Linda

Luxury rehab centers started popping up in the 1980s and yes, for a long time they were the domain of the rich and famous. If you were fabulously wealthy or enjoyed celebrity status, you could slip away discretely and spend time recuperating at a high-heel rehab center. If you weren’t, you more than likely found yourself subjected to a punishing regime at a facility that favored a boot camp approach to treating addiction. The no-frills approach where inpatients find themselves making their own beds, peeling potatoes and washing dishes has its roots in the 12-step program that advocates the need to humble an addict; to cultivate resilience and gratitude in a physically-demanding or uncomfortable environment to get them to acknowledge their addiction and make them take responsibility for it. The hard-core boot camp approach works for some but certainly not for the majority, if you take a look at the historically low success rates of complete recovery. It perpetuates the notion that addiction is a ‘punishable’ offence and fuels the stigma associated with seeking treatment for alcohol and drug addiction. It certainly does nothing for the men and women who already battle with low self-esteem and chronic self-depreciation. Why luxury rehab is growing in popularity Luxury rehab emerged to meet the demand for more privacy and comfort but today the resort-like addiction treatment centers have a far more serious role to play. This is because there has been a striking shift from ‘punishment’ to compassion when it comes to understanding and treating addiction. And don’t be mislead into thinking compassion is a weaker approach. The true meaning of compassion means “to suffer together”. It’s defined as the feeling that arises when you are confronted with another’s suffering and feel motivated to relieve that suffering. It’s not the same as empathy or altruism, though the concepts are related. If you pick out the dominant emotion “feel motivated to relieve that …