Drug and alcohol addiction can damage many areas of a person’s life. That includes relationships, career goals, self-confidence, and daily life skills. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is one of the most commonly used therapies to help a person move forward in their lives through addiction recovery. A cognitive-behavioral therapy program teaches you how to control thoughts and feelings as you rebuild your life in recovery. Because of how effective it is, CBT is a core part of our addiction and mental health treatment programs at Virtues Behavioral Health.
CBT Is About Learning a New Way
Every therapy program provided during treatment is meant to provide insight, support, and guidance to those in recovery. There are many components of this process. CBT focuses on several key aspects of addiction recovery, including:
- Learning about your mental health condition and addiction
- Exploring techniques to learn to relax
- Developing coping skills
- Reducing stress through effective stress management skills
- Building resilience
- Being assertive
It is through this process a person can learn to make better decisions for their future. The key component of CBT is showing you that you can recognize negative and inaccurate thought processes while they are occurring so you can change those thoughts. The end result is being able to reduce the risk of engaging in negative behaviors as a result of those inaccurate thoughts.
What to Expect in a Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Program
Each therapist has their own approach to the process. However, most often, individual therapy involves gathering information about you and asking you questions about what challenges you want to work on during addiction therapy. You’ll be able to talk about both current problems and those in your past that may be impacting your health now. It’s important to have a good understanding of your emotional health.
Most often, after an initial interview, you’ll likely make a plan for how you’ll moving forward. For example, your therapist will tell you what you are going to work on, develop some goals for treatment, and then discuss how the treatment will work.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy involves several steps:
- Identifying a troubling situation, condition about your life, or other factors that impact you
- Learning to become aware of emotions, thoughts, and beliefs about these problems
- Identifying if those thoughts are negative or inaccurate, or what negative beliefs you have
- Learning to reshape those negative or inaccurate thoughts to help avoid poor behaviors and outcomes.
There are no wrong answers in this type of therapy. Rather, it is a process of learning to recognize just how significant your thoughts are in the outcome of your decisions. By learning to recognize those negative thoughts and correct those beliefs, you can often minimize bad decisions, such as using drugs and alcohol as a coping mechanism. At the same time, you’ll have tools to allow you to manage stress more effectively.
What CBT in California Can Do for You
Are you ready to learn more about CBT? During your time within our addiction treatment program, you’ll explore this type of therapy fully. You’ll learn how to can help you to gain confidence, make better decisions, and embrace a healthier future for yourself and your mental health.
At Virtues Behavioral Health, we provide this therapy as one of several treatment options. Others may include:
- Family therapy programs
- Yoga therapy programs
- Dialectical behavior therapy
- Exercise therapy programs
- Medication-assisted treatment
- Dual diagnosis treatment
- Art therapy programs
Choose to Heal at Virtues Behavioral Health
A cognitive-behavioral therapy program could change the course of your life. It may enable you to heal, rebuild, and feel confident every day. To achieve those goals, start with an appointment with the compassionate counselors at Virtues Behavioral Health. We’re here to help you ensure the best future for yourself. Call 855.579.8599 or connect with us online now to learn more.
Virtues Behavioral Health is a substance abuse treatment center in Los Angeles, California. We offer addiction and mental health treatment at our outpatient rehab center. Our substance abuse treatment programs help clients avoid relapse and rebuild their lives. Contact our Los Angeles addiction treatment center at 855.265.7710
