For those of us searching for drug rehab without insurance, and without the means to finance our own stay at drug rehab, it can be tough to know where to turn. When you narrow further the selection criteria by searching for a free GLBT drug rehab, it can seem down right impossible to find anywhere to go.
So maybe you shouldn't?
There are over 2000 free or nearly free drug and alcohol rehabs in operation in this country. Rehabs that exist as non profit or charity entities, and that care more about getting you better than about how much money you do or do not have. A small number of these will have GLBT specific programming, the vast majority do not.
Consider a tolerant but mixed facility
Thankfully, clinical studies have shown that GLBT addicts and alcoholics seem to do just about as well in conventional and mixed sexuality facilities, provided that their unique concerns are acknowledged and dealt with, and that they are treated with respect and compassion by both the staff and the other patients within.
GLBT addicts in recovery report appreciating having issues of sexuality and the influence of sexuality on addiction overtly covered in both individual and group therapy sessions, and also report appreciating having counselors raise these issues first. Our sexuality and life experiences do influence our use and our recovery, and it is important to address such central life experiences in the recovery process.
A question of your own comfort level
As long as a drug or alcohol rehabs operates from a philosophical framework of mandated and enforced respect for diversity, then these in recovery should have few problems recovering within a mixed sexuality facility. Of course honesty and openness in the therapeutic process is completely necessary for progress on our personal issues, so if you feel you cannot open up outside of a GLBT community of addicts in recovery, then you are unlikely to get much from a mixed sexuality facility.
Basically, it's up to you. If you feel that you are comfortable discussing your personal life and issues with others of a different sexuality, then as long as the treatment facility enforces tolerance to all, then you should do great. And if you feel that you can, then there are thousands of free drug and alcohol rehabs available to you, in every corner of the nation!
You will need to ensure that any facility under consideration will treat you with respect and compassion, and you should inquire as to policies and realities of tolerance before entering into a stay at any drug or alcohol treatment enter. You can get better, and you can find a facility to in which to heal, even if you lack insurance and savings. You just need to decide what you're comfortable with first.