Psychotherapy for Treating Substance Abuse

Psychotherapy for Treating Substance Abuse

Published July 2022

Do you ever feel like no one truly understands what you’re going through, whether it’s your personal struggles or life’s challenges? Have you tried to talk with friends, family members, or even a counselor at school or work? While those people may be able to provide some support and encouragement, they often can’t fully understand how difficult it is for someone else in their situation. That’s where psychotherapy comes into play. It provides a different type of therapy that helps people overcome specific issues that stem from their lives.

What Is Psychotherapy?

Psychotherapy is a process of treatment that helps people deal with mental health issues. It can be used to help people with addiction recover and live a more fulfilling life. Traditional addiction treatment focuses on the physical aspects of addiction, such as withdrawal symptoms and potential health problems. Psychotherapy, however, uses talk therapy to address the underlying issues that may have led to addiction in the first place (such as depression, trauma, or anxiety). By working with your therapist to understand what caused your addiction and how it affects you now, you’ll be able to make lasting changes in your life.

Why Psychotherapy?

In Psychotherapy, a professional counselor helps you understand, manage, and change your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

It can help you:

• Understand the underlying causes of your addiction.
• Understand your triggers.
• Understand how your addiction affects your relationships and career.
• Identify the root cause of your addiction to find effective ways to heal.

How Can it Help Individuals Heal from Addiction?

• Psychotherapy can help with the underlying causes of addiction.
• Psychotherapy can help with emotional and psychological issues contributing to the individual’s substance use-related issues.
• Psychotherapy can help with behavioral issues, such as problems with impulse control or poor decision-making, that may have contributed to the individual’s substance use-related issues.
• Psychotherapy can also help individuals learn healthier ways of coping with stress and emotions, so they don’t turn to drugs or alcohol in times of distress.
• It can also help them learn practical communication skills for resolving conflict within relationships, a common trigger for alcohol abuse and other drug addictions.

Does Insurance Cover Psychotherapy?

It’s essential to find out if your insurance company covers psychotherapy. Some do, but others only cover specific types of therapy or providers. Check with your insurance company to see how they define “psychotherapy” and whether they will cover it under the terms of your policy. If you need help finding an in-network provider, check out the mental health resources page on your insurance website or call them directly for more information.

What Kind of Therapies Work Best for Healing Addiction?

The type of psychotherapy you choose is a matter of personal preference. For example, one-on-one psychotherapy may be more effective for certain people rather than group sessions if someone prefers to talk out their issues in person rather than with a pen or pencil on paper. But whatever your preference is, psychotherapy at Passages Malibu is different from 12-Step programs because it’s not just about stopping addictive behavior—it’s also meant to help people recover from any trauma they might have experienced due to the cause of their addition-related issues and so much more.

But not all therapies are created equal: some are especially helpful for people struggling with substance abuse issues (or other problems), while others aren’t all that effective when treating addiction (AA/12-Step Meetings). As such, let’s take a look at some common types of therapy used today and how they can help you overcome an addiction to drugs and alcohol.

When Can I See The Results Of My Treatment?

How long does it take for treatment to work? The answer is different for everyone. It depends on the individual, the type of therapy, their addiction severity, length of treatment, and the belief a full recovery is possible. How long it takes someone to see results also depends significantly on what you do outside therapy sessions. How are you spending your downtime and investing energy into productive hobbies and mindful living? There is magic in the small moments too.

Psychotherapy is a powerful tool that can help address the underlying causes of addiction.

In addition, if you are struggling with substance use-related issues, psychotherapy can help you recover and gain the tools you need to break free from addiction and live a healthy and happy life that you can feel proud of.

Psychotherapy has been proven effective in treating people with many types of addiction. That is why at Passages Malibu, we offer group and individual therapy sessions as part of our client’s treatment plans. These therapeutic interventions aim to dramatically reduce problematic behavior and address what’s causing it by working through issues that may have led up to it in the first place (e.g., trauma from childhood).