Think back to a time where your car got rear-ended. Maybe it was during morning rush hour while you were driving to work. During the collision, you’re thrown into a state of panic and your mind races as you try to regain your bearings.
Is anything hurt? Are you okay? Is the other person in the vehicle that hit you okay?
Once the panic subsides, you start to worry about the damage to your car and if the other person has insurance. Your mind jumps down the path of them not having insurance. Will your insurance cover it? If not, how are you going to pay for the damage?
On top of you needing to pay for the damage, you’re going to be late for work. Which will upset your boss. “I’m going to be fired,” you think to yourself, your mood getting worse and worse as the seconds tick by.
You find out the person who hit you has insurance, but that doesn’t cheer you up much. You get back into your car and speed off to get to the office, going faster than you should because you’ve convinced yourself you’re going to get into trouble.
This is a basic example of the negative automatic thought process many people suffering with addiction face. Negative thought patterns can fuel addiction and co-occurring mental health disorders. That’s where cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for addiction comes into play. More and more treatment centers are using this discipline to help those suffering from addiction achieve lasting recovery.
In this article, you’ll discover why CBT is so effective for addiction and dual diagnosis treatment.
What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Addiction?
CBT is an approach that seeks to replace negative thought patterns, emotions and behaviors with new ones that can foster positive change and improvement. Unlike talk therapy, CBT offers a more collaborative way to work through addiction.
During a CBT session, your loved one will work with a cognitive behavioral therapist to uncover the triggers of their negative thought patterns and emotions. Your loved one will then learn how to identify when these negative thought patterns arise, develop ways to cope with these thoughts and emotions, create more positive ways of thinking and much more.
Why is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Effective?
Now that you know the definition, you might be asking, “why is cognitive behavioral therapy effective?” The answer to that question has two main points:
1. CBT builds trust in the treatment your loved one receives: CBT is a very personal process between the therapist and your loved one. Over time, this open communication and work forges a higher level of trust in your loved one, who may be skeptical of addiction treatment at first. As negative thought patterns are addressed, this trust transforms into progress and confidence in the recovery process.
2. CBT puts an emphasis on long-term success: Ultimately, CBT shows your loved one how to be more aware of their thoughts and emotions and be more self-efficient. In the long run, it leads to a reduction in stress and a healthier way of life. While it takes effort to maintain the skills your loved one will learn in CBT, those new ways of thinking can help transform their life and be a useful tool to prevent relapse.
The Benefits of CBT for Addiction Treatment
CBT is an Effective Dual Diagnosis Treatment
One of the main benefits of CBT in addiction treatment is how effective it is for treating dual-diagnosis conditions. In fact, substance abuse is often accompanied by depression, anxiety and other mental health challenges. Both involve negative thought patterns that fuel destructive behaviors. Cognitive behavioral therapy can actually treat both of these issues at the same time to help your loved one cope with both addiction and mental health triggers.
CBT Offers a Personalized Approach to Treatment
Every person suffering from addiction has a unique set of circumstances that brought them to this point. After all, no two addictions are alike. CBT offers an individualized approach to addiction and dual diagnosis treatment, since its focus is on identifying and addressing your loved one’s unique thought and emotional patterns.
CBT Helps to Build Skills for Your Loved One’s Entire Recovery Journey
Your loved one will be in recovery forever. It’s something they’re going to have to actively work on every day in order to stay sober and maintain a healthy lifestyle. But the good news is, they don’t have to do that alone. Once they’re done with treatment, they can actually take the skills they’ve learned from CBT with them and practice them daily. When they have a tough day or feel like relapsing, they’ll have CBT to fall back on to help them get their thoughts, mood and behaviors back on track.
Break the Cycle of Addiction at Silver Maple Recovery
At Silver Maple Recovery, we know how much negative thoughts, emotions and behaviors can influence addiction and mental health disorders like depression and anxiety. That’s why we leverage a clinical approach to treatment that addresses these negative patterns and replaces them with positive ones to help your loved one discover a positive and healthy mindset.
Our staff of addiction experts has an average of 24 years of local experience. Through cognitive behavioral therapy and other evidence-based treatments, we can help your loved one break the cycle of addiction. There’s hope for lasting recovery. And it starts by contacting our team today.
