When people seek addiction treatment, they will find a wide range of treatment options. From various addiction therapy services to rehabs that offer holistic treatments, how do you know which one to choose?
At 449 Recovery in Mission Viejo, California, we offer various addiction counseling services and other treatment aids to help people suffering from addiction successfully recover and get their lives back on track.
Addiction therapy is a diverse form of treatment. Although there are different types of addiction counseling services, they have several common goals, including:
- Stopping the use of drugs and/or alcohol
- Maintaining recovery from drugs and alcohol
- Addressing all underlying trauma and mental health conditions such as depression or anxiety
- Understanding negative behaviors and how substances motivate them
- Developing stress management tools
- Increasing self-esteem
- Rebuilding personal and professional relationships
Substance misuse interferes with the way people think. For example, it makes people impulsive and interferes with their ability to pay attention, learn new things, and their memory. For counseling to be effective, it must help manage all the symptoms of addiction.
Addiction therapy services help people adjust their attitudes, learn how to relate to people, and appropriately react to situations. In other words, counseling helps undo the disordered thinking of addiction and replace it with positive and productive thinking.
Types of Addiction Counseling Programs
With the variety of addiction therapy services in California, people can find a range of options. At 449 Recovery, our clients receive personalized treatment plans and therapeutic approaches to help them achieve lasting recovery.
Many types of therapies are used in treatment programs for substance use disorders. Programs such as partial hospitalization programs (PHP), intensive outpatient programs, and inpatient programs all involve therapeutic approaches.
Each type of counseling is different; depending on the client’s needs, one may be more effective than another. If you or a loved one is entering addiction treatment, you may participate in some of the following therapeutic approaches.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is based on the principle that psychological disorders like substance use disorder are partially the result of negative and harmful thinking patterns, learned behaviors, and coping skills. Instead of focusing on the past, CBT is centered on the present and helping people build a better future for themselves.
A form of talk therapy, CBT helps clients understand how their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors work together. With the help of a therapist, clients discover how unhealthy thinking patterns negatively affect beliefs and behaviors.
Once clients identify negative patterns, the therapist helps them change negative habits into healthy ones. As a result, clients learn how to react positively to situations, people, cravings, and triggers.
Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is a type of CBT. Dr. Marsha M. Linehan developed it to treat severe mental illnesses such as chronic suicidal ideations. The biggest difference between CBT and DBT is that BDT focuses on accepting and validating uncomfortable feelings rather than avoiding them.
Today, DBT is used to treat addiction and co-occurring mental health disorders. Therapists commonly use DBT in both individual and group settings.
DBT is a multidimensional and comprehensive counseling approach. It teaches skills to change unhealthy thoughts and behaviors. Therapists help clients learn behavioral skills by giving them instructions, telling stories, coaching, practicing, and giving feedback.
Contingency management is addiction counseling that rewards clients for making positive life changes. It is based on the principle that positive rewards increase positive behaviors such as recovery. For example, rewards can include prizes for negative drug tests and vouchers for making positive relationship changes.
Benefits of Contingency management include:
- Increases the length of time people stay in treatment
- Increases the chance of lasting recovery
- Helpful for a variety of people and addictions
- Works alongside other addiction therapeutic approaches
In motivational interviewing, the therapist motivates recovery in clients by identifying their motivations and values and focusing treatment around them. Instead of being forced into recovery or facing legal trouble, motivational interviewing helps clients find their motivation for change.
Benefits of motivational interviewing include:
- Improves the length of stay in treatment
- Motivates clients to make positive changes that encourage lifelong recovery
- Increases participation in treatment
- Reduces the risk of relapse
- Encourages developing self-actualization goals
Individual therapy is often called psychotherapy or talk therapy. This type of counseling aims to help clients identify harmful thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Clients work one-on-one with a therapist who may use a variety of techniques.
