Addiction is as it is in a whirlpool. The more you kick trying to get out the more the current gets its hold of you. It is not a bad habit and will power. Addiction is an intricate network of mental, emotive, physical and social aspects. And whereas detox might deal with the body, it is counseling which deals with the mind and the soul. Addiction Counseling is the map that guides an addict to make his or her way back to sanity, intimacy and self-mastery.
In this blog, we will discuss why counseling is an important aspect of the addiction recovery process, what kind of therapies there are, as well as the effectiveness of being really heard and listened to.
The Reasons Addiction is not Just a Substance Use
Everyone does not have to abuse alcohol, drugs, or gamble in order to become addicted. It usually covers serious trauma: unaddressed trauma, chronic stress, depression, anxiety, or a sense of not worthiness. Substance use is one of the forms of self-medication of many people to avoid emotional suffering or fill some emptiness.
Can you imagine a leaking roof? You simply can continue to set buckets to drain the water (i.e., stop using temporarily), but the problem will manifest itself back until you either repair the roof (correct causes) or remove the roof completely. Counseling comes in there.
The Recovery Reinforced by Counseling
Addiction has been referred to as an isolating disease and recovery an integrating process or reconnection with self, others as well as purpose. Healing starts in counseling because it is a safe place which does not make a judgment.
1. The End to the Denial Cycle
Denial is one of the initial barriers to recuperating addiction. People can reduce the use or attribute it to other things. A trained counselor assists the clients in a soft way of facing the reality of the situation.
Example: One of the functioning alcoholics, Rahul claimed to stop at any time. His therapist allowed him to find the difference between how he feels about himself and the effects of drinking using motivational interviewing.
2. Development of Insight and Self Awareness
Counseling enables one to analyze patterns, triggers and beliefs that add to his addictive behavior. Questions like:
What is this substance satisfying?
- Which feelings do I escape through the use of?
- Which of my former hurts are affecting me now?
- This is an important understanding of sustainable change.
3. The Creation of Coping Strategies
- The habit of addiction usually becomes the normal reaction to stress, loneliness or conflict.
- Counseling provides the clients with more healthy coping skills.
- Grounding activities and mindfulness exercises
- Tricks of emotional regulation
Assertiveness and setting boundaries skills: Every counselor can be considered like a toolbox. Where there were only hammers (the addiction), there have been added screwdrivers, pliers, wrenches, and new means to cope with life.
4. Treatment of Co-occurring Mental Issues
Most of the addicts are also depressed, anxious, have PTSD, or bipolar. Addiction that comes with no attempt to solve these problems is equivalent to patching a tire without inspecting it against nails.
Combined counseling also means that the two issues: addiction and mental condition are treated in one course, so the outcomes of this treatment are more likely to be successful.
5. Rebuilding Relationships
Most relationships are usually destroyed by addiction. Trust can be restored by counseling, and a new, healthier way of communicating. And specifically, family therapy enables one to work through his/her pain and be transformed into an ally in the recovery process.
Example: Meena’s addiction to opioids affected her relations with her teenage daughter and led the woman to the therapy. They began restoring their relationship over time through counseled sessions.
Variations of Counseling used in Addiction Recovery
Each addiction does not have a universal treatment. There are different methods that are adopted by counselors according to the need of the person, his or her history, and level of his or her recovery.
1. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT enables a person to determine and modify thinking styles that result in substance use. It is oriented in the present time, and provides real-life methods of preventing relapse.
Example: Raj was the one that learned to question his conviction: I cannot relax without weed. With the help of CBT he learned to find different means to relax such as arts and deep breathing.
2. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
DBT is most effective in people who exhibit extreme feelings and it was originally designed to treat borderline personality disorder. It integrates mindfulness, tolerance of distress, emotion regulation, and use of effective relationships among others.
3. Motivational Interviewing (MI)
MI is a client-focused method which facilitates ambivalence toward quitting. The counselor does not force the change, but rather helps the client explain why he/she must want to recover.
4. 12-Step Therapy
This therapy readies one to join peer support groups such as alcoholics anonymous (AA) or the narcotics anonymous (NA) movement. It presents spiritual and community factors in recovery.
5. Trauma-Informed Therapy
In the case of people whose addiction is traumatized, therapy should be conducted in a delicate manner. The techniques may be EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), narrative and somatic experiencing.
The Curative Dynamism of the Counselor-Client Relationships: The Heart of Healing
The engine of change is more than techniques and tools, but the therapeutic relationship between the counselor and the client. The basis of growth is founded on trust, empathy, and heartfelt connection.
A counselor is not really a mechanic to put a broken machine into order, but the fellow traveler because he has the flashlight and you take your own way.
The clients frequently tell me that a simple act of listening without judgment, listening to a person who believes in his/her ability to change, is a healing factor on its own.
Group Counseling: Power of Sharing Stories
The group online therapy provides an opportunity to people where they can associate with others who are going through similar ordeals. The shame and isolation that drives addiction can be shattered by the power of me too.
Positives about Group Counseling:
- Reduces loneliness
- Increases accountability
- Acts as sources of recovery role models
- Nurtures hope and strength
Issues in the Counseling of Addiction
It is seldom a straight path to recovery. Slips and lapses are experienced. Counseling also plays the role of therapy as it restores the frame of relapse as failure, but as a learning experience.
As with any difficult thing to learn, just as we did when we were learning how to ride a bike, falling is a part of the experience. The task of the counselor is to assist you to stand up, consider the case, and move on.
Another challenge is resistance. Clients can experience feelings of shame and/or fear of change or feel hopeless. In this case, patience and persistence of a counselor may be everything.
Closing Thoughts: Counseling as our guide to recovery: The North Star
Recovery should not only be abstinence or discontinue substance use but rather finding yourself back. It is about the process of acquiring new methods of coping, relating and taking care of your mental or emotional well-being.
Counseling does not provide answers to you. It assists you in a way to ask questions. It cannot get you to the finish line but it can accompany you during the toughest ones. It is the mirror and the map when you want to know what you are worth and when you want to be somewhere.
You can consider addiction as the event in your history but not the conclusion. The recovery process also becomes a strong reality with the way-shower of counseling.
Whether it is you or a loved one that is stuck in the cycle of addiction you can rest assured that there is assistance to be had and recovery is not an impossibly faraway dream. Make that first step. The path is much, and you will never be alone.