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Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

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a therapist takes notes in a cognitive-behavioral therapy programOur cognitive-behavioral therapy program helps a person remove self-sabotaging thoughts, which fuel drug or alcohol use. More specifically, it focuses on the way a person’s thoughts influence their feelings and behaviors. By understanding how these elements are connected, a person is better equipped to think and act in a positive way that supports sobriety.

What a person thinks, how they feel and how they act has a massive impact on their life and health, especially during recovery. When these factors are grounded in positive habits, they increase a person’s well-being and sober living skills. On the other hand, should these be dysfunctional, a person could experience harm to their life, health, and recovery.

As part of addiction treatment, cognitive-behavioral therapy helps a person confront and cope with thought patterns and problems in their life which drive addictive behaviors. Vertava Health rehab centers offer CBT as part of a comprehensive addiction therapy programs. To learn more, contact us today at 844.470.0410

What Is Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy?

Cognitive-behavioral therapy is a combination of two therapeutic approaches, cognitive therapy and behavioral therapy. As a method of psychotherapy or talk therapy, the addicted individual and therapist build a therapeutic alliance. The treatment uses talking as a means to promote healing and the learning of healthy behaviors. Examples of psychotherapists who provide these services include psychiatrists, psychologists, licensed professional counselors, and licensed social workers.

Unlike psychoanalysis, which focuses heavily on the past, cognitive-behavioral therapy is a problem-oriented strategy that helps a person look at dysfunctional patterns within their current life. Past events aren’t ignored; however, the focus is on assisting people in identifying and changing current thoughts, emotional reactions, and behaviors that are damaging their lives and recovery.

Role of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy in Addiction Treatment

A mind changed by addiction can create an unhealthy environment of negative thoughts, changeable emotions, and compulsions for drug use. Together, these elements can color how a person relates to their experiences and change how they view their substance use. Paired with any pre-existing patterns of negativity or a mental illness, this imbalance can fuel drug use and lead a person to self-medicate.

Managing the challenging thoughts and emotions in life can be difficult when sober. For an addicted person, this can be crippling. Without help and guidance from a trained professional, it can be hard to manage these things in a healthy and productive way.

Negative thoughts and the damaging behaviors that result from them can trigger drug or alcohol use. Breaking this cycle through therapy helps a person succeed within the treatment and build a solid foundation for recovery.

While certain outpatient programs may offer cognitive-behavioral therapy, this treatment may be available in a residential inpatient drug rehab program due to the intensive nature of the sessions.

Which Types of Drug Addiction Does Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Treat?

While cognitive-behavioral therapy may be used to treat addiction to numerous drugs of use, research shows that it’s more effective for certain forms of substance use than others. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is an evidence-based approach to drug addiction treatment for conditions such as:

  • Alcohol
  • Marijuana
  • Cocaine
  • Methamphetamine

Often, the best treatment outcomes were associated with marijuana. After that, cocaine and opioids saw the best results. However, the smallest effects were witnessed in individuals with poly-substance or polydrug dependence. This means that individuals struggling with addiction to more than one substance may benefit more fully from another form of therapy or a combination of treatments.

Benefits Of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

Every person living under the weight of addiction has unique circumstances which brought them there. Identifying and treating personal issues that prompt drug or alcohol use helps to reduce triggers and self-destructive behaviors.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy has been shown to:

  • Help a person heal from trauma
  • Build coping skills that reduce the impact of stress
  • Help a person handle emotions in a healthier way
  • Help a person resolve problems in their relationships
  • Strengthen a person’s communication skills
  • Help a person cope with grief or loss
  • Help a person deal with a chronic medical illness
  • Reduce or alleviate certain symptoms of mental illnesses
  • Prevent a relapse of these symptoms
  • Work as a treatment for a mental illness when medications cannot be used

Left unaddressed, many of these issues may cause a person to use drugs or alcohol as a means of avoiding the pain or discomfort caused by these situations.

Length of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Program

One of the most significant benefits of cognitive-behavioral therapy is its intensive approach and relatively short treatment time compared to other therapies. Typically, a person may have weekly sessions for five to 20 weeks, totaling 10 to 20 sessions. The exact length of treatment and frequency of sessions may vary depending on an individual’s specific needs and treatment goals.

There are several factors that influence a person’s treatment plan. These include the:

  • Specific circumstances or disorder(s)
  • Level of symptoms a person experiences
  • Length of time a person has been struggling
  • Level of stress a person is facing
  • Level of support a person has from family and friends

The psychotherapist providing these treatments can help a person determine the right treatment plan for their needs. This plan may be changed to accommodate a person’s recovery goals and current life circumstances as treatment progresses.

