Understanding the Psychotherapy Definition in Addiction Counseling
An addiction treatment program often incorporates psychotherapy into the patient’s plan. If you’re not familiar with the psychotherapy definition in addiction counseling, it’s also called talk therapy. You sit down with a licensed counselor who understands the many factors that lead to addiction and provides supportive tools that will help you to better manage and resist addiction urges.
These therapy sessions may take place one-on-one with the therapist, or it could be conducted as a group session with other people getting treatment for addiction. You may have assignments to do before your next session, such as reading articles, practicing mindfulness, or applying new coping mechanisms in your everyday life.
Your addiction counseling may be a short-term part of your overall treatment program, or it could be something that’s in place over the long-term. Long-term therapy plans let you always have a trusted resource on hand to work with you throughout the recovery process. The typical therapy session averages between 30 to 60 minutes.
Benefits of Psychotherapy Definition in Addiction Counseling
In addition to helping treat addiction, psychotherapy is also an excellent way of assisting people suffering from mental health issues or who are going through other challenging times in their lives. In some cases, talk therapy is used alongside medication management and other addiction recovery methods. It’s a collaborative effort with everyone involved in your addiction treatment program, and your counselor will help you build the tools you need to meet your goals.
There are two major types of talk therapy used in addiction counseling: cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT).
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is an excellent method for focusing on an issue that is currently impacting your life, such as addiction, and changing the way you think about it. The goal of CBT is to guide you into understanding the influence that your thoughts have on your behavior, and then changing how you use that information. By practicing CBT over time, you stop engaging in the behaviors that have caused harm to yourself, and you build healthy habits.
You work with your addiction counselor to find new habits to replace the ones that were causing so many problems. It also works well for helping you with anxiety, depression, and several other types of mental health issues. By the time you complete CBT counseling, you’ll fully understand the connection between your feelings, your thoughts, and your actions. You also gain a full understanding of the psychotherapy definition in addiction counseling.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy
Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and CBT have a lot in common, but one of the biggest differences is that DBT isn’t focused on the current situation. Instead, it provides a way for you to handle extreme emotions and impulsive behaviors. Rather than focusing on the present moment in your life, DBT takes a big picture view of the situations where you’re responding in ways that are detrimental to your life. Since DBT is quite effective at managing extreme reactions, it’s often an excellent method for addiction recovery.
Here are a few other conditions that DBT is particularly effective at treating:
- Borderline personality disorder
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and trauma
- Major depression
- Bipolar disorder
Addiction Counseling at Washburn House
Addiction counseling is a critical part of many types of addiction therapy programs. Not only do they help you with managing your addiction and learning healthier ways of thinking, but they also give you coping mechanisms that work in many parts of your life. The psychotherapy definition in addiction counseling is incredibly valuable, so contact us today by calling 855.298.3104 to learn more.