Alcohol rehab, 20 minutes from Boca Raton.

Alcohol use disorder is the most common diagnosis we treat, and it has the most options — too many. The good news: it's also the diagnosis with the strongest evidence-based pharmacotherapies (naltrexone, acamprosate, disulfiram), the most actionable lifestyle interventions, and the largest peer-recovery community. RECO's alcohol track integrates all of it. For Boca clients, the drive is short enough to keep you anchored to work, family, and the life you're building sober.

If you live in Boca Raton and you have been quietly tracking your own drinking — counting bottles in the recycling bin behind the house off Camino Real, or noticing how the wine list at Mizner Park has stopped feeling optional — the geography of treatment matters more than most people admit. RECO Intensive’s Delray campus sits roughly 11 miles north up Federal Highway from Royal Palm Place, a drive that runs about 20 minutes outside of season and rarely longer than 30 even when Highland Beach traffic on A1A is at its worst. For someone weighing whether to step into PHP or IOP-level alcohol care, that distance is short enough to keep your kids in their Boca West or Downtown Boca schools, hold onto a job in the Park at Broken Sound, and still receive the structure of a clinically intensive program. The point of naming the route specifically is this: alcohol use disorder responds to consistent, repeated treatment exposure, and removing the friction of a long commute is one of the quiet ways adherence improves. You do not have to relocate to get evidence-based care; you have to show up, most days, for a defined window of weeks.

Alcohol use disorder is a medical diagnosis, not a character defect

The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) is a 10-item screening tool developed by the World Health Organization to distinguish hazardous drinking from alcohol dependence. A score of 8 or higher indicates harmful use; a score of 20 or higher indicates probable dependence. Many people who call RECO Intensive from Boca Raton have been drinking in ways that score in the severe range for years before seeking treatment, often because the cultural context of South Florida normalizes high-volume alcohol use in ways that other drugs do not.

Understanding your AUDIT score — or the clinical equivalent — is the starting point of alcohol-specific treatment. It drives decisions about whether medical detox is necessary, what pharmacotherapy options are appropriate, and what level of care matches the severity of the disorder.

Medical detox for alcohol withdrawal

Alcohol withdrawal is one of the few withdrawal syndromes that can be life-threatening. Withdrawal seizures typically occur between 24 and 72 hours after the last drink; delirium tremens, characterized by severe autonomic instability, confusion, and hallucinations, peaks between 48 and 96 hours. The risk is higher in people with a history of prior withdrawal seizures — a phenomenon called kindling, in which repeated withdrawal episodes sensitize the nervous system and produce progressively more severe withdrawal with each subsequent episode.

RECO coordinates medical detox through trusted partner facilities equipped to manage alcohol withdrawal with benzodiazepine taper protocols and continuous medical monitoring. The CIWA-Ar (Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment for Alcohol) scale is used to titrate medication to symptom severity. After detox, the transition to RECO’s PHP program is a planned handoff, not a referral to a waiting list.

Medication-assisted treatment for alcohol use disorder

Three FDA-approved medications are used for alcohol use disorder: naltrexone, acamprosate, and disulfiram. Naltrexone works by blocking opioid receptors that mediate the reward response to alcohol; it reduces craving and the reinforcing effect of drinking. It is available as a daily oral tablet or as a monthly injectable (Vivitrol) that eliminates adherence concerns. Acamprosate reduces the neurological hyperexcitability that drives post-acute withdrawal cravings, particularly in clients who have maintained abstinence for a period. Disulfiram creates a punishing physiological reaction to alcohol ingestion and is most effective for clients with strong motivation and external accountability.

At RECO, pharmacotherapy decisions are made by the in-house psychiatrist in consultation with the client and primary therapist. Medication is not prescribed reflexively, but it is offered as a genuine clinical option to clients who meet criteria — not deprioritized because of a program philosophy that treats all medication as suspect.

Family of origin work in alcohol treatment

Alcohol use disorder has a high heritability — approximately 50 percent of the risk is genetic. Many Boca Raton clients who present for alcohol treatment grew up in households where heavy drinking was normalized, parental alcohol dependence went unaddressed, or alcohol served as the primary social lubricant across multiple generations. Family-of-origin therapy, conducted individually and in some cases with family members present, examines how those patterns shaped the client’s relationship with alcohol and how they continue to influence current behavior.

This is distinct from family therapy focused on the client’s current household, though RECO offers both. Family-of-origin work addresses intergenerational transmission of alcohol dependence, unresolved trauma from growing up in an alcoholic home, and the internalized beliefs about alcohol that resist change when they remain implicit. For details on the alcohol treatment program, visit that section of the site. To discuss pharmacotherapy options, call (866) 396-2008.

The full alcohol treatment continuum at RECO

For Boca Raton clients, the treatment sequence typically runs: coordinated medical detox through a partner facility, admission to RECO’s PHP program, step-down to IOP, and transition to aftercare with continued individual therapy and alumni programming. Clients who need structured housing during treatment have access to RECO’s sober-living network. The entire continuum is coordinated by one team and documented in one treatment plan — no hand-off gaps where people fall through.

Serving residents of: Mizner Park, Royal Palm Place, Boca West, Highland Beach.