Addiction is a serious condition that may require professional intervention and evidence-based therapies to overcome. This is why counselling is often key, no matter what type of addiction you are suffering from.
Addiction counselling is a major part of recovery and focuses on the reasons behind their compulsions, the consequences of their behaviours, and their general mental health.
At Rehab 4 Addiction, we are able to refer you to addiction counselling sessions with a qualified BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy) registered Counsellor. All Counsellors have previous experience in treating addictions and in using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).
We can also ensure that our counsellors meet with additional treatment needs that you may have, such as anxiety, bereavement, relationship issues and trauma.
Addiction counselling service is typically offered in blocks of 10 sessions. This is the minimum requirement to engage with one of our counsellors. The counsellor will discuss with you at the first session, what you can expect from the sessions and help you to set some realistic goals to achieve.
Sessions are usually held on a once-weekly basis, but there is scope for this to be adjusted to meet with your individual treatment needs and other commitments.
Rehab 4 Addiction ensures that you are happy with your counsellor and if there is a problem then it will be promptly addressed. At the end of your block of sessions, you and the counsellor may discuss extending the sessions further if there are still treatment needs that need to be addressed.
In any event, we will oversee the whole service delivered, to ensure that you are happy with the progress being made.
There are two main categories of counselling for addiction treatment: one-on-one sessions and group sessions. Group sessions are typically preferred because it allows people to share their story, hear others, and develop a community of support to aid them with recovery.
In rehab, a person typically experiences both, but may only continue one after they are discharged. The goal of addiction counselling is primarily to help a person deal with cravings and cope with triggers.
For drugs, the first step of counselling is helping a person recover safely and then cope with cravings that they will experience, possibly for a long time into the future. Drug counselling can also help a person with coexisting problems such as anxiety, depression, and mood swings.
For alcohol, the first step of treatment is generally considered to be recognising and admitting the problem. After that, a person can move on to addressing the root of their addiction and learning the coping skills that they need to avoid relapse.
Therapy generally has had a lot of stigma around it. Often times, people generally associate it with people who are branded with outdated labels such as ‘crazy’ or suffer from serious mental illness. They also do not typically realise how wide the subject really is. Some types of therapy do not resemble the typical talk-therapy at all.
Addiction is considered by most professionals to be a psychological issue though it can include physical symptoms/problems. Because it is so psychologically based, therapy is key in the beginning stages of recovery and even years into sobriety.
Many people would consider therapy to be one of the most, if not the most, important parts of addiction treatment.
Addiction is a psychological issue, not just a physical dependency, so while detox will help free a person from the physical dependency, the psychological issues that lead to addiction will not be solved through detox alone. That is where counselling is used to create long term sobriety.
Counselling treats the issues that initially resulted in psychological addiction. The psychological component of addiction generally takes longer and can be harder to treat. Counselling is generally provided by rehab facilities and carries into the future after they are discharged from the programme.
The aim of counselling is to help you to explore in a safe environment, the issues that are underpinning your addiction and to help you move forward.
It is not the Counsellors job to provide you with answers, but to help you find your own answers and to challenge negative or unhelpful thought processes.
Addiction counselling is most appropriate for someone who has managed to stop the substance or process that they are addicted to and to help find ways of staying abstinent and preventing relapse.
Addiction counselling is not appropriate for someone requiring a medical detox. In order for psychosocial interventions to be of maximum benefit, physical addiction must first be removed. If you attend the sessions whilst intoxicated, it is likely that they will serve little or no purpose at all.
Therapy can be extremely stressful as it requires you to explore difficult thoughts, memories, and feelings as well as admit and accept the actions that you made which led to your addiction. During therapy, you can expect to work to heal from the damage done both during your addiction and from before your addiction developed.
The process may be hard and psychologically painful, but in the long run, you can expect to find peace and happiness. The specifics of what you should expect from a session depends on the kind of therapy you are doing.
You can find more information for that under the section entitled “Types of Addiction Treatment Therapies.”
