Types of Behavioral Therapy & Addiction Treatment Used in Rehab

What Types of Behavioral Therapy and Addiction Treatment Are Used by Alcohol or Drug Rehab Centers?

Addiction treatment is complicated, and demands a professional approach. It’s more than just stopping using drugs or alcohol; it’s a complex disease often coupled with various underlying causes and conditions. That’s why at Lighthouse Recovery in Dallas, we encourage families to support the investment in a professional addiction treatment center to help their loved ones truly fight the disease of addiction and achieve long-term sobriety.

During addiction treatment, it’s important to treat various addictions individually; the path to recovery for alcohol addiction requires different methodologies than an opioid addiction. When evaluating addiction treatment centers in Dallas or elsewhere, be sure to ask about the program’s proficiency in treating multiple addictions at once (if needed).

Here are a few types of treatment methodologies to ask about when evaluating addiction programs:

Behavioral Counseling

Behavioral counseling is an overarching term to refer to therapy with the goal to help individuals recognize self-destructive situations or patterns ahead of time to work to change them. This might include specific behavioral therapies for addiction we use at Lighthouse Recovery such as:

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): CBT is a common, effective way to treat alcohol and drug addiction. Cognitive behavioral therapy’s goal is to use therapy to foresee addiction problems, and create the self-control and coping strategies in light of the problems. Many new coping, self-control, and behavior management strategies are introduced during CBT to give the addict the skills needed to overcome triggers and cravings as they arise.
• Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT): which was first developed as a therapy for individuals with severe psychosocial disorders, including those who are suicidal has evolved to include DBT for those with substance abuse disorder. The “fundamental principle of DBT is to create a dynamic that promotes two opposed goals for patients: change and acceptance” hoping to give patients a chance to see why they have a life worth living.
• Psychodynamic Interpersonal Therapy (PIT): is used in addiction treatment to help those with a range of different mental health disorders. 
• Eye Movement Desensitization, and Reprocessing (EMDR): comes into play in addiction treatment to help addicts visualize traumatizing events while the therapist provides an external stimulus, helping to bring an “adaptive resolution” to the painful memories.

Please note: while there are many types of behavioral therapies for addiction, what’s important is that your addiction treatment center acknowledges there is no one-size-fits-all-approach, and different methodologies may work for different individuals.

Medications and medical devices

Certain medications can be used (and are often used) to manage withdrawal symptoms in detox centers. While detox is a necessary first step in sobriety, it is not a treatment. However, medications can also be used during addiction treatment as a way to prevent relapse. For example, certain medications to treat opioids, alcohol abuse, and tobacco help prevent cravings and work to get the brain function back to “normal.”

Treating co-occurring mental health disorders

An important component of any addiction treatment should include treating co-occurring mental health disorders, like depression or anxiety. Because mental health disorders might play a role in the addiction, it’s important to receive professional behavioral therapy to help address those disorders as well as the addiction to truly get on the road to recovery and prevent relapse. At Lighthouse Recovery in Dallas, our Masters’ level therapists are proficient in treating dual diagnosis and multiple mental health disorders that simultaneously occur with addiction. 

An extensive continuum of care and follow up

If individuals “do not receive any further treatment after detoxification, [they] usually resume their drug use.” Similarly, long term follow-up is recommended for all addicts as a way to maintain accountability and prevent relapse. One easily accessible type of long-term follow-up care is through group therapy sessions, like Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous. Through Lighthouse Recovery, we offer a program called Recovery Coaching which is best for those who’ve completed an outpatient addiction treatment center but want to invest in continued, structured after care.

If you’re curious about ways to get control of your addiction, and if the programming at Lighthouse Recovery is right for you, give us a call. Our team can confidentially discuss our addiction treatment options with you, and help guide you in the right direction to getting sober.