Addiction Therapy Services in California

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is one of the most common types of counseling to help people achieve and maintain their recovery. During therapy, you will learn how to see the negative behaviors and thoughts that you have. Next, you and your therapist will work together to find healthy ways to work through your negative behaviors and thoughts.

CBT for substance abuse begins with finding and pushing back against irrational and distorted thoughts. You will learn how to take your negative thoughts and replace them with constructive thoughts.

The next part is learning behavioral techniques that help you to change negative behaviors. Your therapist may teach you several ways to do this, including behavior modification, exposure therapy, and skills training.

CBT also involves learning how to monitor yourself so that you will be able to tell when negative thoughts and behaviors are starting to take hold. You will then be able to make the necessary changes to deal with them positively so that you can remain on your recovery journey.

Once you get this far, you will learn more about how to solve problems and set goals. You will work with your therapist to create attainable goals and learn how to work toward them.

Dialectical behavior therapy also referred to as DBT, this type of therapy combines certain therapy techniques to help you find a more balanced perspective. There are four elements of DBT for substance abuse.

1.    Mindfulness

The first is mindfulness which helps you to become aware of the present. Through mindfulness, you are learning to become more attuned to your sensations, emotions, and thoughts.

2.    Distress Tolerance

The second element is distress tolerance. With this part, you learn how to deal with distressing situations more constructively. You face them head-on with life skills instead of avoiding them or using negative coping mechanisms.

3.    Emotional Regulation

The third part is emotional regulation. This helps you to properly identify and categorize your emotions. From here, you learn healthy ways to cope with intense emotions.

4.    Interpersonal Effectiveness

The fourth element is interpersonal effectiveness. During this part of the process, you will improve your assertiveness and communication abilities. You will also work with your therapist to better manage your relationships.

This type of therapy allows you to work one-on-one with a therapist. Here you can discuss your struggles and set goals for your addiction treatment. The therapy is personalized to help you to develop and achieve your recovery goals.

During your sessions, you will explore your triggers and the underlying causes that resulted in your addiction. You will also explore past traumas, your mental health, and family dynamics as they relate to your struggle with addiction. This allows you to develop and implement healthy coping strategies.

Your therapist may use motivational enhancement therapy as part of your sessions. This technique focuses on helping you to increase your motivation to continue on your recovery journey.

Individual therapy is popular throughout your recovery journey, including aftercare. You will be able to work with your therapist to monitor your recovery goals and make adjustments to your treatment plan as necessary.

This type of therapy occurs in a group setting. A trained therapist will lead the group so that all members can participate equally. Group therapy allows people to work through their challenges and emotions while simultaneously getting peer support.

By undergoing therapy with others, it helps people to be accountable to themselves because they share their goals and thoughts with the group. This also provides perspective and feedback so that it is easier to reflect upon your choices and struggles.

Working through struggles with peers helps you to gain new insight. This could help you to find new ways to navigate the challenges that you experience during recovery.

Group therapy helps to normalize the struggles you face during both active addiction and your recovery journey. This can also aid in promoting self-acceptance while reducing feelings of self-blame and shame.

This structured support gives you a place to process and communicate your feelings. It also fosters empathy and allows you to improve your interpersonal skills. Group therapy is also a good option to help you work on your emotional expression skills so that you can healthily show your feelings.

This type of therapy involves the entire family because addiction affects everyone. When someone is struggling with addiction, it also has a profound impact on everyone who loves them. This therapy addresses the family dynamic so that everyone can better understand each other’s perspectives.

There are several elements of this type of therapy. It starts with a systems approach that views the entire family as a type of system. The behaviors and actions of each member of the family affect the other members. Everyone will work together to figure out how to change the family dynamics in a way that supports recovery.

Families will learn how to set healthy boundaries and communicate with each other. This also plays into developing better conflict-resolution skills. Everyone will learn healthy ways to deal with one another so that resentment and misunderstandings do not cause major issues and conflict.

As families work through the process it allows them to rebuild the trust that disappears when someone is struggling with addiction. This is imperative for long-term support.

As families work through their struggles, it helps to identify and deal with codependency issues that can contribute to addiction. This allows for individual growth and better self-care for all members of the family.