When you go into rehab, you’ll find that individual therapy sessions make up a significant portion of your treatment, and this is for good reason. While group counseling sessions and other types of therapy are also effective, one on one therapy sessions do more in the way of preparing you for sober living. When you meet with your therapist, you’ll discuss your history of substance abuse and learn how to identify what caused you to use drugs or alcohol.
Another reason individual therapy is essential to your recovery is that it will teach you to modify your behavior. If you return to your old way of life and continue with the same behavior patterns, you’ll likely end up using all over again. In order to reduce the risks of a relapse, your therapist will help you create a plan for a new life. With the therapist’s guidance, you can find a home in a new community, change your career path, and develop new and healthier relationships.
Can Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Help Recovering Addicts?
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is commonly used to help recovering addicts because it helps address the self-destructive behaviors that lead to substance abuse and addiction. During therapy sessions, you’ll talk with your counselor about your past and the circumstances that lead you to start drinking alcohol or using drugs. While it is therapeutic to discuss your past and share your feelings about your personal history, the goal of these discussions is to help you identify behavioral patterns. If you can learn to recognize when you act impulsively, you can prevent destructive behaviors ahead of time. Your therapist will help you develop the tools you’ll need to make rational decisions.
CBT can also be used to help recovering addicts cope with emotional health problems. In the same way that the counselor helps them identify self-destructive behaviors, addicts can also be taught to identify behaviors and thoughts that lead to depressive episodes or anxiety. Once they know what leads to these negative feelings, they can adapt their thoughts and actions to help them cope better with emotional situations. CBT is an effective way of addressing many mental health problems, including addiction, to help recovering addicts maintain better control over their lives.
What Other Types of Individual Therapy are Available?
In addition to cognitive behavioral therapy, your therapist may try contingency management with you. This is a form of rewards-based therapy that helps to reinforce positive behavior so the brain will recognize the positive reinforcement. Over time, this will help promote a higher release of endorphins in the brain when an achievement is made. The rewards don’t have to be significant. They can involve granting a privilege or giving the addict some other type of reward.
One form of contingency management involves gifting a recovering addict with a medallion for achieving a sobriety milestone. Motivational interviewing is also effective in helping recovering addicts stay sober after they leave a treatment facility. This involves getting the addict to discuss their plans and hopes for their future. Once they express what they want to do with their life, recovering addicts can work with the counselor and other staff members to create a plan for achieving those goals. When an addict has something to work towards, they will become more invested in maintaining their recovery.
Group Counseling Helps Reinforce the Benefits of Individual Therapy
As you participate in group counseling sessions, you can discuss some of the things you explored in individual therapy sessions. This primarily involves talking about your progress in learning new behaviors and avoiding self-destructive choices. It’s common to discuss triggers for relapse in group sessions, so that makes it more likely that some of the topics you discussed in one on one therapy will overlap in group sessions. While there will be some things you’ll want to keep private between you and your therapist, it can help to get the insight of other recovering addicts in group meetings.
This is one of the reasons you’re required to participate in group. The sessions provide a source of support and insight, which can help you get more out of individual therapy sessions. If you’re experiencing substance abuse problems, you can begin a recovery program by calling 772-266-5320. Our counselors are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to answer your questions about addiction treatment. We will help you find the right recovery program for your situation to ensure you’ll have the best chances for sustainable sobriety and clean living.