When it comes to treating drug and alcohol addiction, there really is only one treatment alternative. Addiction sufferers have to be willing to go into rehab to get the care they need.
Millions of people have tried to beat their addictions with assistance from those self-help suggestions on the internet. Many have tried, and most of them have failed. When thinking about why other treatment suggestions fail, one will soon come to realize that there is a missing ingredient to the methodology. Clearly, that missing ingredient is the counseling that people need in order to work through their issues.
Why is working through issues such an important part of the recovery process? Every man, woman, and child who falls victim to a drug or alcohol addiction does so because they are failing to cope with underlying issues. These are issues that are hurting them deep inside, hurting them enough to push them towards substance abuse as a coping mechanism. If they don’t take the time to try to resolve these issues, how is it possible for them to get past their substance abuse? They don’t, and that is why counseling is so important.
Does counseling work? Well, the proof is in the pudding. Between 60% and 65% of the people who enter rehab never return to drugs or alcohol. While that might not sound like an impressive percentage, it is still an indication that the way rehabs approach treating clients and addiction seems to work.
If that is the case, one only needs to look at the common factor that keeps producing these rather consistent results. That common factor is counseling or therapy. To be clear, there are dozens of therapeutic methodologies in play throughout the addiction treatment community. Our focus here is on counseling in general. To answer the titled question, yes, counseling does work. To date, it is the best way to treat drug and alcohol addiction problems.
Setting aside the fact there are so many different treatment methodologies, we are going to use the next section to discuss the objective of counseling and why it does work.
Addiction Counseling and Why It Works
When something works, it becomes necessary to look at the process for clues as to why it works. Again, addiction counseling isn’t the perfect solution, but it does provide reasonable results.
When an addiction treatment client starts therapy, they start working with a counselor with one objective in mind. They want to find out the whole truth about their addiction. It is surprising how few addiction sufferers can explain why they feel the need to abuse harmful substances. The truth is very few addiction sufferers have any idea why they fell into the cycle of addiction. For them, it’s like everything happened within a vacuum.
The job of a counselor is to help clients get at the core of why they use drugs or alcohol. It is a difficult process that demands open and honest communication between client and counselor. When the communication is strong, a skilled counselor will typically dig out the issue or issues at hand. For clients, there is almost always a sense of relief when they come to understand what is driving their addictive behavior. It’s the kind of revelation that spurs many clients to really want recovery.
After counseling unravels the truth, there is one step remaining in the addiction treatment process. The client and their counselor have to find ways to resolve the client’s issues. A good majority of the time, the best solution for addiction is the client learning to cope with the issues at hand.
Everyone has triggers that prompt them to behave in a certain way. Most people have the coping skills to manage their triggers. Addiction sufferers tend to be lacking when it comes to coping and life skills. Once a problem has been identified, it then becomes possible for the client to start building very specific coping skills that will help them navigate around very specific triggers and even temptation. That is the secret to avoiding a lifetime of chronic relapses.
Now that you have an idea about the effectiveness of counseling, you should be able to see that rehab is the only choice you have. We hope that is the choice you will make very soon. When you are ready for treatment, we would like the opportunity to be your rehab of choice. For more information about our addiction treatment services and the facility, you can reach out to one of our staff members by calling 833-846-5669.