Understanding The Need for Addiction Counselling

Counselling is among the most important aspects of drug and alcohol addiction treatment, making it a crucial part of every successful addiction treatment program. People who are addicted to drugs or alcohol go through various types of addiction counselling, with individual counselling, group therapy, and family counselling being some of the most common ones offered. Different methods that can be used in counselling sessions, but they all aim to assist addicts in changing their behavioural patterns to stop drug addiction and alcohol abuse, and to learn to live more productive and healthier lives.

• Counselling improves the motivation of the client to recover. Proper counselling can help addicts realise the negative effects of addiction to their lives and urge them to improve and make better decisions to recover.
• Counselling teaches clients the necessary skills to quit drugs and alcohol to avoid a relapse. Cognitive behavioural therapy can help you cope with cravings, handle negative feelings well, and prevent yourself from relapsing.
• Non –cognitive therapies are often more affective for clients that experienced trauma and are shut down in their ability to openly share their thoughts and express their feelings and emotions. EMDR, equine, psychodrama and music therapies are often the gateway therapies that enable clients to engage in more cognitive methods of therapy, such as 12 step facilitation and group therapy.
• Counselling encourages the client's participation in support groups. This approach can help you recognise that you are not alone and that you are not the only one going through the recovery process. You might feel alone in your addiction, so group therapy makes you see that you do not have to feel that way, and that there are others who share your issues.
• Counselling uses positive incentives to promote recovery and facilitate behavioural changes in the client. Recovery is a long-term process that requires you to be extremely patient and committed to getting better, there are good rehabilitation programs that provide you with small incentives to make you feel proud of your accomplishments.
• Counselling involves close friends and family members in some activities. If a parent, sibling, or close friend is willing to learn about your addiction and has the willingness to participate in your recovery process, your chances of recovering can be higher because you know that you have all the support that you need through difficult times.