When it comes to addiction recovery, there are no silver bullets. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to help people with substance abuse. It is important to understand that every patient should get their own individualized treatment plan to help them achieve long-term sobriety. These treatment programs should be based on multiple aspects of the patient's life including substances being used, medical history, and more.
With that said, there are still a few consistent portions of the treatment process including psychotherapy.
Psychotherapy, or talk therapy, is one of the most useful and recommended portions of treatment. There are a number of different forms of psychotherapy that can be used during treatment to help patients with their specific problems and help them achieve long-term sobriety. One of the most common forms of psychotherapy is cognitive behavioral therapy.
Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, is one of the most effective forms of therapy for people with mental health and substance abuse disorders who are in rehab. During CBT, patients will work with clinicians to identify specific thought patterns, patterns that may be leading them to use substances.
Upon identifying these destructive thought patterns, therapists will then assist the patient with helping them learn how to change these thoughts to something more conducive with their recovery. Essentially, CBT is a way that patients can work with their therapist to reduce the chance of relapse.
Overall, CBT is meant to do a number of things including:
- Manage symptoms of mental illness
- Prevent relapses
- Learn coping techniques
- Ideal ways to manage emotions and more
During CBT patients are encouraged to open up and talk about thoughts and feelings that they may be dealing with or are troubling them. The goal of this is to help the patient gain more confidence and comfort after talking with the therapist and coming up with a way to deal with these feelings that may be inhibiting their recovery.
Along with CBT, there are a number of other different forms of therapy and counseling that are in place to help patients who are suffering from substance abuse and other underlying mental health disorders.
For example, therapies such as motivational interviewing, rational emotive behavioral therapy, and dialectical-behavioral therapy are all helpful forms of therapy that can help patients with specific problems that they are facing.
Despite how effective these forms of therapy can be, it is essential that people understand that the best approach to treatment is a multi-pronged one. You can’t rely on one thing to heal somebody, you need to look at multiple avenues. Overall, the more you learn about addiction and the way it works, the more you will understand treatment methods and their effectiveness.
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