Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Addiction Rehab

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) therapy in drug treatment is considered one of the keystones of drug and alcohol addiction treatment. It has been regarded as one of the most effective means of rehabilitation since its introduction in the 1960s. Numerous studies as well as case reports have proven its effectiveness in addiction treatment. CBT, for good reason, thus became one of the most popular models of addiction therapy for the better part of the 20th Century and it remains to be used widely in present time.

Origins and Principles of CBT

A University of Pennsylvania psychiatrist and specialist in depression treatment named Dr. Aaron Beck was the first person to develop the principles of CBT. The theories of psychoanalysis dominated the field of mental health back in the 1960s. However, the good doctor learned that there’s another way to go about in helping patients so that they can view the world in a more optimistic light, feel better, and function more effectively as responsible and self-directing adults in this complicated world. Beck’s CBT involved the following:

• Buried within the Subconscious: The vast majority of psychoanalysts (particularly in the 1960s) believe that deep in the subconscious are repressed thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that manifest themselves outward. These, in turn, influence a person’s conscious thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
• Correcting Dysfunctional Behaviors: Psychoanalysts used intensive therapeutic process in order to delve into the patient’s past experiences and memories for the sake of correcting his dysfunctional behaviors and actions.
• The Importance of Self-Awareness: Even self-awareness of what happened in the past can do wonders in keeping people from being too impulsive with their tendencies. Being aware and actively changing the way you approach things can do wonders in addressing issues like addiction.
• A Treatment for a Number of Addiction Disorders: Drug addiction, alcoholism, and depression are just some of the disorder treated by CBT. Any addiction, from sex to eating disorders, can receive benefits from CBT.
• An Important Discovery: Dr. Beck discovered that while studying the effects and effectiveness of psychoanalysis treatment that in many or even most cases, depression came from a person’s dysfunctional cognitive patterns instead of subconscious conflicts.
• Depression and Fixation: While clinical depression does call for pharmaceutical solutions in many instances, certain cases can be treated by addressing the fact that there are patients who were fixated on automatic negative thoughts playing in their minds over and over like a broken record.
• Replace Negativity with Positivity: CBT is all about assisting patients in recognizing these negative thoughts and then willfully replacing them with more constructive or positive beliefs. This isn’t delusional positivity or unrealistic optimism but something grounded in growth, maturity, and self-improvement.

CBT Specific for Addiction Treatment

Why does CBT bring in positive results when it comes to psychiatric treatment of a huge range of mental health issues? CBT is based on the belief that people have the ability to make constructive changes in their life by actively doing things to modify their destructive behaviors and thoughts. The power of positivity is more powerful than you think and CBT proves how effective it really is.

When you approach life with a more positive bent, you can keep yourself from being dependent on drugs and alcohol in order to feel better about yourself. CBT is quite powerful because it empowers the patients it treats with its methods, giving them more of an ability to control their lives and, essentially, their destiny. At any rate, it works in the following ways:

• CBT teaches addicts practical ways to avoid relapse.
• CBT supports addicts in visualizing the future in an optimistic manner.
• CBT assists addicts to develop more trusting, stronger relationships or bonds.
• CBT helps addicts cultivate sober activities to replace their substance use and abuse.
• CBT strengthens the confidence of addicts and boosts their sense of self-determination.
• CBT gives addicts the effective yet simple tools for changing any of their negative beliefs.

CBT can be utilized in various therapeutic conditions and settings, from sessions of group therapy to individual counseling. It can also be taught in relapse prevention classes and family counseling for good measure. It’s a versatile kind of psychosocial intervention therapy that can help treat different conditions from depression to addiction or even both at the same time (in dual diagnosis circumstances, for instance).

This methodology concentrates mostly on teaching patients how to learn to practically cope with the stress in their life. It’s a practical sort of mental counseling technique wherein they can help addicts to rebuild their lives after losing their ability to manage their finances, hold down a job, or care for themselves by teaching them important life and social skills.

What Makes CBT so Effective?

CBT is one of the most widely studied mental counseling treatments for depression, addiction, and substance abuse treatment. According to clinical studies, CBT’s coping strategies can boost an addict’s chances of getting long-term success when it comes to recovery and sobriety.

