There seems to be so many different addiction treatments and treatment programs available to choose from. We understand that starting your journey to recovery may seem super overwhelming and daunting. Today we’d like to spend some time discussing a commonly used therapy in addiction treatment called cognitive behavioral therapy. This is a type of therapy we utilize at Atlanta Recovery Place. The best part about this therapy is you continue to do it on your own years and years after you leave the addiction treatment. Keep on reading to find out more about CBT!
What Is CBT?
Cognitive behavioral therapy, also known as CBT, has been one of the most common and best research forms of psychotherapy. It combines two important therapeutic approaches. These two approaches are known as cognitive therapy and behavioral therapy.
- Cognitive therapy – One of the main aspects of cognitive therapy is to form a clear idea of one’s own thoughts, attitudes, and expectations. The goal of this is to reveal and change false and/or distressing beliefs. This is important because sometimes it is not only the situations and things that cause an individual problems, but also the importance of these situations and things that we attach to them. Cognitive therapy helps people to learn to replace certain thought patterns with more realistic and less harmful thoughts. Cognitive therapy also helps people think more clearly and helps them to better control their own thoughts as well.
- Behavioral therapy – Behavioral therapy’s goal is to find out whether certain behavioral patterns make an individual’s life difficult and/or intensify their problems. Behavioral therapy stems from the theory of behaviorism. Behaviorism assumes that human behavior is a learned trait and can be unlearned or learned anew. Behavioral therapy may also incorporate learning methods to help individuals find coping mechanisms.
Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on the idea that what we think, how we feel, and how we behave are all connected. This basically means that all of these three different aspects have an influence on our well-being. Cognitive behavioral therapy has been used to treat conditions such as obsessive-compulsive disorders, depression, anxiety, and addictions. This form of therapy will require the client to be committed and to take initiative within the recovery process. This therapy can only truly be successful if the client actively is taking part in this treatment and works on their own problems on their own time (not only in sessions).
How Is CBT Used in Addiction Treatment?
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a problem oriented approach, meaning that when a problem arises, CBT is focused on finding a solution. For addiction, cognitive behavioral therapy would focus on the current addiction that an individual is experiencing and would help to find solutions for that current addiction. Cognitive behavioral therapy doesn’t really focus much on the past but is more concerned with dealing with current problems. This helps people to be able to cope with their lives now and to work on themselves for the future.
This therapy approach helps with identifying and changing current distressing thoughts and behavioral patterns. Cognitive behavioral therapy often uses certain techniques such as writing your thoughts down in a journal or using relaxation exercises/methods. Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on helping people help themselves, meaning that clients should be able to start to cope with their lives again without therapy as soon as possible. This can help the client to be independent within the recovery process but also help the client to find support within their current addiction to help in the success of their future.
Get Help With Addiction Today at Atlanta Recovery Place
Here at Atlanta Recovery Place, we want to help our clients succeed within their recovery process. It is important to us that our clients after receiving treatment can go back to living a happy and healthy life. Within the cognitive behavioral approach, this therapy is providing a way for clients to be able to help themselves within the recovery process, therefore they can use this approach long after addiction treatment. Contact us today to learn more about our program & conquer your addiction!