For a detailed description of what to expect from your counsellor, look at the menu box below. It covers what the role of your counsellor is and how they work with you throughout your course of therapy:
Rehab 4 Addiction will carry out a thorough telephone assessment before carefully selecting a counsellor to deliver your treatment. We will also endeavour to find a counsellor that is local to you, usually within a 20-mile radius of where you live that also matches with your individual treatment needs and requirements.
If for any reason you are unhappy or uncomfortable with the counsellor chosen for you, we will do our best to remedy this by providing you with an alternative counsellor.
Once a treatment plan has been agreed and payment is taken, we will usually contact you within 7 days with the details of your counsellor. Sessions can then commence immediately. There are no lengthy waiting lists as we appreciate that your need for counselling is urgent.
When you register with us for our addiction counselling services, you will be entitled to a variety of addiction treatments which include:
ACT encourages a person to open up about unpleasant feelings, memories, and experiences. By doing so, the patient can learn how to react and cope without the substance they became dependent on. The three main components of ACT are accepting reactions and remaining present, choosing a valued direction, and taking action.
This is one of the most popular self-help support programmes. Through AA, someone addicted to alcohol can work through 12 steps towards a sober life. There are support meetings all over the world almost every day, and anyone can go to them. Often people who enter AA will be paired with someone who has been sober for longer and completed their steps to help them work through the programme.
Art therapy can look different depending on the therapist’s personal beliefs, but generally, it uses two main components. First, it focuses on the release a person gets through creating the art. Second, it focuses on the analysis and discussion of what was created. Rather than simply talking, a patient uses their art to communicate what they are feeling and experiencing.
CBT is a form of talk therapy that helps the patient challenge and changes negative thought processes, beliefs, and behaviours. A therapist also will help the patient develop coping strategies that help them stay sober. The therapist will not necessarily simply tell the patient coping strategies, but rather guide them towards developing their own.
Counselling is a very broad term but is generally a session where a counsellor offers advice to a patient and support to deal with their problem. This is different than many other forms of therapy because a counsellor provides their own, direct opinion.
DBT is actually a form of CBT. During DBT, a therapist accepts and validates a patient’s emotions, but shows them where their behaviours are negative. The end goal of DBT is to change behaviour, not necessarily thoughts and feelings.
This kind of therapy uses the aid of role-playing. The therapist may use and provide props, music, and imagery to help recreate experiences that affect the patient. By reliving the experiences, a patient can identify emotions and work to overcome negative ones. Typically, this is used in tandem with other therapy types.
Group therapy is where a counsellor or multiple counsellors work with multiple patients at one time. The counsellor may teach skills or simply facilitate discussion between the group members. Group therapy is an important part of addiction recovery.
Family therapy is when a counsellor works with an entire family to identify and deal with problems and understand each other. It helps deal with a lot of conflict resolution whether the conflict is due to the addiction or a trigger for the person who suffers from the addiction (or both.)
This kind of psychotherapy works to deal with a patient’s unconscious self to alleviate mental stress and change behaviour. It uses techniques like free association and dream interpretation.
This is similar to AA, but it is for those who deal with drug addiction rather than alcohol addiction.
This is a broad term that uses a variety of methods to help a person overcome issues and change their behaviour. There are over a thousand different psychotherapy techniques.
These are programmes like NA and AA that leads a patient through twelve steps that are designed to help a person get and stay sober. They can be led by therapists, but are not always.
This is a process designed to help a patient associate a painful memory with less upsetting feelings so that they can heal. It is typically used to treat things such as PTSD, but can also aid in addiction recovery.
This provides a patient with a framework to help them stay sober. It uses various types of therapy to do so, such as family therapy, education, and support groups.
The goal of MET is to minimise patients’ doubts about going through treatment or stopping drug use. This kind of therapy can be especially beneficial in the early stages of recovery.
In order for a counsellor to provide accurate support and aid, they must understand what you are actually dealing with. For this reason, you should work to be as honest and transparent as possible with your counsellor. Your therapist is legally not allowed to share, and they are not there to judge you or make you feel worse.
At Rehab 4 Addiction, we have years of experience in putting clients in touch with the appropriate models of addiction treatment.
To discover your road to recovery, call us today on 0800 140 4690.
