The challenges faced in treating and managing addiction can vary greatly between individuals, with multiple hurdles and obstacles to overcome along the journey. Individuals faced with addiction concerns tend to get stuck in a negative cycle of self-sabotaging behaviors, often leading to further significant problems later on.
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As much as society likes to make us think otherwise, addiction is generally not something that can be handled with just sheer willpower, but rather it requires targeted intervention and attention.
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Goals of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Addiction
Talk therapy is just one of the more common forms of treatment for addiction, and research suggests that cognitive behavioral therapy is an effective tool for managing alcohol and substance use disorders. Find a comprehensive list of CBT based questions you can utilise with clients in a therapy setting here.
CBT is an evidence-based and effective therapy for targeting the core concerns and triggers of addiction. One key goal of cognitive behavioral therapy is to help individuals grow an awareness of their misguided thought patterns, which typically creates further problems in their lives.
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How Can CBT Help Treat Addiction?
CBT strategies also assist the individual in re-evaluating their thoughts to help identify and implement more balanced thought patterns. in addition to encouraging the individual to understand the logic and motivation behind their behavior and eventually find better solutions to manage their triggers. Find more on the benefits of CBT in a couples therapy setting here.
People who suffer from alcohol, substance abuse or other addictions often experience negative thought patterns and emotions, which make the recovery process challenging. CBT is focused on identifying these negative thoughts to replace them with more adaptive ones, helping the individual improve their perspective and learn skills to help them navigate life, while facing daily triggers for potential relapse.
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Treating Addiction with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Here are some ways CBT can help clients dealing with addiction:
- Teach clients to identify self-destructive thoughts and negative behavior
- Support clients in finding ways to inspect these thought patterns that significantly affect them
- Learn new ways to adapt to these thought patterns. Learn more about CBT and its benefits in adapting thought patterns like those found in OCD, here.
- Implement relaxation strategies for managing uncomfortable emotions and sensations (often leading to use)
- Learn and implement communication skills and boundary setting to assist the clients with managing social pressures, resulting in the use
- Apply learned skills in challenging situations and settings. Find more information on challenging chronic conditions with cognitive behavioral therapy here.
- Explore and use effective ways to handle stressful situations
Studies have revealed that CBT is effective in treating addiction and substance abuse disorders. The treatment is said to have long-lasting effects and can even help clients maintain abstinence for an extended time.
Programs that combine CBT with contingency planning and motivational interviewing during the treatment early stages have revealed even higher levels of treatment compliance. Cognitive behavioral therapy techniques have also been shown to also work well with medication and approved pharmacological interventions.
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What is the Expected Timeframe to See Results?
Every individual is different, and the severity and length of use will often determine the expected treatment time frame. The benefit of cognitive behavioral therapy, however, is that it is a semi-structured therapy, meaning that treatment planning can be easily adapted to the individual's needs while using proven strategies as part of the treatment plan.
For more on cognitive behavioral therapy and its use case for treating a variety of mental health conditions and challenges such as ADHD, be sure to check out our new blog post on this topic here.
