When you are beginning treatment for drug and alcohol abuse, the first priority is always to get clean and sober. However, substance abuse doesn’t always exist in a vacuum. While not everyone who engages in a group or individual therapy program has a co-occurring mental disorder, nearly all of those recovering from addiction could benefit from a certain amount of psychotherapy in the course of their addiction treatment. Sunstone Recovery’s Bend Oregon facility has integrated a comprehensive psychotherapy program into its drug rehabilitation efforts.
How Psychotherapy Works in Rehab
While Psychotherapy might be a term encompassing any number of treatments for countless disorders, in a setting of rehabilitation it focuses on getting to the root of personal or mental issues that may be a hindrance to recovery. It builds upon a relationship between the client and a trained psychiatric professional. It’s then designed to increase awareness of the self and the components of one’s mental state that contribute to addictive behaviors. This may take the form of individual therapy or counseling but also may incorporate group counseling or support groups.
How a Psychotherapy Program Battles Addiction
There are some distinctions between traditional psychoanalysis and a psychotherapy program for addiction. It is well-known that people who suffer from addictive behaviors do not only do so as a result of chemical dependency but that they have a genetic predisposition for the illness of addiction.
Some individuals can use drugs to the extent that they become chemically dependant on them, but they can stop using just as easily as they started because they lack that addictive biology. People suffering from addiction do not have that luxury. Psychotherapy is just one tool to help treat an illness that endures after the physical effects and withdrawal have ceased.
An individual treatment program can help a client understand that predisposition to addiction is just a part of them. It doesn’t have to define them.
Working On Psychological Issues To Prevent Relapse
Success in recovery is contingent on ceasing to use drugs and alcohol. However, it’s also necessary to address all mental and emotional troubles that contributed to the addiction.
A genetic predisposition is one explanation for why recovery is such a difficult process. Mental illness and past trauma are often inciting events that can contribute to relapse. It is very common for those with undiagnosed mental health issues to self-medicate with drugs. They use this to try and deal with the pain and suffering they cause in their lives.
Until addressing these issues, there is always a significant danger that the person suffering will turn to drugs again.
Treating The Whole Person
Many people who have grappled with addiction have done things that they feel ashamed of. Also, the experience of addiction itself can be harrowing. Once the suffering of withdrawal fades and the mind is clear, it’s common to have a moment of clarity that causes emotional distress and guilt.
Anyone who is recovering needs a safe place to talk about these things. It’s important to have someone who will not judge them and can help them make sense of what it was that drove them to the choices they made. Sessions in a psychotherapy program for addiction help with this and opens up a possibility of treating co-occurring disorders that can be discovered.
Eventually, sessions may also include couples or family counseling sessions. This is to help repair relationships that were damaged or even broken during the course of their addiction.
You don’t need to face addiction alone. If you or someone you love is battling addiction call Sunstone Recovery at 855.833.9199 today and get the help you need at a psychotherapy program to win the fight against substance abuse.