Preparing for rehab means making treatment possible in everyday life, not proving that you have everything under control. Focus on a few concrete tasks: understand where you are going, follow the clinical team’s instructions, arrange essential responsibilities, and tell staff what will help you participate. You can begin treatment while still feeling uncertain or anxious.
This guide covers practical and personal preparation for adults entering a London residential or hospital program. Many steps also apply to day treatment. The separate admission guide covers the formal assessment, written offer, and payment process.
Make a short plan you can actually use
Put the essential information on one page: the treatment address, arrival time, contact number, travel arrangement, current medicines, and the people helping with responsibilities at home. Keep a paper copy if you may not always have access to your phone.
Separate tasks that must happen before admission from things that can wait. Confirming a child’s care arrangement is urgent; reorganizing every cupboard is usually not. If preparation starts to feel impossible, ask a supporter or keyworker to help identify the next small action rather than attempting the whole list at once.
Change Grow Live’s detox and rehab framework describes working with a local team worker to access an appropriate provider. If you are entering through a public treatment pathway, use that contact to resolve practical questions and confirm who coordinates the move.
Tell the team what worries you about arriving
Common concerns include sleeping in an unfamiliar place, meeting other residents, being away from children, explaining a condition, or losing control over the daily routine. Describe the particular concern. “I become overwhelmed when several people give me instructions at once” is something staff can plan around.
Ask for an explanation of the first day, including introductions, assessments, meals, rest, and the first scheduled activities. If a visit or introductory conversation is possible, it may help you understand the setting. Availability varies, so ask rather than assuming every provider can arrange the same preparation.
Priory’s description of rehab outlines assessment, treatment activities, routines, and aftercare. Use provider information to generate specific questions about your own program. A general description cannot tell you exactly how your first day will unfold.
Arrange responsibilities with named people
List the responsibilities that continue while you are away: children, dependent adults, pets, rent or mortgage payments, essential bills, appointments, and important correspondence. Give each task a named person and enough information to carry it out. A general family agreement to “keep things going” can leave critical details uncovered.
For childcare, include school collection, medication or health needs, emergency contacts, and how the child can maintain appropriate contact with you. Ask the treatment team for help discussing the admission with children in an age-appropriate way. Avoid placing responsibility for your recovery on a child.
If no reliable arrangement exists, tell the referring or admitting team before the planned date. The answer may require practical support or a different plan. Concealing a serious caring or housing problem until arrival makes it harder to address.
Decide what to tell work or college
Identify the person who handles absence and ask what documentation is needed. You may want to keep the explanation brief while still giving enough information to arrange leave and any essential handover. The treatment team can explain what documentation it can provide.
Prepare a simple work handover: current tasks, urgent deadlines, key contacts, and where information is stored. Avoid promising to monitor every message if that would conflict with treatment. If an essential responsibility cannot be delegated, discuss it with the provider before assuming device access or private work time will be available.
For day treatment, protect the attendance hours and the travel time around them. A plan that relies on joining every meeting between therapy sessions may leave little space to recover from demanding work or practice what you are learning.
Prepare medication information carefully
Follow the receiving team’s instructions about medicines and bring an accurate list, including nonprescription products and supplements. Explain what you actually take, any missed doses, allergies, and recent changes. If you are unsure of a name, identify the pharmacy or clinician who can confirm it.
St George’s Hospital information about bringing medicines into hospital explains the value of original packaging and checking the current regimen. Your rehab or hospital may have its own supply and storage arrangements, so confirm them rather than assuming you will manage all medication exactly as at home.
Ask specifically about time-sensitive medicines, injections, monitoring appointments, and medication supplied through an addiction service. Arrange the handover with the responsible clinicians. Do not stop prescribed medication or change substance use on your own to prepare for admission; follow individualized clinical advice.
Discuss smoking changes before the stay
Ask about smoking and vaping policies and what support is available if your usual pattern will change. This is a practical preparation issue as well as a comfort issue. Do not assume every hospital or residential service has the same rules or outdoor access.
The NHS Specialist Pharmacy Service explains that changes in smoking can affect some medicines, including clozapine and olanzapine. Tell the prescriber if you expect to stop, reduce, or restart smoking so the team can decide whether monitoring or adjustment is needed. Do not make dose changes yourself.
If nicotine withdrawal is a concern, raise it before arrival so staff can explain the support appropriate to you. The aim is to avoid an unplanned change becoming another barrier to participating in treatment.
Pack for the actual service
Request a current packing list from the receiving program. Ask about comfortable clothing, toiletries, footwear, laundry, electronic devices, chargers, reading material, and items that are restricted. Rules may differ between units within the same hospital.
Nightingale’s general psychiatry admission booklet discusses belongings, rooms, and communal facilities. Confirm current ward-specific details directly, especially if an older document describes arrangements that may have changed. Bring what is useful for the stay rather than large amounts of cash or valuable possessions.
Remember practical aids: glasses, hearing aids, chargers for assistive devices, mobility equipment, and any written communication preferences. Tell the service about storage, charging, or access requirements before arriving. Having the right aid is only helpful if the environment supports using it.
Plan contact with people outside treatment
Agree how and when you want contact with family or friends, within the service’s actual arrangements. Identify one person for routine practical updates if several people are likely to call. This can reduce the burden of repeating information while you are settling in.
Tell the team who may receive clinical information and what you want kept private. The NHS explanation of consent emphasizes informed and voluntary decisions. You can ask questions about information sharing and family involvement before agreeing to a particular arrangement.
Think about online contact too. You may want to mute nonessential group chats, avoid posting the details of other patients, and tell trusted people how to reach you. Ask the service about photographs and recording. Other people’s participation in treatment should not become material for social media.
Prepare to participate without rehearsing a perfect story
You do not need to deliver your full life history on the first day. It can help to write three things: what is difficult now, what you hope will change, and what has helped or harmed in previous care. Share uncertainty where it exists rather than trying to sound certain about every detail.
If groups worry you, ask how introductions work, what participation involves, and how to request a break or private conversation. You can discuss limits on sensitive disclosure while still engaging in the treatment. Our group therapy guide explains the purposes of different formats.
Expect to learn the routine gradually. Ask staff to repeat instructions, write down important information, or clarify unfamiliar terms. A practical question about meals or laundry is not less legitimate because you are receiving clinical treatment.
Prepare the journey and the first evening
Confirm the entrance, arrival contact, and who meets you. For London travel, check the route and accessibility using TfL’s journey guidance. Include the walk from the station or drop-off point, luggage, and any assistance needed.
Ask the clinical team whether ordinary travel is appropriate for your current condition and whether someone should accompany you. A planned admission does not make it safe to travel alone while unwell. If the situation becomes urgent, seek appropriate urgent or emergency care instead of continuing with the original travel plan.
Know what will happen to belongings, medication, meals, and contact with home after arrival. A clear first-evening plan can remove avoidable uncertainty, even though clinical assessments may change the timetable.
Leave space for the return home
Preparation should include the first few days after the initial program, without assuming you can predict every detail now. Keep the contact information for existing clinicians and think about the home arrangements you will return to.
Family members may also need support. Adfam provides information and support for families affected by substance use. Their needs do not disappear when someone enters treatment, and supporting them is different from asking them to become unpaid clinicians.
Use the duration guide to understand reviews and transitions, and the aftercare guide to plan continuity. The aim of preparation is a manageable entry into care, with practical obstacles identified and enough support to focus on the work ahead.