What approach do we use?

We use Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a classification of mental health counseling founded in the 1960s by Dr. Aaron T. Beck.

Cognitive behavioral therapy helps people address problematic thoughts, habits, trauma and feelings to overcome addiction.

Cognitive behavioral therapy is used widely today in addiction treatment. CBT teaches those in treatment for addiction to find connections between their thoughts, habits, feelings, and actions and increase awareness of how these things impact recovery.

Alongside addiction, CBT also treats co-occurring disorders such as:

Emotional Disorders

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)

Stress and worry

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Trauma

Eating Disorders

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Anxiety and Depression

Phobias

How Does Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Work?

Cognitive behavioral therapy shows that many harmful actions and emotions are not logical or rational. These feelings and behaviors may come from past experiences or environmental factors.

When an addicted person understands why they feel or act a certain way — and how those feelings and actions lead to substance use — they are better equipped to overcome their addiction.

Cognitive behavioral therapists help those in recovery to identify their negative “automatic thoughts” as well as how to manage negative experiences and control “triggers” that can cause the addiction. Automatic thoughts are based on impulse and often come from misconceptions and internalized feelings of self-doubt, anxiety, worry, trauma and/or fear. Often, people try to self-medicate these painful thoughts and feelings, memories and experiences by drinking alcohol or taking drugs.

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)

By employing complementary therapies: clinical hypnosis, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) , yoga, relaxation techniques as well as physical exercise, we can help a patient reduce and/or remove addictive habits and addiction “triggers” whether they have formed simply as bad habits or were caused by some major event in a patient’s past. A patient then learns new, positive behaviors, self-management techniques and engages in healthy habits which remove the need for their drug or alcohol use all together.

For more information:

• National Health (NHS), UK: https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/talking-therapies-medicine-treatments/talking-therapies-and-counselling/cognitive-behavioural-therapy-cbt/overview/#:~:text=Cognitive%20behavioural%20therapy%20(CBT)%20is,mental%20and%20physical%20health%20problems.

• Veterans Association (USA): https://www.va.gov/WHOLEHEALTHLIBRARY/tools/substance-use-disorder-treatment-complementary-approaches.asp

• American Psychological Association: https://www.apa.org/ptsd-guideline/patients-and-families/cognitive-behavioral

• Royal College of Psychiatrists: https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mental-health/treatments-and-wellbeing/cognitive-behavioural-therapy-(cbt)