Addicts can get clean in a variety of surroundings, be it at rehab, in jail, basically in any controlled environment where drugs or alcohol are simply not accessible. However, getting sober in a controlled environment because you didn’t have access to substances does not mean that you will stay sober once you leave. Without actually going through treatment and particularly substance abuse counseling, over 90% of addicts will relapse within a year.
The beauty of substance abuse counseling is that it helps get to the bottom of the issues that are triggering the alcohol and drug abuse in the first place. A skilled therapist can help you reveal why you turned to substances in the first place and then help work through those issues to ease your reliance on them.
There are a great many issues that cause people to turn to drugs and alcohol as a coping mechanism including underlying mental illness such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and bipolar disorder – just to name a few. Eating disorders and fertility issues are also known to be triggers for substance abuse, in women especially. Trauma is also a major contributing factor to substance abuse. All of these required specialized facilities and specially trained counselors
How Does Substance Abuse Counseling Work?
A quality addiction treatment facility will have highly trained clinicians and counselors who specialize in the different types of substance abuse counseling. It is imperative to note that all treatment facilities are not created equal and that you need to do your due diligence in advance.
In individual sessions, counselors will use cognitive behavioral therapy to help the addicted individual identify harmful thought patterns and behaviors that lead them to abusing drugs. Once these are identified and thoroughly investigated, the counselor will start to explore different perspectives to help prevent the individual from falling back toward addiction. Cognitive behavioral therapy is fantastic at teaching addicts why they fell victim to addiction and more importantly how to learn from their previous mistakes to achieve long term sobriety.
Group therapy is facilitated by a counselor where the addict is surrounded by a group of their peers who are also suffering from substance abuse. There is something very powerful about listening to other’s experiences and learning that you are not alone in your struggle. With a skilled therapist leading a group, participants learn to depend on each other and gain a support group in their post-treatment life.
Destination Hope’s staff of clinicians and therapists is unrivaled in knowledge and experience. They know how integral of a role substance abuse counseling plays in staying sober, and they take it one step further. They combine the therapies discussed above with solutions-focused therapy – centered on how the client is going to stay sober once they leave treatment.
If you or a loved one is suffering from alcohol or drug abuse, make the first, hardest step by contacting the admissions specialists at Destination Hope. Counselors are available 24 hours a day to take your call.
