I have an anecdotal story, too, and maybe it illustrates why today's rehab programs have such high recidivism rates.
In 1965, my paternal uncle admitted himself into an in-patient rehab facility for his severe alcoholism. His father, my grampa, paid $8,000 up-front to get him in, saying "If you fall off the wagon, you have to pay me back. Stay sober, and you don't owe me anything."
Anyway, the treatment back then was brutal, but it was very effective. Depending on their preference, an aid escorted the patients to either a cocktail lounge or a tavern, both located right there at the facility, and allowed them to drink as much as usual. They were then walked back to their room and injected with an antabuse that made them piss, sweat, and vomit the alcohol out of their systems all freaking night. Next day, they got to go get drunk again, got the shot of antabuse again, and suffered all night ...again.
When patients got to a point where they were vomiting and sweating just from hearing the keys to the bar jingling, or seeing the aid who carried them walk into their room, they entered the counseling phase of treatment. They got 2 private sessions a week with a psychiatrist who had a PhD, and 5 group sessions a week headed by a licensed councilor who specialized in addiction therapy. Weekends were for relaxation and what they called game-therapy.
My uncle played a sort of guessing game where he and a therapist used a game board that looked like the floor-plan of a house, and little figures representing himself, his wife, and their kids, and he had to answer questions like "How did you respond?" and "How did your wife respond?" by moving the figures around the board. For example, his wife dumped his whiskey down the kitchen sink, he slapped her around in the dining room, kids ran to the playroom, wife ran to the bedroom, he went to the garage and tore shit up....etc.
Six weeks later, he was sober for life. For a while, he felt ill every time he drove past a bar, he'd cry every time he got near the kitchen sink, and he and a friend remodeled his garage. Some of that was guilt, and he moved passed it after a few weeks, thanks to rehab-maintenance sessions with his psychiatrist. (the $8,000 included a six week post-discharge maintenance program)
Sober, my uncle became the best dad a kid could want, a devoted husband, a reliable worker, and a great friend.
But the treatments that got him there are considered abuse now. And, of course, having cocktail lounges and taverns at a rehab facility is totally illegal....tho' I see no difference between that and doling out free methadone and antidepressants to treat drug addicts.
I've never looked into it, but I bet a gazillion nuthins that the old rehab methods worked way, way better than what's done now. (and no one died)
