Three Types of Effective Psychological Therapy for People Ready to Begin Addiction Recovery

Men and women who know they need help beginning recovery from drug addiction worry about finding the best rehab center for their own needs and preferences. They are concerned about being locked into a treatment philosophy they do not resonate with. Finding a center for drug rehab in Portsmouth that recognizes each individual’s need for different kinds of therapy and activity is reassuring.

Some clients benefit from a combination of two or even three types of psychological therapy. Others feel a definite dissatisfaction with the ideas behind a particular treatment and resonate very much with another one. Counselors who are skilled at working with all of these treatment programs are valuable for the patients as they begin rehab and continue on the journey.

Relational Framework Theory

Also called relational frame theory, this form of counseling focuses on language patterns in the brain and how those patterns can fuel addiction. The language used during thought processes definitively affects behavior. Relational frames are the patterns of responses people tend to make because of reinforcement. These patterns can become habitual.

The thoughts do not need to be about the addiction but rather about the pattern. For instance, someone may have learned to connect the end of the day with the relaxing effects of drinking alcohol. The verbal pattern in the mind might address relaxation, and the person mindlessly pours a glass of wine as a clock’s hands reach 9 p.m. In therapy, the concept of relaxation is turned to more positive activity.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

This therapy also addresses thought and language, but in a different way. New helpful ideas are created to eliminate the old ones. In a sense, this is somewhat like the practice of saying affirmations each morning and evening. The client learns, for instance, to stop focusing on having to deal with the addiction. Instead, the new perspective becomes one of repeatedly affirming one’s value while also accepting weaknesses.

The problem addressed in this kind of talk therapy is the negative thoughts that may be running through the person’s mind, often without this individual even recognizing it. The approach is practical and goal-oriented no matter what type of counselor uses it. A chemical dependency counselor and the client focus on the goal of staying in recovery from addiction and preventing relapse.

Transactional Analysis

A client benefits from this therapy because it helps to connect with a past form of the self that is causing serious problems in the present. Frequently, this means allowing a personality commonly called the inner child to address and deal with previous trauma. This can be a difficult journey emotionally, but it leads to a distinct sense of freedom. The person may have been using alcohol or other drugs to dampen down grief or anger that first developed as a child or teenager.

This theory concentrates on the personality as having three main aspects: parent, adult and child. During therapy, the patient uncovers life scripts that were learned in childhood and that continue to have a significant effect on his or her life today.