The general intent of drug rehab is to enable the patient to cease substance abuse, in order to avoid the legal, social, financial, psychological,  and physical consequences that can be caused, especially by extreme abuse. There are various types of programs offer help in drug rehabilitation for people who are in risky addiction, including: drug rehab residential treatment (in-patient, out-patient), local support groups, recovery or sober houses, and  extended care centers. Newer drug rehab centers offer age and gender specific programs.

In a survey of drug rehab treatment providers from three separate institutions (the National Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors, Rational Recovery Systems and the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors) measuring the treatment provider's responses on the Spiritual Belief Scale (a scale measuring belief in the four spiritual characteristics AA identified by Ernest Kurtz); the scores were found to explain 41% of the variance in the treatment provider's responses on the Addiction Belief Scale (a scale measuring adherence to the disease model or the free-will model addiction).