How is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Used in Addiction Treatment?

By: Kathy Branning, MS, LCSW, LCPC, CCM, CADC- VP of Marketing & Fund Development

Cognitive behavioral therapy is widely used in addiction treatment.  CBT helps teach those in treatment for a substance use disorder to find connections between their thoughts, feelings, and actions, which helps increase awareness of how these things impact recovery.

Cognitive behavioral therapy shows that many harmful actions and emotions are not logical or rational.  These feelings and behaviors can come from past experiences or environmental factors.  People often try to self-medicate these painful thoughts and feelings by drink or abusing drugs.

When someone struggling with addiction has a better understanding of why they feel or act a certain way – and how those feelings and actions can lead to abusing substances – they are better equipped to overcome their addiction.

By challenging negative thoughts and the feelings that generally follow, individuals can learn new and more positive thoughts and behaviors that can replace their drug and alcohol use.

Negative thoughts can also play a role in depression and anxiety, which are common co-occurring disorders with addiction.  This means that negative thought cycles can also contribute to a person being more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol as a way to self-medicate.

CBT helps patients overcome addiction by:

• Helping to challenge false beliefs and insecurities that contribute to substance abuse

• Providing self-help tools to challenge negative thoughts, feelings and beliefs

• Teaches more effective communication skills

• Teaches skills to help manage situations that can “trigger” cravings throughout the day that can lead to relapse

Cognitive behavioral therapy techniques are widely used in treatment settings as well as support groups to encourage continued sobriety.