Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a structured type of psychotherapy used to treat various substance use disorders and mental health conditions. During cognitive-behavioral treatments, you will work with a therapist to challenge negative thought patterns.
The goal of cognitive behavioral therapy is for you to become more aware of how your thoughts affect your actions and adopt healthier thinking patterns to respond to challenging situations more effectively. This type of talk therapy will help you feel more relaxed and better prepared to address any life stressors that come your way. If you or a loved one are ready for drug abuse recovery or mental health services, call (424) 234-2027 to learn more about our cognitive behavior therapy.
What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) aims to change negative thought patterns, or cognitive distortions, that lead to destructive behaviors. This treatment strategy helps clients understand maladaptive behavioral patterns and the thought process that leads to them. This can include the exploration of past traumatic experiences that affect personal narratives to establish effective, healthy change and improved coping skills.
Cognitive behavioral therapy is generally a short-term therapy that takes place over many sessions and is best when combined with other treatments. While in cognitive behavioral therapy at Malibu Detox, our cognitive behavioral therapists will customize sessions based on your specific circumstances, conditions, and goals. Generally, a cognitive behavioural therapy session will discuss your symptoms, challenges, and concerns. From there, your therapist will inquire about your past, problematic behaviors, fears, and phobias. These questions will help shed light on problematic thoughts and behaviors so you can focus on changing them.
The cognitive behavioral approach is designed to help participants have a stronger sense of self-worth and self-assurance, which can be crucial for engaging in recovery and changing behavior patterns.
Types of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive behavioral therapy techniques provide therapeutic interventions for many other popular psychotherapies. These treatments involve several sessions in which a licensed therapist works with participants to identify thought patterns and behaviors that impact addictive behaviors with the goal of developing effective coping strategies. Other therapies that utilize treatment strategies of CBT include:
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy: Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is a variation of cognitive behavioral therapy that focuses on skills training for mindfulness. DBT uses behavioral strategies to address negative emotions and thought processes while providing mindfulness techniques to help improve emotional regulation.
- Cognitive Therapy: Cognitive therapy (half of the CBT model) focuses on working through difficult thought patterns and responses without the analysis of maladaptive patterns.
- Motivational Enhancement Therapy: Motivational enhancement therapy focuses on thinking patterns and uses various techniques to enhance motivation and increase involvement in the treatment process.
These types of evidence-based therapies have been shown to improve relapse prevention as they decrease the impact of triggers like stress and depression, which can contribute greatly to relapse.
What CBT Can Help With
Cognitive behavioral therapy is a popular treatment approach for people suffering from various substance use disorders (such as cocaine addiction) as well as mental illnesses (such as eating disorders). Other mental health disorders CBT can manage and treat include:
- Addiction/Substance Use Disorder
- Anxiety Disorders
- Bipolar Disorder
- Depressive Disorders
- Personality and Mood Disorders
- Phobias
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Eating Disorders
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
- Many Other Disorders
CBT is deemed a low-risk and safe form of mental health treatment. While it’s not always suitable as a stand-alone therapy for some medical conditions, CBT is generally effective for inpatient or outpatient settings with other forms of therapy and/or medication.
Benefits of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
CBT can provide you with empirical support you can depend on to avoid triggers and work through negative feelings. It may teach you stress management, to solve problems in a healthy way, and to change automatic negative thoughts. Some specific benefits of CBT include:
Develop Healthy Coping Techniques
CBT will teach you how to use healthy coping techniques instead of distracting yourself from a problem. These techniques often entail substituting unhealthy behaviors with more effective ones, which can lead to a better quality of life.
Improved Communication in Relationships
When you practice CBT, you learn how to express yourself more effectively. This can improve your relationships and especially help those that present challenges through personal exchanges where emotional triggers may be presented.
Address Traumatic Events
CBT may help you see that the underlying causes of your mental illness and/or substance use disorder is linked to past trauma. CBT is known to help reduce flashbacks and stress that may arise in future situations by assisting you in expressing and releasing negative emotions surrounding these events.
Improve Self-Esteem
Low self-esteem can affect how you perceive yourself and can contribute to mental illness and substance abuse problems. By challenging your personal narratives, CBT helps to promote higher self-esteem which can foster healthier coping strategies and improve relationships.
Prevent Addiction Relapse
Those who participate in CBT are generally better able to resist urges contributing to relapse. CBT helps individuals identify their triggers in a given moment and teaches them to manage negative thoughts and behaviors more effectively. This has been proven to help prevent relapsing into negative behavior patterns and/or re-engaging in drug abuse.
Addiction Treatment and Recovery With Malibu Detox
Malibu Detox offers comprehensive treatment modalities such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) facilitated by licensed and knowledgeable therapists. Our treatment programs serve as a catalyst for meaningful transformations, ultimately helping individuals achieve sustainable, long-term health and recovery.
If you are struggling with addiction and associated mental health conditions, we’re here to help. When you’re stuck in the cycle of addiction, you can experience hopelessness, isolation, and frustration. Reaching out for help and finding the right program for you is a major first step in your recovery journey. Whether you need detox, medication-assisted treatment, residential treatment, dual diagnosis treatment, partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient treatment, outpatient treatment, sober living, aftercare services, or treatment for co-occurring mental health disorders, we can help. All substance abuse and mental health programs at our treatment centers in Southern California include individual therapy, group therapy, family therapy, support groups, and mental health services.
Contact our Malibu, California, drug and alcohol rehab and detox center today at (424) 234-2027 to discuss your personalized addiction treatment plan. We accept most major and private insurance plans and will work with you to navigate your coverage to minimize out-of-pocket expenses. Our admissions staff looks forward to speaking with you.
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