TREATMENT-BEHAVIORAL
    Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Seeks to help patients recognize, avoid, and cope with the situations in which they are most likely to abuse drugs. H.A.L.T  HIGH RISK SITUATIONS-People,Places and Things.        12 STEPS   
   Cognitive behavior therapy is based on the idea that feelings and behaviors are caused by a person's thoughts, not on outside stimuli like people, situations and events. People may not be able to change their circumstances, but they can change how they think about them and therefore change how they feel and behave. The goal of cognitive behavior therapy is to get the person to learn or relearn better coping skills.  
  Motivational Incentives. Uses positive reinforcement such as providing rewards or privileges for remaining drug free, for attending and participating in counseling sessions, or for taking treatment medications as prescribed. 
   Motivational Interviewing. Employs strategies to evoke rapid and internally motivated behavior change to stop drug use and facilitate treatment entry. 
   Group Therapy. Helps patients face their drug abuse realistically, come to terms with its harmful consequences, and boost their motivation to stay drug free. Patients learn effective ways to solve their emotional and interpersonal problems without resorting to drugs. 
  
Recovery is about change!                                                 
             NOTHING CHANGES IF NOTHING CHANGES

    QUITTING: Its easy, I have done it hundreds of times.

                                                                      Mark Twain 

    INSANITY: repeating the same actions over and over 
                       but expecting different results.                        
                                                                      Albert Einstein.


   The benchmark for the theory of change is: “Substance Abuse Treatment and the Stages of Change” by Dr. Gerard J. Connors-PhD, Dr. Dennis M. Donovan-PhD and Carlo C. Diclemente-PhD. They propose  there are five stages of change:

  • Pre contemplation- the person denies there is a problem and is resistant to change.       OMG

  • Contemplation- person begins to reevaluate self- maybe my behavior is causing all these negative outcomes and begins to concede there might be a problem.

  • Preparation-Acknowledges there is a problem and wants to do         something about it and makes plans to do so.

  • Action- implements plan.

  • Maintenance- working the action plan, learning from success and failures.

  • Some people have a problem with the "higher power" idea to which Kahil Gibran-18th century philosopher/poet responded: 

   I was too smart to believe in a power greater than me. What I started to realize was that if I was the greatest power in my life, I was in deep,  trouble....Kahlil Gibran
            
             "There is no chemical solution for a spiritual problem."




This page was last updated: July 26, 2011