so they can be sweated out.   These metabolites may remain in the fatty tissue for months or even years.  They can be released back into the blood stream when there is demand on the body to burn fat, such as times of stress, improper food or sleep intake or heavy exercise.  These metabolites may contribute to cravings, even for a person who has not used drugs in a while.   Once these drug metabolites are removed from sweating, many clients report reduction or removal of cravings.

Additionally, the nutrients and general health habits developed while doing the program help the body to start to function at a more optimum level, which in itself, helps with cravings.  Many addicts or alcoholics feel so bad from the damage done by the drugs that they continue to take more drugs or alcohol just to feel better or even “normal”. 

The Narconon New Life Detoxification program is done under medical supervision and only after medical approval.  Participants are given a full physical to determine that they are healthy enough to do the program.  

The Narconon New Life Detoxification Program takes 3 to 4 weeks.  There are many phenomenal success stories on record.  Not only do most participants report that there cravings are reduced or removed, many report that they feel better than they have in years.  There are reports of improved vision and improved ability to read and comprehend.  These success stories are available for review in any Narconon.

Narconon Life Skills

One premise of the Narconon program is that once the individual has dealt with the drug cravings, they are more capable of facing and dealing with the life issues that contributed to their addiction in the first place.  There are also other complications in life that are created as a result of the addiction.  Most addicts who arrive to treatment have quite a few life issues to face and the Narconon program is laid out in a way to help them gain strength, tools and knowledge to face these issues head on without getting overwhelmed or giving up.     

 Rather than only focusing on the problems people face with addiction, Narconon treatment stresses solutions and methods.  These problem solving methods apply to relationships, decision making, ethics, communication and even study.  Once the addict gets past the addiction, these tools can be applied to life.  This is the reason that many Narconon graduates go on to lead successful lives – they apply what they learned on the Narconon program to all aspects of their lives.

Learning that one indeed has the ability to overcome addiction through accepting responsibility and developing and maintaining a sense of ethics can be empowering, according to the Narconon testimonials.

Narconon is a good pick for those looking for long term results.