If you are a drug addict or you know someone who is, then it is very important to do drug rehab before it is too late. Many people have died of drug overdose and you don’t want this to happen to your loved ones.
Freedom from drugs does not end at the drug rehab center but it is a lifelong process that you need to deal with every day. And this is the reason for having strategies that will help you go through difficult situations and emotions. This is why drug addiction therapy is very important. With therapy, you will be able to cope without using drugs or getting high. But there are many kinds of therapies that you can use.
The goal of behavioral therpay is to change your unhealthy behavior patterns to healthy ones. The therapist will teach you change your behavioral responses in situations where you can easily revert to the use of drugs. Your therapist will help you how to handle difficult situations with new behaviors. You might be tempted to go back to drugs but your new behavior can win over this in difficult situations. Your poor behavioral decisions will be removed from you and you will be trained with positive behaviors. A re-wiring of the brain is how one can look at it.
Cognitive behavioral therapy emphasizes on thoughts and feelings behind your behavior. Here you will analyze the situations that trigger you to use drugs. Here the discussion will center on feelings. You will gain an understanding of your inner thoughts and feelings toward yourself and drug use. You will develop a healthier view of yourself and not a distorted one. You should look at each thought and letting harmful thoughts go.
Another behavioral therapy used for drug and alcohol abuse is contingency management. In order to re-wire the brain, the person is given positive reinforcement to help them abstain from substance abuse. Rewards are given for small achievements like a clean drug test, being present at support groups, and others. Aside from material rewards, you also get interpersonal rewards like improving relationships with family and friends, being able to hold a job and getting complimnts for your health. Sobriety will then be seen as something positive and will encourage perseverance.
In reconciling broken relationships that occurred during drug addiction days, family therapy is important. In this therapy the addict shows his family his desire to recover and the family can show the addict that they understand his addiction.
Group therapy is important because addicts give support to their fellow addicts. These are the people that addicts can seek support and people who can relate to them in ways that others can’t. You don’t have to speak, listening in therapy is enough. This is why group therapy is important in residential treatment centers.