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Individual & Group Therapy

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How Does Group & Individual Therapy Provide Long-lasting Recovery for Drug and Alcohol Addiction?

Many people who struggle with a drug or alcohol addiction often have the misguided notion that they are alone and must overcome their demons all by themselves.  Addiction is a complex disease that plagues the individual with intense and sometimes uncontrollable cravings, compulsive drug seeking behavior and substance abuse that continues despite devastating consequences.

What begins with a good time of experimentation quickly can progress to an addiction that negatively impacts everyone and destroys lives. Extended abuse of alcohol or drugs causes the brain to change and priorities to shift to a pleasure seeking behavior.

Addiction is a disease that corrupts brain functionality and regulation, learning and memory, and inhibitors control over behavior. Since drugs and alcohol take over the way the brain functions, even the most strong-willed individual may find it difficult to overcome a heroin or meth addiction without professional help.

Individual and group therapy during the substance abuse treatment process is crucial. Both types of therapies offer a safe nonjudgmental place to work through issues that caused the depth of addiction or issues that occurred after the addiction took control. Group therapy breaks the isolated behavior drug and alcohol addiction tends to cause.

How Individual Therapy Can Impact Substance Use Treatment

Effective addiction treatment centers only employ therapists that are educated at a masters-level or higher. This ensures patients get the best possible treatment available. Therapists are highly educated in substance abuse as well as co-occurring disorders to provide the comprehensive treatment needed for a long-lasting recovery.

We understand that there is no easy fix for addiction and alcoholism. That is why it’s so important for treatment centers to provide high quality therapy sessions for their patients.

Individual therapy is an integral part of treatment. At most treatment centers, each patient meets with an individual therapist on a weekly basis to discuss issues, progress in treatment, and addiction care. Individualized therapy sessions are protected under HIPAA laws to ensure that what transpires between patients and therapist encourages healing and trust.

Individual Therapy Sessions

When it comes to healing a whole person, there are many different methods of treatment that can make up an effective treatment plan. Every patient experiences addiction differently; having individual therapy sessions personalizes the healing process and provides each patient with a proper diagnosis of their physical and mental health. Master’s level therapists utilize a wide range of therapeutic methods to provide each person with the treatment they need to recover and begin the healing process.

Individual therapy is an important component of substance abuse treatment that allows our patients to work through problems that require privacy. For example, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), helps overcome unhealthy and self-defeating thoughts that drug and alcohol addiction causes. It takes time and dedication to change negative thought patterns associated with substance abuse.

Substance abuse addictions tend to numb the individual to only feel happiness or peace of mind when doing drugs or binge drinking. That destructive behavior affects a person’s potential, values, and morals. Expressive therapy allows the patients to express their feelings in a safe way that inspires personal reflection and growth with creativity. Some tools of expressive therapy are music, writing and art.

Trust in ABTRS to help you find care that promotes long-term recovery.

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You are not alone when it comes to drug and alcohol addiction treatment. Healing together and building a strong support network is important.

Group Therapy Sessions

Group therapy allows patients to benefit from the collective experiences of group members and offer a sense of comradery in a disease that corrupts by isolation. The cooperative effort of our patients offer peer to peer behavioral learning, feedback about progress, and situational perspective that encourages growth.

Some people arrive at treatment hesitant about sharing their experiences and opening up to their therapist about the real root of their addiction. In the beginning, our patients are more comfortable taking advice from other patients over their own therapists. A Better Today understands that the healing process takes time and happens naturally if given the patience they need. In these cases, the patients may get more from group therapy than individual sessions.

For example, a patients may have a romantic interest who still abuses drugs and alcohol. Therapists may suggest healthy boundaries and creating space to encourage a positive direction in their recovery. The patient may not listen because of their emotional involvement. Perhaps group therapy sessions may help the patient see that the relationship is toxic when their peers’ express similar experiences when mixing romance and drug abuse.

Group therapy provides a safe and nonjudgmental space were each patient can help change each other’s lives. Building bonds in recovery can last a lifetime. Fellowship conventions, meeting halls, and service commitments can forge those bonds into friendships. This concept may appear trivial. However, developing friends who are a part of the sober community creates a support network needed for maintaining a happy lifestyle in recovery.

Family Therapy Sessions

A Better Today Recovery Services believes that family therapy is just as important as both individual and group therapy sessions. During treatment, our therapists will mediate and guide healthy dialogue between patient and family to discuss the condition of their family dynamic in a safe environment.

Problems that a drug and alcohol addiction can cause the family varies on the length of the addiction and the substance abused. Family therapy focuses on healing the damaged family bonds through education, establishing healthy boundaries and constructive dialogue.

Feelings of overwhelming guilt and shame about their destructive behavior during active addiction can lead to a rekindled love between mother and daughter. One of the main goals patients in recovery set are mending the relationships with their family and earning their love back after years of drug and alcohol abuse.

Communication could provide a sense of closure that sparks a positive drive to explore their potential in life without the influence of alcohol or drugs. Getting involved is an important milestone in long-lasting recovery, and we are here to help you find family-centered therapy.

Call us today for help finding treatment.

Let ABTRS Help You Find a Strong Aftercare Plan

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Aftercare: Life After Drug & Alcohol Rehab

Graduating from a drug and alcohol treatment program can be stressful and rewarding at the same time. Our network wants you to be confident in your recovery when you walk out of their treatment centers’ doors. Your treatment center will help you find a reputable sober living arrangement, provide an alumni program, and offer evening intensive outpatient services.

At many facilities, the staff is more than happy to drive you to survey sober living or transitional housing establishments if that is what you need to succeed after treatment. Transitional living provides structure and a safe place to start your life free from substance abuse. Transitional living strengthens the lessons learned in treatment and offers a structured routine to build a new life around. If a sober living house is what you need, then we will do our best to find you a place that is reputable and safe.

We also encourage intensive outpatient programs that emphasize educating and building a strong support network after rehab. Having a strong support network with group therapy sessions and sponsorship programs is key for a strong aftercare plan. Continuing to learn about addiction as a disease empowers you over triggers and cravings that could occur throughout your recovery.

Many IOP therapy sessions focused on identifying triggers, relapse prevention, handling unhealthy relationships, and management of stress. Considering an IOP when fresh out of drug and alcohol rehab could provide you with the confidence to overcome your addiction.

Those who have forged strong bonds during treatment have the opportunity to keep in contact with each other through alumni events. From camping near waterfalls to BBQ Picnics, many facilities provide family-centered alumni events.

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When the Facts Matter the Most, Our Network is there to Provide Reliable Resources

ABTRS believes in the importance of using reputable sources when communicating with our patients and their families. We have crafted all our information, treatment modalities, statistics, and practices on reliable resources that are supported by data and scientific methodology.

We utilize information that is impartial, not funded by organizations that could benefit from certain outcomes, and proven or tested to be effective for substance abuse treatment and aftercare. Below are the sources used to construct the content on our website and all written material from ABTRS. We pride ourselves on offering anyone who is seeking treatment for themselves or a loved one with knowledge from reputable sources that are up to date and relevant.

Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. Substance Abuse Treatment: Group Therapy. Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series, No. 41. HHS Publication No. (SMA) 15-3991. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2005.

Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. Substance Abuse Treatment: Family Therapy. Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series, No. 39. HHS Publication No. (SMA) 15-4032. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2005.

Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. Intensive Outpatient Treatment for Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse. Rockville (MD): Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (US); 1994. (Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series, No. 8.) Chapter 3—Components of an Effective IOT Program. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK64688/

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