During addiction treatment, therapy plays an important role in helping you address negative or dangerous behavior. Your counselor also educates you on how to create and build healthier thought patterns and rely on safe coping skills. Regardless of whether you opt for inpatient or outpatient rehabilitation, therapy is central to monitoring your progress throughout your treatment. Since healing from addiction can be a lifetime process, therapy may be an effective tool in the long term to support you continue to abstain from temptations.
Different types of counseling are available during rehab:
- Individual therapy
- Group therapy
- Family therapy
Each offers benefits and has its specific use. Although individual therapy is the building block of most counseling approaches during addiction treatment, your doctor may recommend that you also attend group and/or family sessions at some point during your recovery.
Individual Therapy
This type of counseling aims to thoroughly investigate someone’s emotional issues to help them become and stay sober after any type of addiction. It can seem daunting at first, but as the individual engages more with their therapist, real and lasting progress can happen.
Individual therapy can help you understand yourself better, and get to the root of your addiction, which helps your therapist create and modify strategies to address each of your problems to avoid overwhelm and foster greater mindfulness. When you learn mindfulness techniques, you can ground yourself and stay in the moment more easily. This can reduce anxiety and other worries.
As you work on yourself and understand what led to your addiction, you can find your triggers. This is an important step because it allows you to find ways to avoid future temptations. As your therapist understands your triggers, they can recommend specific coping techniques.
Group Therapy
Group therapy offers additional benefits to individual counseling and can build upon it. When you attend group sessions, you can feel less isolated as others share struggles and healing goals similar to yours. This can help you open up about your experience and offer a sense of connection. Feeling connected can motivate you to actively engage with your treatment.
This type of counseling helps you improve your communication skills and receive feedback from more people than your therapist and other medical providers. It also allows your counselor to observe you interact with others, which gives them more information about your behavior that they can use to adjust your treatment as necessary.
Family Counseling
Family therapy is another type of counseling that your provider may recommend if you are looking to mend or improve your relationships with your loved ones. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), individuals who benefit from their family’s support have greater chances of completing their treatment and remaining addiction-free in the long term.
During a family therapy session, your therapist can directly evaluate the dynamics between you and your family, which can help them adjust their treatment and offer specific recommendations. These appointments can also educate your family on the physical, emotional, and social impact of addiction, which can empower them.
Your family therapist may use techniques such as:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Journaling or writing letters to others
- Open emotional expression and communication
- Restructuring of dynamics
Although family therapy can make a positive difference in many cases, this type of counseling is not for everyone, whether because an individual in recovery is not ready for it or their loved ones have concerns about the method. Family members may opt for individual therapy to address their challenges before accepting to engage in family counseling.
Making sure that all parties involved are willing to attend family therapy together is vital for a successful outcome that benefits both the person healing from addiction and their loved ones.
Choose The Carter Treatment Center for Personalized Treatment
At the Carter Treatment Center, we understand how each person’s needs are unique. While we offer specific programs, including our intensive outpatient treatment, we strive to tailor the types of therapy we use to your specific situation.
When it comes to therapy, we believe in focusing on either individual sessions or using both individual and group therapy depending on which stage of your healing you are at. The primary focus of any sort of counseling is to help you unlearn harmful behaviors and thought patterns and learn healthy coping methods.
We also offer family programs that promote effective and compassionate communication among family members. From your first appointment with us to follow-up sessions after completion of your treatment, our team is committed to finding an appropriate solution to help you live addiction-free.
Are you looking for personable addiction treatment in Cumming or Suwannee? Contact The Carter Treatment Center today at (470) 616-7274 or use our online form to schedule an appointment!