Cognitive behavior therapy, also known as CBT, is a very widely used and effective form of treatment that aims to address the larger behavioral and thought patterns that we live with in order to help us address emotional and mental disorders. CBT is used to treat a wide variety of conditions, including depression, anxiety disorders, PTSD, phobias, sleep disorders, eating disorders, OCD, and much more.
CBT has also seen a lot of use in the realm of treating substance abuse disorders. With the understanding of the premise that addictions can be linked to other behavioral patterns (which can be addictions in their own right). Many of us have an understanding that substance use is comorbid with depression, anxiety, stress, and the like. We also know that substance cravings and the like can be exacerbated by changes and developments in our mood.
At Grand Falls Addiction Treatment Center, we use CBT, amongst other treatments, to help address unhealthy thought processes and beliefs which can contribute to unhealthy choices and actions that can exacerbate substance abuse and addictive behaviors.
A lot of people who are struggling with substance disorders can also be fighting thought patterns and beliefs that can undermine their recovery, which can sometimes make it seem hopeless to even try to recover. However, CBT is one of the techniques used by our highly trained team to change these thought patterns, change your responses to negative situations, and change the way that you approach your recovery. Here, we’re going to look at how CBT can work towards your recovery in drug addiction treatment.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Drug Addiction Treatment
One of the underpinning beliefs in CBT is that changing your thoughts is crucial to changing your behavior. As such, by taking the time to get a better understanding of how we form beliefs and how our modes of thought come into being, we are better able to change how we think and thus how we respond to both our thoughts as well as external pressures.
When it comes to treating drug and alcohol abuse disorders, the primary goal of Grand Falls Addiction Treatment Center, CBT can help us better identify and name negative thought patterns and beliefs that may be contributing to addictive behaviors. We can help you find the specific areas of your own thoughts that need to be more closely addressed.
From triggers that induce a stress response (which can include substance abuse) to destructive thought patterns that might undermine your recovery, CBT can help you not only identify these patterns but also to change how you cope with them. This can include understanding and avoiding your triggers, or it can involve replacing dysfunctional beliefs, sometimes including those that have been with us since childhood.
Can Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Benefit You?
When it comes to treating substance disorders, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. However, in terms of treatment plans that are flexible and adaptable enough to treat a wide range of different people, CBT is highly effective. It can be used in both individual and group settings to make it more effective in learning and practice techniques that can help you change your behaviors in everyday life.
CBT is designed to help you better understand your past behaviors while having a focus on improving the future by showing you how you can change them. This can help give you the positive momentum that is often so crucial to a successful recovery from addiction.
What’s more, like recovery from addiction in general, CBT focuses on the long-term improvements that you need. While the techniques of CBT and the discovery of your thought patterns can be revelatory, we make sure that we follow up with homework that you take with you in your everyday life. Your behaviors have to be altered bit by bit, helping you live a healthier life once you’re done with your treatment program.
With CBT, we can address and change your beliefs and thought patterns. You can also gain a sense of self-awareness that can make you less likely to fall into a relapse or, if you do, you can understand the steps that led to relapse and change them.
Get in touch with Grand Falls Addiction Treatment Center today
Whether you believe that cognitive behavioral therapy could help you on the way to recovery, or you want to find the approach that best works for you, Grand Falls Addiction Treatment Center in Joplin, MO is here to help. Don’t hesitate to contact our team.