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Addiction Counseling
Addiction
Addiction treatment varies depending on your or a loved one’s needs. It varies in terms of what might work the best for you, and on the substance being abused. Whether it’s alcohol, drug use, gambling, or internet/social media addiction, treatment depends on your needs.
Having an addiction means exhibiting a compulsive, chronic, need, whether physiological or psychological for either a habit-forming substance, a behavior, or an activity.
Main Types of Addiction
There are three main types of addiction:
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Behavioral addiction includes addiction to things such as gambling or social media
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Substance addiction refers to a physical as well as psychological dependence on a specific substance, such as opioids, heroin, or alcohol. Food and tobacco are both another such addiction
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Impulse addiction refers to addictions due to impulse control disorders
No matter what the type of addiction, everyone who has experienced an addiction has a struggle with a craving, a compulsion, control and the addiction’s consequences.
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How Addiction is Treated
Treatment for addiction usually begins by detoxing your body to rid it of an addictive substance or behavior. While this is the start of treatment, it is not a cure for the underlying causes of addiction which are behavioral.
Common treatments include therapeutic approaches such as:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
This type of therapy can be used for many different addiction types including alcohol, drug addiction, and food addiction. It can help with recognizing unhealthy patterns of behavior, and can be combined with other forms of therapy.
Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
This type of therapy helps patients to recognize negative thoughts and emotions to combat attitudes and thoughts of self-defeat.
Contingency Management
Used to treat many addictions, contingency management therapy provides rewards for positive behavior such as maintaining sobriety or giving up tobacco through tangible reward systems. It is considered quite effective to prevent relapse.
12-Step Treatment
A type of group therapy, 12-step programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous recognize that the consequences of addiction can be widespread, from social to emotional, physical, and spiritual. Group meetings are used for support and discussion.
Medication
Medication can be used to treat addiction by reducing cravings and improving mood. It can also help to alleviate symptoms of what can be an underlying cause of addiction, mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, and OCD, for which patients suffering from addiction may be self-medicating. Recently approved lofexidine is a drug that can help to reduce both withdrawal symptoms and reduce cravings.
Regardless of the type of addiction you or a loved one may be struggling to overcome, there are a variety of successful treatments which can be used either in combination or individually to help you overcome addiction.
Behavioral therapies can help patients:
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Modify or change attitudes and behavior related to addiction
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Increase skills for achieving a healthy lifestyle
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Be used alongside other forms of treatment, such as medication
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Learn More About Addiction and Addiction Treatment
If you would like to know more about addiction itself, treatment for addiction, and how we can help at San Antonio Authentic Counseling, please reach out to us today!