Individual therapy helps clients uncover the root of their addiction and learn the tools needed to maintain their recovery. A therapist may use behavioral therapies such as CBT and motivational interviewing. Individual counseling also addresses any co-occurring mental health disorders.
Benefits of individual counseling for addiction include:
- Confidentiality
- One-on-one attention
- Intense level of treatment
- Personalized addiction therapy services
- A strong client/therapist trust
- Developing a deep sense of self-awareness
- Flexible scheduling
- Building communication skills
Group therapy is at least one therapist and more than one client. Couples counseling is a type of group therapy consisting of two people. Other support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous or AA can have 10 or more people in a group session.
Group counseling for addiction offers clients insight and guidance. By sharing struggles and wins, clients can receive and give support.
Benefits of group counseling include:
- Not feeling alone
- The chance to give and receive support
- Developing positive communication and relationship skills
- Developing self-awareness
- Building self-esteem
- Building a support system
- Modeling others’ positive behaviors
Family therapy addresses the client’s addiction issues and their effects on the family unit. This therapeutic approach involves those affected by the client’s addiction, including immediate and extended family members.
The goal of family counseling is to improve relationships. Therapists will address things like enabling behaviors and communication methods to improve the family unit and home environment.
Benefits of family therapy include:
- Helps motivate clients to be active in their recovery
- Provides education about alcohol and drug addiction
- Gives a safe space for family members to express their thoughts and concerns
- Helps family members develop skills and strategies to encourage recovery
- Improves communication
- Addresses mental illness in the family
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Benefits of Therapy for Alcohol and Drug Abuse
Therapy can be beneficial for people struggling with addiction. Here are some ways it helps:
- Finding out why addiction developed: Therapeutic approaches help people figure out why they started using drugs or alcohol in the first place. This can help them find better ways to deal with their problems.
- Learning new ways to deal with problems: Therapy teaches people new ways to deal with problems without using drugs or alcohol.
- Addressing co-occurring disorders: Sometimes, people with addiction have co-occurring mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, or PTSD. Therapy provides help for those who need substance abuse treatment and mental health services.
- Making new friends: Therapeutic approaches help people connect with others who understand what they’re going through.
- Staying sober: Therapeutic services give people tools to help them stay in recovery. This includes making plans to prevent using drugs or alcohol again and having people to talk to when things get hard. Individuals who are working toward a sober life can develop relapse prevention techniques with help from therapy services.
- Receiving support and accountability: Therapeutic services offer access to supportive peers, helpful resources, and opportunities to gain accountability partners.
Finding the Right Addiction Therapy Services
There is still a stigma surrounding therapy. As a result, people do not know where to find the right addiction therapy services. It can also prevent some people from seeking help to recover from addiction.
Therapists specializing in substance use disorder typically work in detox facilities and rehabs or receive referrals from community programs. If you want to learn more about addiction treatment, ask your doctor or call 449 Recovery for more information.
Receive Therapy at 449 Recovery in California
Here at 449 Recovery, we want you to live a life that is free from substance abuse. Our evidence-based and effective treatment methods can help you stay on track as you overcome addiction and shift your focus to a better way of living.
Addiction therapy services are crucial to lifelong recovery. If you or one of your loved ones could use some help fighting an addiction to drugs or alcohol, contact us. Recovery is possible with help from our Mission Viejo, California treatment center. Reach out to us today to learn more about our treatment plan options and how we can help you.
Dr. Warren Taff MD, graduated from the University of Birmingham, England School of Medicine, with a BA from Rutgers University. He then went on to UCLA School of Public Health in Los Angeles Health and Human Services and received an MPH. He also attended an internship in internal medicine, with the Veterans Administration. Dr. Taff’s residency includes General Psychiatry at USC, with elective residencies at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney, Australia, and Royal College of Psychiatry. Board certifications include American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Dr. Taff has extensive experience in both psychiatry and addiction medicine, extending from 1979 to present. He has held professional titles that include Chief of Staff and Medical Directorship in both hospitals and private sectors.
