Published October 6, 2021 · Reviewed by Sergey Litvinov, MD · ~621 words

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is one of the most effective types of psychotherapy for addiction. Actions and emotions born out of illogical thought patterns produce bad responses during recovery, and acting on those impulses sets you back. A cognitive-behavioral therapy program retrains how you think, so you can handle your recovery clear-eyed.

At Pines Recovery Life Detox, our cognitive-behavioral therapy program is a core part of our addiction treatment programs. Learn more about how we can help you heal from addiction by calling 800.263.3869 or completing our online form.

CBT for addiction

Cognitive-behavioral therapy helps you see how your thoughts, actions and feelings connect. Until those connections make sense it is hard to change anything in yourself. Naming the patterns and changing them lets clients come to terms with what happened to them, and it is a strong way to deal with the mental health problems feeding a substance use problem.

The core principles of CBT are:

• Psychological problems are due to learned sequences of unhelpful behavior.
• These problems are based on faulty ways of thinking.
• By learning coping skills some of these symptoms can be alleviated.

Some of the goals of CBT include:

• Taking advantage of problem-solving skills to cope with trying situations
• Learning how to recognize distorted thinking patterns and how they contribute to creating problems
• Acquiring a better understanding of other people’s motivations and behaviors
• Gaining confidence in your own abilities

Benefits of cognitive-behavioral therapy

There are many benefits of cognitive-behavioral therapy, such as:

• To help heal from trauma
• To better handle emotions
• Develop coping skills to deal with stressful situations
• Make relationships better by being able to better understand and resolve conflict
• To better cope with grief or loss
• To deal with chronic pain
• Develop better communication skills
• Combat mental illness
• An alternative to medication for mental illness symptoms
• To prevent a relapse

The CBT process

Cognitive-behavioral therapy for addiction works in individual, group or family therapy. The focus is on finding and resolving negative thought patterns. In the first session the therapist assesses what you need for your addiction recovery and answers your questions about what to expect. After that, therapist and patient set clear goals and work out how to reach them.

Building coping skills matters just as much. Talk therapy, and CBT is part of it, asks the patient to talk openly and honestly about what they are struggling with. Only by embracing cognitive-behavioral therapy for addiction can they get to how those issues fed their addictive behavior.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy at Pines Recovery Life Detox

Talk therapy is one of the most overlooked parts of addiction recovery. Starting recovery is one thing; staying sober means finding the underlying issues that led to the substance use problem. Therapies like cognitive-behavioral therapy for addiction are how you get at them.

At Pines Recovery Life Detox, we serve the South Florida community, within easy driving distance of the Miami and Fort Lauderdale airports. We provide luxurious accommodations, which include catered meals, a movie theater room, a game room, and a 24/7 snack bar. We can be reached online or at 800.263.3869 to take the first step toward recovery.