Cognitive-behavioral therapy is the best form of treatment for alcohol and substance addiction because it allows the recovering individuals to address the cause of the addiction and change their behavior. CBT is a popular type of mental health counseling, commonly used in addiction treatment centers. In this approach, a trained therapist often meets with clients in a safe and confidential environment to discuss and explore their emotions. Its primary goal is to help the clients scrutinize their thoughts and behavior, learn new coping skills, manage pain, and change behavior.
Overcoming substance misuse disorder requires psychological tools, such as CBT. Suppose you are recovering from alcoholism or drug addiction. In that case, this method will help you find a connection between your thoughts, emotions, and actions and understand how this connection will influence your recovery. In most cases, people fall into addiction due to self-defeating thoughts. Understanding these thoughts helps the recovering person abstain from the drugs. Therefore, CBT is based on the principle that negative thinking is a barrier to positive self-change.
CBT treats addiction for various drugs, such as:
• Alcohol
• Cocaine
• Marijuana
• Methamphetamine
How CBT Helps in Addiction Recovery
CBT treats alcohol addiction through functional analysis. The therapist will help you with the consequences of a particular behavior. He or she will guide you in identifying the feelings and situations that might have motivated you to start drinking or using drugs. The counselor might ask you multiple questions like how you were feeling ad what you were doing before you started using the substances to trigger more insight on the situation. This session will also help you define the risks and difficulties that you should avoid to prevent a relapse.
CBT also treats drug addiction through skills training. Most people are likely to start using alcohol and other drugs when dealing with stress, trauma, depression, and other psychological issues. The cognitive behavior therapist will help you unlearn the negative adaptive behavior and develop more positive coping skills. Recovering from the addiction will be easier because you will apply these healthy skills in situations that can tempt you to use the drugs.
The skills learned in this process include:
• Assertiveness
• Relaxation
• Self-control
• Resilience
Therapy enables the addicts to develop better ways of managing feelings of distress. An addicted person is more equipped to overcome the addiction if they understand why they act in a particular way and how their feelings and actions can lead to drug abuse. For example, you manage stress positively instead of seeking comfort in drugs. Revisiting painful memories will also help you reduce the pain they caused or learn how to manage it.
Advantages of using CBT to treat Substance Addiction
The recovery process is difficult when a person is struggling with negative thoughts and emotions. However, CBT is the perfect solution because it will help you replace these thoughts with adaptive ones. In addition, you learn how to identify and monitor self-destructive feelings to prevent them from influencing your behavior negatively. Finally, remember that you can apply the skills you learn in this therapy in other areas of your life.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy is a short-term treatment. The education process involved is structured and goal-oriented and focuses on immediate issues. Therefore, you might need approximately 12 or 16 sessions with the counselor to complete it. However, the duration depends on various factors, such as the treatment goals, patient’s stress levels, symptoms, length of addiction, and support received from family and friends.
Effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive-behavioral therapy treats alcoholism and substance use effectively. Therapists can use it alone or combine it with other therapy programs like contingency management, motivational interviewing, Dialectal Behavioral Therapy (DBT), and Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT). A combined approach achieves more powerful results because it helps the person eliminate harmful patterns and influences that encourage addiction and triggers relapse.
Conclusion
In conclusion, maintaining sobriety is difficult. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is the best form of treatment for drug addiction. It helps the addict eliminate self-sabotaging thoughts and feelings that fuel the drug abuse. During CBT sessions, patients collaborate with therapists to learn skills that help them correct problematic behavior leading to addiction and relapse. You should consider seeking our CBT if you are on a recovery journey. Our qualified therapists will help you scrutinize your past behavior and develop skills and patterns that support your sobriety. They will also offer the right treatment plan that matches your needs. Call us today at 844-903-2111 and book your session.
