Whilst addiction can feel like a vast and complicated problem with no way out when you are in the midst of it, there are a huge variety of treatment options available. Any combination of treatments could be the right answer for you, and when the right treatments are used people who suffer from addiction can go on to lead happy lives free from addiction.
What Treatments Are Available For Addicts?
Treatment options for overcoming addiction are wide ranging and varied. Successful treatments include:
• Behavioural counselling
• Medication
• Detox programmes
• Wellness activities
• Family support
• Group therapies
• Aftercare programmes designed to prevent relapse
Most good rehabilitation services will include a combination of all of these treatments, designed to give addicts a full range of coping mechanisms to aid recovery.
What Are The Principles Of Effective Treatment?
When applying any treatment programmes, there are a number of key principles that must be followed, ensuring that patients are cared for and enjoy a longer-term recovery than just the initial detox stage. These principles include:
• Everyone will respond to treatment differently, and what works for one person may not work for another
• Addiction is a disease that affects the behaviour and brain function of the addict – recovery is not a simple case of mind over matter
• Treatment must address every aspect of the patient’s issues, not just their substance abuse
• Medications are best offered as part of a programme which also includes behavioural therapies
• Addiction treatment works better when applied as quickly as possible
• Patients should stay in treatment for as long as necessary
• Treatment plans must be flexible and reviewed as necessary to fit with the patient’s changing needs
• Treatment should take into account mental health disorders
When it comes to actual treatment options, there are a whole host of options available, but some of the most common, and scientifically proven to be effective, are:
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is a widely-used therapeutic method for dealing with addiction and mental health problems, which focuses on the patient’s way of thinking about things. The main principle of CBT is that all thoughts, feelings and behaviours are connected, so that changing thought patterns can effectively change the way in which a person feels and behaves.
Addicts and those with mental health issues often suffer from a range of cognitive distortions, which make it hard for them to look objectively at situations. Some of these distortions, with regards to addiction, are:
• Polarised thinking (I will never be able to beat my addiction)
• Overgeneralisation (I relapsed before so I will relapse again)
• Emotional reasoning (I feel guilty so I must have done something bad)
• Catastrophising (If I stop drinking I will die)
• Personalisation (Because I did that bad thing everyone hates me)
CBT focuses on undoing these thought patterns, by questioning them and thus changing the unhealthy belief system. A variety of interventions are offered during CBT in order to help addicts to build more realistic thought patterns, including:
• Cognitive restructuring (reframing negative thought patterns to make them healthier)
• Training for confidence and better social skills
• Mindfulness (being aware of everything that you are doing and feeling)
• Scheduling pleasant activities not involved in substance abuse
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy is similar to CBT in that it focuses on reprogramming certain thought patterns and behaviours. Where DBT differs from CBT is that it is used for those who struggle more with compulsions (and thus addictions), their ability to interact with other people and emotional regulation.
This therapy is mostly involved with helping people to think and behave rationally, helping to deal with self-destructive and compulsive behaviour. The four modules of DBT are:
• Mindfulness
• Interpersonal effectiveness (promoting healthier relationships with others)
• Emotion regulation (developing healthier ways to deal with emotional distress)
• Distress tolerance (learning how to cope when faced with stress)
DBT can be taught in individual sessions, as with CBT, but is also a popular group therapy, helping patients to understand others and practice social skills and assertiveness in a more engaged way.
Family Therapy
This can be a critical form of therapy for addicts, as these are some of the relationships that are most affected by an addiction. For people that are in rehab, a major concern on leaving rehab is how they are going to reconnect with the people that are most important to them, and family therapy eases these worries.
Most addiction experts agree that addiction is a family illness, often passed down through the bloodline genetically, and through learned behaviour. Family therapy helps people to understand what the addict is going through, and also teaches the entire family coping strategies, tackling things like:
• Intergenerational trauma
• Co-dependency and enabling
• Unhealthy communication
• Parenting strategies
These sessions can also help to reunite the family before the patient is required to leave rehab and deal with this on their own. It also helps the family members affected to talk through their own anger and emotions related to the addict, building individual relationships back up to where they should be.
12-Step Programmes
Most people know about 12-step programmes, which have been popular and effective in dealing with addiction around the world for decades. There are (obviously) 12 steps to the programme, which take an addict through the addiction recovery process slowly but thoroughly, helping them to rebuild their lives as well as detox. Addicts are given a sponsor and are able to work with this person when they are struggling during recovery.
Cassiobury Court
Cassiobury Court offers a lot of these recovery and detox options, as well as a range of wellness therapies, as part of a safe and comfortable detox programme, conducted in a luxurious residential setting.
We are able to provide addiction treatment for a range of conditions, and also provide a 12 month aftercare service, allowing you to get help on demand during the toughest early days when you are first out of rehab. We provide access to skilled professionals, but also a number of ex-addicts who are able to offer you support based on their own experiences and knowledge.
Call Cassiobury Court on 01923 369161, or you can text HELP to 83222 to find out more about the therapies we offer.
