Long term treatment involves individuals spending a substantial amount of time on their drug addiction treatment program. Generally, long term treatment is conducted in residential treatment facilities. When an individual enters a long term treatment program they know that they have truly dedicated themselves to recovering from their drug addiction. Long-Term Residential Treatment provides care 24 hours per day, generally in nonhospital settings. The best-known long term treatment model is the therapeutic community (TC), but residential treatment may also employ other models, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy.

Long term treatment generally lasts anywhere from 3 to 12 months and is focused on the "resocialization" of the individual. Long term treatment uses the program's entire "community," including other residents, staff, and the social context, as active components of treatment. Long term treatment focuses on developing personal accountability and responsibility and socially productive lives. Long term treatment is highly structured with activities designed to help residents examine damaging beliefs, self-concepts, and patterns of behavior and to adopt new, more harmonious and constructive ways to interact with others.

Through long term treatment individuals are able to live life for a substantial amount of time off drugs, knowing what sobriety truly feels like. With shorter treatment programs the drug addict does not get to experience a significant amount of time off drugs. They have just enough time to withdrawal, detox and take in a few lessons before they are back in society dealing with the same social pressures that drove them to treatment in the first place.