What is a role of therapy in addiction treatment ?

The most difficult part in addiction treatment is to make the patients open & ready for therapeutic activities.

when patients enter into the de-addiction & rehabilitation centre for long-term treatment most of them reported the hopelessness, self-pity, anger at self and others, blaming etc.
The only way to help the patients is to make them participate in various therapeutic activities.  Some of the famous therapeutic activities are as below.

1. Motivational counselling: As a therapist that at one point of time an addict also feels that he has to stop using the substance, but fear of withdrawals, lack of information about treatment, unable to ask help stops him from taking action. Motivational counselling can help people to make the decision about the treatment.  It brings hope for recovery. Motivational counselling puts the light on the present painful conditions of an addict and makes him aware that there is a way out.

2. Developing Insight: once the patient got motivated then the next challenge is adherence to treatment.  The craving, confusion, peer pressure rules the addict, Most of them quit the treatment after detoxification. focused individual assignments & counselling sessions often help people to get the insight about their severity of addiction & the impact of it.

3. Expressive therapy: An addict needs a supportive empathetic atmosphere to express his feeling. He needs assistance to express his opinions, experiences, perceptions. Expressive therapy provides an opportunity to express the deep-rooted feelings either in a direct way or in an indirect way. It consists psychodrama, poster making, games,  group discussion, art and music therapy.

4. Challenging the old beliefs & thoughts: This is the core part of therapy. The patient learns to challenge his old beliefs. Introspection of thoughts helps him to learn new coping skills to lead the productive life. changing the thoughts and beliefs improves the healthy decision-making.

5. Family & Marital Counselling: After the discharge, the family becomes a supportive network. If family counselling aims to deal with old perceptions, hurts & negative thoughts, helps family members to be a part of support system. Addict also needs to realise how the family is suffering because of his addiction. at the end, the role of family members in recovery, learning about the disease of addiction, communication styles in the family also needs to be addressed.

Sheetal