Days eight to fourteen.

One-to-one therapy. Most clinics start serious one-to-one therapy in week two. Once a week, sometimes twice. Your assigned counsellor will have read your history, met you on day zero, and now starts the actual work. The shape of the work depends on the clinic's model — twelve-step, CBT, psychodynamic, integrative. You do not need to know the model on day eight. You need to turn up.

Group, deeper. The groups in week two are longer and more confrontational than week one. You will be asked to write things down. A timeline of your drinking. A list of consequences. A letter you will not send. A first step, if the clinic is twelve-step. A formulation, if the clinic is CBT. The writing is the lever. Do the writing.

The lecture. Most clinics run a daily lecture on a different topic — the neuroscience of addiction, the physiology of withdrawal, the family system, relapse, shame, the stages of change, nutrition, sleep, exercise, the brain on dopamine, the cost of hiding. They are uneven in quality and they are not the point. Take notes. Some of them will land in week three.

The visit. Most clinics permit a family visit somewhere between days ten and fourteen. It is structured. Often supervised. Usually two hours. Sometimes a Sunday afternoon. It is not a normal visit. The family has not seen you since detox. You have not seen them since you were the version of you that drank. Both of you are nervous. The clinic usually preps the family separately. If yours does not, ask.

The walk. Most clinics have grounds. Walk them. Twice a day if the schedule permits. Walking is the under-prescribed treatment in residential rehab.

The sleep. Sleep returns somewhere around day ten to twelve. It will not be like the sleep you had when you were drinking. It will not be like the sleep of a teenager. It will be the sleep of someone whose chemistry is recalibrating. Some nights will be five hours. Some will be ten. Both are normal.

The leaver. Most cohorts lose someone in week two. Usually they leave against medical advice. Sometimes they are asked to leave. The clinic will not tell you why. The cohort will speculate. Do not speculate too long. Their leaving is not your business. Your work is yours.

The four weeks, in order

• Day zero — arrival
• Week one — detox and disorientation
• Week two — the work begins (this page)
• Week three — the middle
• Week four — the medical handover and the door