Individuals who wish to maintain a certain amount of flexibility within their lives can engage in an outpatient rehab should they need rehabilitation for drug or alcohol abuse. Outpatient rehab enables the rehab client to participate in rehabilitation services with the same commitment you might usually have to agree to within an inpatient or residential drug and alcohol treatment facility. This doesn't always work in the rehabilitation client's favor however, particularly for those individuals who need to resolve substantial drug abuse problems. So although an outpatient rehab may seem like a convenient option, it isn't for everybody. Those who do decide on an outpatient rehab will usually show up at meetings and take part in therapy and treatment services part-time every day or a few days weekly. This can be very helpful for individuals who have recently completed a more thorough inpatient or residential program as an effective aftercare or maintenance step, and for someone with only a brief history of drug abuse which is usually a really small amount of clients. For someone with more serious drug abuse and dependency problems, inpatient or residential drug rehabilitation programs which offer rehab over a long-term basis will be the more advantageous rehab alternative.