Therapy for Addiction Treatment in The Woodlands, Texas

Therapy plays a vital role in treatment for addiction. Therapy provides individuals struggling with addiction with tools to understand their addiction and build a new life of sobriety.

Why Therapy is Key to Recovery From Addiction

Dealing with addiction can be an isolating and overwhelming experience. Many people try to confront their addiction on their own, believing that willpower and determination will be enough to overcome their issues. However, this is a dangerous approach that often leads to failure.

Mental health support plays a key role in breaking free from addiction. Therapy in particular helps people to explore and uncover the underlying causes of their addiction in a safe, professional environment. It’s a safe environment where a person can open up about stressful life factors or incidents in their past that may have led them to drug use. They may discover they have various risk factors that inclined them toward the use of addictive substances, the knowledge of which they can mindfully take into the future.

Overall, therapy can help provide a person with:

Education about their addiction
Knowledge that can inform relapse prevention
Insight into the recovery process
Support in building communication
Ideas on healthy coping skills
Specific help on how to build a healthy support network

Why People Resist Going to Therapy

Therapy for addiction provides a supportive, structured setting where people can access specialized care and support. But there are several reasons why a person might resist therapy, including:

Stigma: The fear of being labeled as an addict and being judged
Denial: Refusing to accept the severity of their addiction
Fear: Worries about failure and relapse
Separation: Needing to take time away from family or work
Reluctance: Resisting a change in familiar routines

These are valid and understandable reasons to resist therapy. But many people try to overcome their addiction alone and fail, due to not having special insight into how addiction can affect mental health. Sometimes, advice from friends and family members can hurt more than help. A friend or family member can’t remain unbiased when talking about the addiction of someone they love. But a professional can, and will bring experience dealing with addiction in a professional setting with people of all backgrounds.

Benefits of Therapy

Different therapeutic approaches provide many benefits for people undergoing addiction treatment. But in general, therapy can:

Help individuals understand and identify the root causes and triggers of their substance use disorder.
Help people recognize negative thought patterns and behaviors and replace them with positive and adaptive behaviors.
Help in the development of coping mechanisms by teaching strategies to manage cravings and relapse prevention.
Address co-occurring mental health disorders, such as anxiety or clinical depression.
Provide a safe and supportive environment for people to share their struggles and victories.

Types of Therapy for Addiction Treatment

Depending on individual needs and preferences, different forms of addiction therapy may be necessary over time to facilitate recovery.

Individual Therapy

These are confidential, one-on-one sessions with a therapist to examine personal issues related to your addiction. Individual therapy helps people find the root of their addiction and generally focuses on teaching people the skills they’ll need to get through life without drugs or alcohol.

Group Therapy

Group sessions involve multiple individuals in recovery, led by a therapist, who support one another and share their experiences. Groups specifically organized around addiction can provide insight, guidance, and comfort.

Family Therapy

This method involves family members expressing how addiction has affected the family unit. Family therapy helps each family member repair bonds, set healthy boundaries, and practice new skills that support an overall healthier family dynamic.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

CBT focuses on recognizing and changing negative thought patterns and behaviors. CBT is a solution-based approach to current issues, empowering individuals to see how their thoughts, emotions, and beliefs can influence their actions. It can be used in group, individual, or family therapy.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

Originally developed to help treat people with borderline personality disorder (BPD), dialectical behavioral therapy is a form of CBT. It focuses on regulating emotions, improving distress tolerance, and improving interpersonal skills.

Motivational Interviewing (MI)

Motivational interviewing is a conversational approach that explores a person’s ambivalence about changing and strengthens their commitment to it. MI focuses on drawing out a person’s ability, desire, and reasons for change.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

This type of therapy focuses on increasing psychological flexibility, or being able to adjust and respond to the present in a meaningful way. Acceptance and commitment therapy focuses on the acceptance of problematic emotions and thoughts, while committing to actions that line up with the person’s values.

Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)

This therapeutic approach is based on the idea that it’s not outside events that make a person happy or unhappy, but their internal thoughts about the events and themselves. Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy places a strong emphasis on thoughts and beliefs (rational and irrational) and how they can influence a person in the present.

Mindfulness-Based Therapy

This type of therapy combines meditation and body scan exercises. The goal of mindfulness-based therapy is to build awareness of the present moment, without judgment or trying to control or alter the experience, to help people be better able to cope with stress, regulate their emotions, and manage mental health problems.

Art Therapy

Art activates the brain’s reward system, which makes it helpful in treating the stress of addiction. Therapy that incorporates art can help individuals work through complicated emotions and thoughts through painting, drawing, pottery, or other creative activities.

Music Therapy

By engaging with music through listening or creating it, people can examine the emotional, cognitive, and social aspects of their recovery journey. Music therapy may be completed in an individual or group setting.

Psychoeducation Groups

Psychoeducational groups are designed to educate people about addiction, behaviors, consequences related to it, and the process of recovery. The goal is to provide information and skills to help people manage and understand their substance use disorder.

Chemical Dependency Education

Besides helping people learn about the technicalities of addiction, chemical dependency education can help remind people that recovery is possible. It can provide objective information related to addiction that doesn’t involve opening up about feelings or past experiences.

12-step and SMART Recovery Groups

The 12-step program model is often used in drug and alcohol treatment. It’s a mutual-help system based on following 12 specific steps and drawing strength from a higher power.
SMART Recovery is a nonreligious program that avoids labeling people as addicts, but encourages personal empowerment using evidence-based practices.

Life Skills Groups

In addiction recovery, life skills groups concentrate on teaching practical abilities necessary for personal management and daily living. Individuals can work to develop the skills they need to get through life with a sense of independence and personal pride.

Case Management Services

Case management is a cooperative process where trained professionals work with clients to evaluate their needs, create personalized care plans, and coordinate services. The case manager becomes the client’s advocate by helping them access resources while streamlining coordination across services.

(713) 965-6422

What is a Dual Diagnosis?

A dual diagnosis refers to the presence of both a substance use disorder (SUD) and a mental health disorder at the same time. The mental health condition is often referred to as a co-occurring disorder.

SUDs might not cause mental health disorders directly, but there is a clear link between the two.

Many people with mental health issues will attempt to self–medicate with substances. Alcohol and drugs can agitate the symptoms of mental health conditions worse. For people with pre-existing inclinations, the continued use of substances can increase the risk of developing a mental health disorder. Treatment for a dual diagnosis requires an integrated approach that treats both disorders simultaneously.

Receive Support For Addiction and Mental Health at Magnolia City Detox

If you’re struggling with a substance use disorder, you can find professional, experienced, support at Magnolia City Detox. Our mental health professionals are addiction specialists, trained in all aspects of therapeutic approaches.

Treatment programs are designed to fit the individual, and we work to help individuals travel their own path to a healthy life of sobriety. Our residential programs offer a safe, drug and alcohol free environment where you can concentrate on yourself. We also offer outpatient programs for individuals with less severe addictions or who have completed a higher level of care and want to continue treatment to help prevent relapse.

Don’t let fear stop you from prioritizing your own health and wellness. We’re here and happy to answer your questions and connect you with helpful resources. Contact us today to learn more.