can you really recover from an addiction after 1 month of insitutionalization

My boyfriend's sister is a prescription drug addict. .  She has been so at least for 11 years.  She has 3 kids- 23, 20 and 16.   She attempted suicide 10 yrs ago.  She got treatment for 2 months or so.  2 yrs ago, she graduated with an RN degree just to be fired from her job for stealing drugs.  She fools everyone around her as to stopping.  But from now and then she collapses from overdose or withdrawal, god knows which.  Last time this happened, all the siblings got together and sent her to an institution in MN.  It has hardly been a month.  She is coming home tomorrow.  What should we expect.  I hate to see my BF in pain and also i dont know how to handle these problems anymore.
What do you think?  What has been your experience?

[J T Junig, MD PhD]

Recovery is never 'complete' when talking addiction;  Recovery is a process.  One month is a very short period of time; studies have shown that 90 days is much more effective than 28 days, and so it is often recommended that the addict go to a halfway house after primary treatment to add up to at least three months in a recovering environment.  After one month, the addict's brain is still significantly impaired;  insight is poor, and impulsivity is high.  

If she goes to meetings at least 4-5 times per week, reads recovery literature daily, does the daily reflections, follows up with a counselor at some frequency, gets and uses a sponsor... with all those things, she has a shot at staying clean.  But if she cuts corners and thinks she doesn't need 'all that stuff', her chances would be poor.  Opiate dependence (I am assuming that her prescription drugs consist of opiates and benzos) is hard to survive even when one does everything right-- the person must truly change, and embrace a 'new manner of living'.  If she starts lying again, she isn't yet ready to get  and stay clean.