Substance Abuse Counseling Techniques

Drug abuse therapists help patients recover from drug and alcohol addiction to assist patients in mending the damage done to individual careers, relationships, and overall well-being.

By choosing suitable substance abuse counseling techniques for the specific addiction and situation , drug abuse therapists can help patients manage stress, recognize triggers, and avoid relapses. Some of these techniques are discussed below.

Contingency Management Therapy

This is a motivation-based form of therapy that offers concrete rewards for recovery achievements. This common treatment for those in stimulant, alcohol, opioid, nicotine and marijuana rehabilitation, mostly comes in two forms.

Voucher-based support, which is frequently used for opioid addicts, rewards clean samples of urine with vouchers at cumulative value stages. Prize enticements give patients with clean tests the opportunity to win money.

Drug abuse therapists use contingency management therapy to reward and encourage ongoing promise to recovery, and study supports its use as a fruitful instrument for long-term achievement.

Narrative Therapy

This is one of the substance abuse counseling techniques and it aims to produce a collaborative connection between the substance abuse counselor and patient to reframe the patient’s view of their life to concentrate on the positive. Working with families or individuals, these therapists use narrative therapy to inspire patients to discover the past of their personal lives, giving them the influence to appreciate their stories in a new dimension.

This technique is usually used together with other treatments. Patients flourishing in narrative therapy learn to take charge, permitting them to acclimate to stressful circumstances and, in some instances, accelerate the recovery course.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Used to treat marijuana, alcohol, methamphetamine, cocaine, and nicotine addictions, CBT adopts learning procedures to correct behavior forms that contribute to ongoing substance abuse. CBT allows patients to discover the costs of addiction, advance skills to help them handle stressful conditions, and comprehend their triggers to avoid deteriorating.

This treatment can result in behavior change, which aids in lasting recovery. Along with treating addiction, CBT takes overlapping issues into account, addressing problems such as depression, anxiety, and trauma together with drug addiction.

Motivational Interviewing

This is a talk-therapy technique that stresses a non-judgmental tactic and depends on strategic input from the patient and therapist alike. Used mainly for nicotine, alcohol, and marijuana addictions, motivational interviewing inspires the patient to commit to their recovery by aggressively contributing in the problem-solving course while also getting guidance from a substance abuse therapist.

This technique is done together with other therapies and is mostly used to involve patients in the recovery process and make selections for other continuing strategies, instead of as a sole solution.

Family Behavior Therapy

Family behavior therapy as a one of the substance abuse counseling techniques involves one or more members of a patient’s family in treatment, counting domestic partners and parents. Through this form of therapy, substance abuse therapists can assist patients to search for solutions to difficulties at home, as well as family conflicts, mental health issues, financial struggles, and child well-being.

The therapist uses these meetings to discuss subjects, make goals, and determine rewards for accomplishment.