Behavioral therapy for addiction is one effective approach that is used to help treat substance use disorders. In addition to using CBT for addiction, cognitive behavioral therapy has been proven helpful in treating depression, anxiety disorders, and phobias. When a part of a program focusing on long-term recovery, addiction therapies can be valuable in treating drug addiction and alcoholism. If you are struggling with alcohol use disorder or drug use, contact Midwest Recovery online or call us at 833.627.0039 today to learn how CBT for addiction can help.
What Is CBT?
Through functional analysis and skills training, cognitive behavioral therapy for addiction can help you learn to identify negative and self-defeating thoughts and actions that are contributing to your drug and alcohol use and abuse. Like most addiction therapies, CBT is a focused, short-term approach to therapy designed to help you overcome your dependency on harmful substances like opioids, cocaine, painkillers, and alcohol.
This behavioral therapy for addiction is based on the idea that it is not actually outside influences, situations, certain occasions, or your environment impacting your negative feelings, behaviors, and substance use disorder, but rather that it is your own thoughts. With that in mind, CBT sets out to change how you think about yourself, to alter your thoughts, actions, and circumstances. With the help of skilled, professional cognitive behavioral therapists at Midwest Recovery, you will begin to change how you feel and how you behave.
During CBT for addiction, you will learn to:
- Recognize risky scenarios
- Avoid triggering events and circumstances
- Improve your self-control
- Change old habits
- Manage harmful feelings and thoughts
- Cope with cravings
- Develop coping mechanisms to deal with stress, problems, and situations that once caused you to use drugs or alcohol
Functional Analysis
Effective addiction therapies will identify the causes of negative behavior as well as the consequences of that behavior. Through functional analysis, your therapist could ask you some of the following questions to gain insight into what you think and feel before using and abusing drugs and alcohol and to recall the last time you used the substance:
- What were you doing right before you drank or used the drug?
- How were you feeling at this time and this moment?
- Did anything positive happen as a result of your behavior?
- What were the negative consequences of your alcohol and drug use?
Your negative feelings or thoughts will likely make it difficult to recover fully from a drug or alcohol use disorder. This is why behavioral therapy for addiction will focus on identifying and replacing your counter-productive thought patterns with more positive and productive feelings and thought. The result will improve your outlook on the present and your future and learn critical skills that will facilitate and support a successful recovery.
The Types of CBT
You and your therapist will work in tandem to identify the thoughts, feelings, and circumstances that have led to your drinking or drug use. This partnership will help determine the type of CBT that is best for you and the risks that are likely to lead to a relapse. There are several approaches to CBT for addiction, including:
- Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)
- Rational behavior therapy
- REBT or rational emotive behavior therapy
- Rational living therapy
What Is The Effectiveness of CBT For Addiction
CBT has become one of the most researched forms of addiction treatment. This means there is a wealth of evidence and support for its use with various mental conditions, including alcohol and substance use disorders. Cognitive-behavioral therapy for addiction is one of the most frequently evaluated psychosocial approaches to treating substance use disorders.
In studies, when compared with having no treatment at all, CBT for addiction is effective. When matched up against other treatment approaches, there are instances when behavioral therapy for addiction is more effective or provides equal effectiveness when compared to other treatments.
As with those other treatments for alcohol and drug abuse, including pharmaceutical treatments, cognitive behavioral therapy for addiction is most effective in promoting and aiding a long-term recovery when combined with other efforts.
Learn More at Midwest Recovery
Thanks to enduring skills learned during CBT, like coping skills to handle stress better and managing destructive thoughts and actions, approximately 60% of people treated with cognitive behavioral therapy for addiction can maintain their recovery for a year. If you or someone you love could benefit from CBT for addiction, learn how the compassionate team at Midwest Recovery can help. Contact us using our secure online form or call us at 833.627.0039 today.
