There has been quite a bit of press concerning high-end drug and alcohol treatment facilities. One treatment center in particular, Promises Treatment Center Malibu, has been the focus of much publicity thanks to recent admissions from Britney and Lindsay.

What concerns me is the press’ attention to the elegant atmosphere of the treatment facility, price, amenities, and past celebrity clientele instead of the treatment itself.

Yes, thirty days treatment at some of the high-end facilities will cost more than most people earn in a year. Yes, the bedsheet thread count typically exceeds 200 and you won’t find bologna sandwiches being offered for lunch.

But what about treatment itself? What is left out of the stories is any reference to the rigorous treatment schedule offered to each patient in an effort to rehabilitate the mind, body and spirit. I’ve yet to see any information concerning the competency level of the treatment staff. Having personal experience from treating at a high end facility, and through my experience as an interventionist with many contacts at high end facilities, I can report that most of these facilities have brought together some of the most highly trained and experienced physicians, therapists, and counselors in the nation to insure that each patient is offered the best available treatment to restore the patients back to sanity and to help them beat the disease into remission.

The bottom line. The high-end facilities are typically very comfortable places to do some very uncomfortable work. Whether a person pays over 30 thousand a month for treatment or is relegated to county funded free treatment, the important thing to remember is the similarities of the disease. Cunning, baffling, powerful and deadly. The same deadly principles are in effect regardless of economic status.