Given enough time, drug and alcohol addictions will take everything addiction sufferers have in their lives. It will take their money, physical/mental health, family, friends, and in the worst of cases, it will take their lives. Addictions have also claimed more than their fair share of careers.
If you are a teacher caught in the cycle of addiction, you have to think about what you are doing. You have a great responsibility to the people who are counting on you to help prepare them for the future. At some point, it’s likely your addiction is going to interfere with your ability to do the teaching job properly. Do you really want to let your students down?
The fact you are reading this information is very encouraging. It’s an indication you may be ready to admit ypu have a problem and want help. If you want help, you are going to need to invest your time working towards recovery.
Most of us are aware that teachers work hard during the school year. They run classes during the day and grade papers at night. The fact you can function as a teacher with an addiction in tow is nothing short of amazing. Just the same, you need to get treatment before things turn bad.
Keeping in mind you might have significant time restrictions, let’s discuss available treatment options.
Can I Get Time Off Work for Rehab if I’m a Teacher?
If you have any designs on trying to beat your addiction without rehab, you best prepare yourself for failure. Time and again, rehab has proven itself to be the only reliable treatment alternative.
If you are concerned about getting time off from your teaching job, you need to do a little research. You might discover there are policies and procedures in place that would enable you to get help.
If you are a member of the teachers union, having an honest conversation with the local representative might be a good place to start. They could certainly share information about what’s in the collective bargaining agreement about emergency medical leave.
At some point, you will need to discuss your situation with the school principal. Yes, there is a risk in doing so. A lot of schools and school districts have a zero-tolerance policy regarding substance abuse. However, an open honest discussion often opens the door to compassion. The fact you want to fix a serious health issue bodes well for your character and commitment to your job.
Depending on what you learn after disclosing your condition, you will have two treatment alternatives; inpatient and outpatient treatment.
Inpatient Treatment
If you get the green light to miss time from work, your best treatment option would be inpatient treatment. Inpatient treatment requires clients to live in the rehab facility for a minimum of 30 days, up to a maximum of 90 days. The required time would depend on the depth of your addiction.
During treatment, you would spend a lot of time in individual and group therapy sessions. Individual therapy provides a format for clients to learn the truth about their addictions. That information ultimately becomes the basis for them learning new coping skills to manage triggers and temptation.
Outpatient treatment
If you can’t get the time off for treatment, you can turn your focus to outpatient treatment. This would also be your best option should you decide not to expose your circumstances.
There are three outpatient options from which to choose. They are (including time requirements):
- Partial Hospitalization (PHP) – 6 to 8 hours a day, at least 5 days a week until healthy
- Intensive Outpatient (IOP) – 4 to 6 hours a day, at least 3 days a week until healthy
- Standard Outpatient (OP) – 1 to 2 hours a day, 2 days a week until healthy
Again, most of your time would be devoted to individual therapy. The good news is outpatient programs typically offer enough flexibility that working clients can customize their treatment schedules.
As a word of advice, nothing is more important than your health. If you want to stop your addiction from destroying your career/life, you need to find a way to rehab. We would be happy to bring you in and work out a treatment schedule that meets your needs. What we need to get things started is one simple phone call to one of our representatives at the following number, 772-266-5320.
