Nobody Told Me Any of This Before I Went to Rehab
Nobody walks into their first day of rehab feeling good. You might be shaky. You might be coming off a rough few days (or months or years). You might feel like you made a mistake the moment you pulled into the parking lot. It’s all totally normal.
Day one in addiction treatment is not a therapy marathon. It's intake. You'll fill out paperwork. A nurse will check your vitals and assess where you're at physically, including any withdrawal risks. You'll meet your treatment team and go through orientation, which is basically a walkthrough of what to expect, what the rules are, and what your days will look like. You’ll see your room and get settled into where you’ll be staying. Then you eat dinner, and you sleep. The goal of day one is to get you through day one.
About Detox
Not everyone needs medical detox. Whether you do depends on what substances you've been using, how long, and how much. Your treatment team figures that out on day one and builds a plan around your specific situation.
If you do need detox, Holland Pathways provides medically monitored care around the clock. You're not locked in a room to white-knuckle it alone. You have medical staff watching over you, and a detox plan designed specifically for your body and history. You’ll be taken care and your symptoms will be managed with medication. It’s way easier, and safer, than trying to do this at home by yourself.
The Clinical Assessment Is the Most Important Conversation You Will Have
A day or two in, you'll sit down with a Masters-level clinician for a full clinical assessment. This is where your actual treatment plan gets built.
They're going to ask about your substance use, your mental health history, trauma, and the patterns that have kept pulling you back. This is not the moment to manage how you come across. The more honest you are in that room, the more useful your treatment plan becomes. Your clinician is not there to evaluate your character. They're there to understand your story well enough to actually help you.
Holland Pathways uses a trauma-informed approach, which means the team understands that addiction almost never exists in isolation. Depression, anxiety, PTSD, bipolar disorder, and other co-occurring conditions are part of the picture for a lot of people, and they're treated as part of your plan, not as separate problems to deal with later.
Days Three Through Five Are Usually When It Gets Real
By the middle of the first week, something shifts. The fog lifts a little. Your body is starting to stabilize. And then, without the substance in the way, a lot of feelings start to surface that maybe haven't had space to come up in a long time. This is actually a good sign, even when it doesn't feel like one.
Individual and group therapy sessions start filling in. You'll work on emotional regulation, identifying high-risk situations, and building coping skills that hold up in real life. Group sessions can feel awkward at first. Most people think they're the only one in the room who doesn't belong there. Most people are wrong about that.
Holland Pathways also weaves in holistic programming throughout the week, including art therapy, music therapy, animal therapy, yoga, and exercise. If your first instinct is to roll your eyes at that list, that's a common reaction. A lot of people find it's the session they look forward to most by the end of week one.
There Is a Wearable Device Involved & It Is Actually Useful
Holland Pathways partners with Huml Health to use wearable technology as part of your care. That means real-time data like sleep quality, heart rate, and stress levels gets fed directly to your clinical team.
This might sound trivial, but what it actually means is that your care plan adjusts based on what's happening with your body, not just what you're able to report in a session. If your sleep is wrecked or your stress spikes, your team sees it and responds to it. That kind of personalized, responsive care is not standard at most treatment facilities.
By the End of Week One, You’re in the Flow
Holland Pathways offers a 60-day residential program, which is long enough to actually go somewhere. By the end of week one, most people feel more grounded, more present, and for the first time in a while, like something might actually be different this time. That feeling is worth protecting, and it's what the rest of the program is built around.
Your clinical team will also start laying the groundwork for aftercare before you leave, because recovery does not end when your program does.
The Practical Stuff
Holland Pathways is located in Wichita, Kansas. It's a 64-bed facility, Joint Commission accredited, and in-network with Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Optum, Tricare, and several other major insurance providers.
If you're not sure what your coverage looks like, the admissions team can walk you through that before you commit to anything. You can also download Holland's free guide, "Helping a Loved One Find Treatment in Wichita," if you're trying to help someone else figure this out.
One Last Thing
Most people who call Holland Pathways say the same thing afterward: they wish they had called sooner. Not because the program is easy, but because waiting didn't make anything easier.
You don't have to have your whole story figured out before you reach out. You just have to make the call.
