Addiction is a complex condition with roots in a person’s genetics, behaviors, and more. Living with an active addiction can impact every aspect of your life and requires comprehensive treatment.
Counseling is an important aspect of a comprehensive treatment program. Counseling can help you identify and address the underlying factors of your substance abuse. It can help you develop new, healthy strategies for managing challenges. Participating in substance abuse counseling may reduce your risk of relapse significantly.
This article will explore substance abuse counseling in rehab and recovery. You will learn:
- What to expect from substance abuse counseling
- How addiction counseling fits into addiction treatment and recovery
- The benefits of attending counseling during rehab
- Where to find substance abuse counseling in New Jersey
If you or someone you love is searching for a substance abuse counselor in New Jersey, contact the New Jersey Behavioral Healthcare team. Our intake team can answer your questions and help you schedule an intake assessment.
What to Expect in Addiction Counseling
Addiction is not just a physical condition. It affects the way you think and behave. It can impact your relationships, work, and daily functioning. Because addiction is so complex, this condition requires comprehensive treatment.
Comprehensive addiction treatment programs provide care for a person’s body, mind, and behavioral health. It is more than just a detox program that helps people safely stop using drugs. Counseling can help people discover why they abused drugs or alcohol and develop effective coping skills to reduce the risk of relapse.
Common goals of addiction counseling include:
- Developing new coping skills to reduce stress
- Learning new strategies to manage challenges
- Identifying and healing from trauma
- Learning about triggers and creating healthy strategies to cope with them
Holistic rehab programs typically offer counseling as part of each person’s treatment plan. People may attend individual therapy sessions, which may meet weekly for an hour. They may also participate in group and family therapy. People in rehab may benefit from working with a therapist during every stage of recovery, including after completing a treatment program.
Addiction therapy provides a safe, consistent place for people to think and talk about their feelings and experiences. During sessions, people explore their thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors deeply. Doing this can help them understand why they began using addictive substances.
Every person has their own unique recovery journey. Therapy can help people learn about their addiction and find effective solutions to help them work toward lifelong recovery.
How to Use Substance Abuse Counseling in Recovery
Substance abuse counseling may be included in any comprehensive addiction treatment program. People in these programs may meet with a therapist individually and attend group sessions.
Addiction counseling is typically included in programs at every level of care, including:
- Medically-supported detox programs
- Inpatient treatment programs
- Partial hospitalization programs (PHP)
- Intensive outpatient programs (IOP)
- Outpatient rehab programs (OP)
- Aftercare programs
People may participate in therapy to support addiction recovery for as long as they want–even for the rest of their lives.
Some of the most common therapeutic approaches in addiction counseling include:
- Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)
- Rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT)
- Motivational Interviewing (MI)
Many therapists use multiple approaches to meet their clients’ needs. Therapy can help people process and understand their experiences, feelings, and ideas so that they can work more effectively toward lifelong recovery.
The Benefits of Addiction Counseling
Participating in addiction counseling during recovery has many benefits. Here is an overview of some of the most significant ones.
Identify the roots of addiction
Addiction is a complex condition. Understanding the underlying causes of an addiction can help you find practical, effective solutions that protect your sobriety. Participating in substance abuse counseling in New Jersey can help you discover the roots of your substance misuse and develop healthy coping skills to avoid relapse.
Reduce isolation
Addiction can feel isolating and lonely. Many people struggle with intense anger, guilt, shame, or anxiety about substance abuse. In many cases, people may need to let go of unhealthy relationships. Or, they may have relationship strain that keeps them from loved ones.
These factors can leave people feeling alone as they navigate recovery. Therapy provides consistent, non-judgmental support. It can help people learn skills to repair relationships or build new, healthy ones. Therapy can help people feel connected to others as they work toward lifelong sobriety.
Reduced risk of relapse
Addressing the root causes of addiction and learning effective coping skills can help significantly reduce the risk of relapse. Addiction counseling can also provide accountability that may help people stay on track in recovery.
Find a Substance Abuse Counselor in New Jersey
Addiction counseling is a critical aspect of lifelong addiction recovery. Learn more about the benefits of substance abuse counseling or find a therapist by contacting New Jersey Behavioral Healthcare today.