What to Expect at a Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Program

During a CBT session, the therapist will guide a person towards identifying and overcoming destructive and negative thoughts which could undermine their pursuit of sobriety. Cognitive-behavioral therapy can take place in an individual, group, or family setting, all of which can be helpful during addiction treatment.

At the first session, the therapist will explain the therapeutic process, answer any questions and evaluate the issues a person needs to work on. In the sessions that follow, the therapist will help the person work on clearly defined issues and goals which focus on them. To support these goals, a person may have homework. This may include practicing coping strategies and keeping track of any problematic thought patterns which arise.

In order for the therapist to recognize what a person needs to work on, the individual in treatment needs to open up about their struggles. This includes talking about the thoughts and feelings which revolve around them.

Goals of Our Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Program

While it can be initially hard for a person to open up and feel vulnerable, the more honest a person is with themselves and their therapist, the greater their capacity for success.

To encourage this openness and promote healing, CBT has several goals, including:

  • Identifying the issues or circumstances which are connected to addiction
  • Developing an awareness of negative thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that contribute to the addiction
  • Identifying negative ways of thinking or false beliefs that make addictive behaviors worse
  • Evaluating why these thoughts occur and how they can be reshaped or eliminated in a positive way

What Skills Will You Gain in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy?

During therapy, a person will learn a variety of life skills and recovery techniques that can help them upkeep their sobriety, such as:

  • Assertiveness
  • Coping skills
  • Relaxation skills
  • Resilience
  • Stress management skills

There are no known major side effects or dangers from cognitive-behavioral therapy. However, it is natural for a person to feel some measure of anxiety or discomfort when they first acknowledge difficult issues or emotions they’re working to overcome. As therapy continues, these feelings should decrease and leave a person more grounded and able to live a drug-free life successfully. 

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy in Use with Other Therapies

Cognitive-behavioral therapy has shown great success in treating addiction when used alone or as part of a treatment plan utilizing other therapies. Most commonly, though, in rehab programs, CBT will be supported by various other therapies tailored to a person’s unique needs. These therapies may include alternative therapies, other research-based behavioral therapies, and/or medications (pharmacotherapies) during addiction treatment.

Ongoing research suggests that cognitive-behavioral therapy may in many cases be more effective when used with other treatments, most notably contingency management (CM) (or similar methods) and motivational interviewing (MI).

Additionally, dialectical behavior therapy, a specialized form of CBT, is an evidence-based psychotherapy that uses traditional elements of CBT in partnership with other targeted approaches to treat addiction. Dialectical behavior therapy teaches mindfulness, acceptance, and distress tolerance, all skills which can be vastly beneficial during recovery.

Typically, a combined approach helps a person remove harmful influences, behaviors, and thought patterns that encourage addictive behavior and act as triggers for relapse. Using multiple therapeutic methods helps a person develop coping and relapse prevention skills tailored to the life circumstances they’ll likely face after treatment.

Role of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy in Dual Diagnosis Treatment

In addition to substance use, cognitive-behavioral therapy is a research-based treatment for numerous mental and physical health problems, many of which frequently occur with addiction.

Just as negative thoughts feed addictive behaviors, they also worsen the symptoms of certain mental illnesses. If these mental illnesses aren’t addressed and treated, they can worsen the addiction or trigger relapse. When a person has both a mental health and substance use disorder, they may need co-occurring disorders treatment.

Mental illness and addiction are often closely connected. In many cases, one causes or aggravates the other. If only one disorder is treated, the other can act as a trigger. For instance, if a person drinks alcohol to numb the sense of despondency caused by depression, the untreated depression could cause them to break sobriety and drink again.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy can help a person nurture their mental and emotional health. By learning to think more positively, a person is more apt to have balanced emotions and make healthier choices. In turn, these changes support recovery and continued abstinence. CBT has been shown to alter brain activity, leading experts to believe that it improves overall brain functioning.

Examples of mental health disorders that have shown success when treated with CBT:

  • Anxiety disorders
  • Bipolar disorder
  • Depression
  • Eating disorders (such as anorexia, bulimia, and binge-eating disorder)
  • Obsessive-compulsive disorders
  • Phobias
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
  • Schizophrenia
  • Sexual disorders
  • Sleep disorders

Seek Treatment at Vertava Health

Maintaining sobriety is a difficult journey. While long-term success can be built on therapies such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, positive outcomes are enhanced by a solid support network, including alumni aftercare services. For more information about the treatment options available, contact Vertava Health today at 844.470.0410