• Multiple Disorder Treatment: According to 53 clinical studies’ comparative analysis as printed in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, CBT has shown effectiveness when it comes to the treatment of multiple disorders, which includes conditions like eating disorders, nicotine addiction, drug abuse, and alcoholism, among other things.
• Versatility and Flexibility: CBT is also known for its versatility and flexibility when applied in various ways in order to treat substance abuse tendencies. In sessions involving individual counseling, the therapist can utilize the CBT method to assist the patient in identifying the automatic thoughts that keep him stuck in an addiction behavioral cycle.
• Practice Coping Strategies: When it comes to group counseling sessions, patients can practice their coping strategies and interpersonal skills they learned during individual therapy in a group setting with peers who have similar goals to achieve.
• Relapse Prevention Training: As for relapse prevention training, it’s all about patients identifying the triggers of their substance abuse and recognizing the warning signs of a potential relapse, which should in turn assist them in adapting to the situation. Should they go back to rehab or stick it through until they can get over the temptation of regressing back to their bad habits?
• Breaking Free from Self-Destructive Habits: CBT teaches skills in a practical way in order to help addicts break free from self-destructive behavioral patterns and thoughts. Its tools are particularly useful in gaining freedom from the addiction cycle for any recovering addicts who’ve lost their sense of control over their lives.

Changing Destructive Thought Patterns

The mind changes greatly when faced with addiction. A person becoming an addict alters the manner by which he perceives himself and his future as well as the world around him. On that note, these are the automatic thoughts that run through the patient’s brain that serve to feed the addiction further and further:

• “I’ve been addicted for many years, so I’ll probably never change.”
• “Why should I care if I use drugs or drink excessively? I have a worthless life anyway.”
• “I might as well keep using drugs/alcohol till I die because I’m no good to anyone at all.”
• “I’ve relapsed every time I try to be sober, so there’s obviously no hope for me becoming unaddicted.”

The majority of addicts aren’t conscious or aware that they think negatively. However, the destructive thoughts and words can play continuously in their minds, like a broken record or a YouTube video on repeat. Through activities like group discussions, journaling, and talk therapy, addicts can learn how to become aware of these destructive thoughts when they happen. After they’ve identified the negative thinking, they can replace such thoughts with something more positive, which includes the following:

• “I’m a worthwhile person who deserves a positive, healthy life.”
• “I want to make my life to count because it has meaning and purpose.”
• “I have the ability, skills, and power to change my life around if I wish it so.”
• “Addiction has relapse as one of its symptoms. Giving into it is not a reflection of my weakness.”

With practice and patience, destructive thoughts, behaviors, and habits can be replaced with constructive, self-affirming beliefs, phrases, and proactive action. Just as negative beliefs can push addicts deeper into self-destruction through over-consumption of substances, so too can positive thinking can reinforce their self-esteem and assist them in pulling themselves by their bootstraps and crawling out of the hole that is addiction.

Modifying Destructive Behaviors

Many addicts are lost in the fog of compulsion and craving, so much so that a significant number of them even forget why they started drug usage originally. CBT, according to Current Psychiatry Reports, is a powerful method of assisting patients that identify the emotional and situational triggers that drive their abuse of different substances. Therapists might utilize oral or written exercises in order to guide addicts towards understanding what triggers their compulsiveness and cravings.

A therapist might ask you to consider all the conditions and circumstances wherein you feel a compulsion to use drugs, which include the following:

• Going to Certain Places: You can buy drugs in places like parks, clubs, and bars.
• Experiencing Positive Emotions: Even positive emotions can get you carried away, like when you feel excitement, pride, happiness, or joy.
• Experiencing Negative Emotions: You might be driven to drink or do drugs because of fear, anxiety, loneliness, anger, or even outright boredom.
• Reliving Traumatizing Memories: You can feel compelled to get drugs when you remember instances of trauma, violence, abandonment, abuse, and conflicts.
• Being Around Certain Personalities: You can also relapse because of your addicted friends, family members who are enablers or critical of you, drug dealers, or coworkers with connections.

According to CBT principles, it isn’t the triggers that cause you to relapse to addiction but instead of the way you respond to these triggers. By changing how your mind interprets stimuli in a constructive instead of destructive way by making it aware of these high-risk situations instead of letting your body go on autopilot, you as a recovering addict can reduce your relapse risk. You can also practice these prevention tips and recommendations:

• Talk to yourself through the negative impact or consequences of substance abuse. You can, for example, go to jail, lose custody of your children, or lose your job, among other complications.
• Find better hobbies that are sober activities to replace your drug or alcohol usage. For instance, you can get more out of doing a home improvement project, going to a movie, listening to music, or playing a sport than using drugs or drinking alcohol.
• Search for holistic methods to deal with cravings and manage your stress. You can try out activities like massage, acupuncture, yoga, and meditation, among other things.
• Communicate your needs to others by calling a sponsor or friend as well as going to a 12-step addiction treatment program. You can also make an appointment with your therapist to get taught CBT and self-awareness.
• Learn how to avoid drug users and refuse drugs or teach yourself how to drink moderately or socially. Know when to say, “No.” You can also say “I’m drug-free now and I like it,” or “I’ve have enough, thanks.”

