Understanding The Benefits of CBT For Addiction
Leveraging Premier Behavioral and Mental Health Interventions For Substance Use Disorder Treatment
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Substance use disorder (SUD) robs you of the life you were always meant to lead and the accomplishments, joys, and relationships associated with that life. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) helps identify the underlying thought patterns that lead to harmful and self-destructive behaviors. Equipped with this knowledge, you can be empowered to safely create new, healthier patterns and restore optimal functioning in life, work, school, relationships, and potential.
Improving your life and overall well-being isn’t easy, but with the right help, there is a clear path to making this a reality for you. Treating substance use effectively requires a holistic and comprehensive approach from the inside out. Crestone Wellness is Austin’s premier wellness destination with a focus on redefining the recovery journey by fostering abundance and joy along the way.
What is CBT For Addiction?
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a best-in-class approach to addressing a number of mental health disorders, including:[1]
- psychiatric disorders
- depression
- anxiety disorders
- eating disorders
- substance abuse
- personality disorders
CBT treatments could be group or private and usually take place weekly in 60-minute sessions for several weeks during residential detox and rehabilitation, more or less depending on your individual needs. Working directly with a licensed therapist or clinician, you will uncover what internal influences lead to harmful patterns in your life and how to overcome them.
At Crestone Wellness, we’re committed to fostering respect and joy throughout addiction treatment and want to ensure that each session is safe, effective, and supportive. Our clinical team is here to help you every step of the way and prepare you to achieve your highest level of success.
How (and Why) CBT For Addiction Works
As an evidence-based form of psychotherapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a direct and intuitive approach to addiction recovery. It focuses on the relationship between thoughts, emotions, and actions.[2] By recognizing distorted thinking patterns and the emotional impact they have, Cognitive Behavioral Therapists will help you cultivate coping skills to navigate those thoughts and emotions without turning to harmful behaviors like substance use.
CBT techniques for substance abuse are particularly effective as they leverage coping strategies and cognitive skills to alter harmful behavior and decrease the risk of relapse.[3]
CBT Skills Training
Some of the most beneficial skills learned when pairing CBT and addiction include:[4]
- Internal analysis
- Managing cravings
- Problem-solving
- Refusal training
- Identifying and changing harmful thoughts
- Decision making
- Relapse prevention
- STD risk reduction
As you uncover problematic patterns, the skills training that CBT for substance use disorders (SUD) offers helps you establish new, healthier patterns and create a positive present and future—for yourself and your loved ones. As you gain independence and self-efficacy and negative thought patterns and addictive behaviors are reduced, therapy sessions may occur less often.
Crestone Wellness treatment programs, including those for alcohol and drug addiction, aim to leverage short-term and long-term options for effective treatment and help you build a sustainable pathway to sobriety, peace, and success.
Substance Abuse Therapies
Efficacy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy For Addiction
While there are no guarantees in life of any kind, there are probabilities and indications. Numerous medical studies have been conducted on CBT, specifically CBT for addiction. In fact, it is one of the most researched forms of psychotherapy in modern healthcare.
Statistics relevant to substance use disorder treatment show that 58% of CBT patients fare better than those without.[5] This same data revealed that CBT was especially effective for treating marijuana use when used in combination with other therapies (like Motivational Interviewing) and some medication-assisted treatments.[6]
What to Expect from CBT For Addiction
The first CBT session is intended to advance you closer to your recovery goals and solidify your self-efficacy in treatment. The galvanized structure of a session goes as follows but should be customized as needed based on individual needs:[7]
Check-In:
The beginning of each session is reserved for updates and a mood check to determine the current mindset.
Establish Continuity:
To bridge previous sessions, we will review where we left off and review any homework.
Collaborate:
Together, we’ll determine, based on your treatment and recovery goals, what is the most important issue or pattern to uncover and address. Anything discussed is punctuated with clinician feedback and situational summaries.
Homework and Overall Summary:
We’ll close the session by assigning homework to be completed before the next session and summarizing what was accomplished in this session.
CBT For Addiction at Crestone Wellness
Every patient intervention at our inpatient detox and substance abuse treatment center is fully customized and molded to each person’s unique needs. Before beginning any treatment, each patient undergoes a detailed assessment to determine what modalities best suit their needs.
Our facilities have been designed to promote serenity, and with state-of-the-art amenities, you will experience far more than just treatment but also comfort and community. All of our cutting-edge treatment approaches are based on the industry’s leading and evidence-based techniques.
Our goal is to bring about lasting change and holistic wellness through treatment, mindfulness, yoga, balance, healthy routines, and more.
Frequently Asked Questions about CBT For Addiction
How long does CBT typically take to treat addiction?
The treatment timeline is different for every person and depends on the full scope of your recovery journey. It may include ongoing support in outpatient treatment. However, at our inpatient facility, most stay for an average of 2 weeks.
What is the success rate of CBT?
Studies on CBT for substance use disorders show that 58% of CBT patients fared better than those who did not participate.[8]
What are CBT coping skills examples?
Some critical CBT coping skills training include functional analysis, cognitive restructuring (changing thoughts), self-driven problem-solving and behavioral activation, managing cravings, emotional regulation, relaxation, relapse prevention, and more.
Sources
[1][2][7]Chand, S. P., Kuckel, D. P., & Huecker, M. R. (2023). Cognitive Behavior Therapy. In StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK470241/
[3][4][5][6][8]Carroll, K. M., & Kiluk, B. D. (2017). Cognitive behavioral interventions for alcohol and drug use disorders: Through the stage model and back again. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 31(8), 857-871. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5714654/
