Individuals who want to maintain some flexibility in their lives can engage in an outpatient rehab if they need rehabilitation for drug or alcohol abuse. Outpatient rehab enables the rehab client to participate in rehab services with the same commitment you might ordinarily have to consent to within an inpatient or residential drug treatment center. This doesn't often work in the rehab client's favor however, particularly for those individuals who need to solve substantial drug abuse problems. So even though an outpatient rehab might appear to be a convenient option, it isn't for everyone. Those that do choose an outpatient rehab will usually attend meetings and be a part of therapy and rehabilitation services part-time on a daily basis or a few days each week. This is helpful for those who have just completed a far more complete inpatient or residential program as a good aftercare or upkeep step, and for someone with just a brief history of drug use which is usually a really small percentage of clients. For a person with more severe drug abuse and dependency issues, inpatient or residential drug rehabilitation facilities which offer treatment over a long-term basis will probably be the more effective treatment alternative.