CBT assists recovering patients who were addicts to strengthen their will and communication skills.

This in turn enables them to effectively ask for assistance when they need it. This also helps the express their emotions so that they can avoid bottling up their feelings inside, thus it affects their behavior. When it comes to addiction treatment, such skills are improved, hones, and applied in various settings from support group meetings, family counseling, to one-on-one therapy.

As you learn how to deal with stressful emotions or situations, you can develop a sense of self-esteem and self-confidence. You can now build up your ego and self-belief that you can handle life’s challenges without using drug addiction or alcoholism as well as various other addictions to food, sex, or video games as a crutch. This also enables you to live in the moment and enjoy life’s joys and triumphs as well, which might fall in the wayside if you’re too distracted by drugs.

CBT in the Recovery Process

Even though CBT is an influential part of drug addiction treatment rehab, therapy alone isn’t enough to assist patients in achieving sobriety and recovery goals. CBT should instead be combined with other therapies in order to produce better results or outcomes compared to standalone CBT counseling. According to a Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology study, relapse prevention training that’s based on CBT principles was most efficient when used in conjunction with other approaches such as medication therapy.

The idea here is that while CBT handles your mental and behavioral issues, other therapies like medication therapy can deal with the more physical aspects of addiction and compulsion not covered by CBT. Integrating pharmacotherapy and CBT therapy together produced optimal results. Although using drugs to treat drug addiction might seem backwards or seemingly defeats the purpose of rehab, certain drug substitutes can sate bodily cravings of stronger, more addictive drugs so that you’re less likely to suffer from relapse.

Three of the approved drug addiction treatment medications for withdrawal symptoms and relapse warning signs include:

• Naltrexone: Naltrexone includes brands like Depade, Vivitrol, and Revia. It’s a drug that blocks the pleasurable effects of opiates. This in turn prevents cravings for not only opiates but also alcoholic drinks. This medication also has applications in treating cocaine addiction and abuse.
• Buprenorphine: Buprenorphine includes brands like Subutex and Suboxone. It’s a recently introduced drug of the opiate variety that can provide many of the benefits of methadone with lower risk for addiction and abuse. It’s the less addictive version of methadone you can use to wean yourself from addiction.
• Methadone: Methadone includes brands like Dolophine and Methadose. This opioid can relieve withdrawal symptoms and relapse issues as well as cravings in patients who struggle with addiction to strong opiates like morphine, hydrocodone, oxycodone, or heroin.

Aside from medication therapy or pharmacotherapy, CBT can also be combined with other therapeutic techniques such as holistic therapies such as acupuncture, massage, or yoga; experiential therapies; fitness training; expressive therapies such as dance, music, or art therapy; or nutritional counseling, among other modalities. By mixing, matching, and combining methods together, an addict’s CBT drug addiction treatment can become more effective and have more chances of long-term success.

In Conclusion

So why is CBT one of the most popular addiction therapy models out there? What is its appeal in the field of drug treatment? Incidentally, it wasn’t always used to treat drug and alcohol addiction. Instead, it was mainly developed to deal with the challenges of depression. However, with the dawn of dual diagnosis and mental treatment on top of addiction treatment, it was soon discovered that CBT also has applications in changing the behavior of an addict and pushing him towards the road of recovery.

In the field of substance abuse rehabilitation, counselors and therapists apply CBT principles effectively and successfully in order to assist recovering patients in learning healthy ways to deal with stress, difficult emotions, and traumatic situations. In other words, CBT originates from the concept of changing the way people learn and think in order to correct behaviors. This should then lead to them leading fulfilling and happy lives when push comes to shove.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Lanna Rehab

Get in touch with the Lanna Rehab Center’s staff and crew in order to get a free consultation, a quote, and a potential room reservation at the facility. Once you’re there, you won’t only receive detoxification, hospice care, and medication to control your withdrawal symptoms. You can also receive psychological therapy and counseling in the form of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or CBT, which is a staple of the mental portion of holistic treatment.

The treatment helps you change your behavior by being more self-aware of your past trauma during your formative years, thus allowing you to approach stressful situations with more mindful nuance and less impulsiveness. Call Lanna’s toll-free number today in order to avail of their CBT therapy, among other effective treatments.