When you enroll in a substance program, your treatment team will help you pick recovery options that work well for you. Some of these options are used in a wide variety of situations. Others are more limited in use but highly effective in the right situation. A treatment that’s entering wider and wider use is dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). This form of therapy can provide important benefits for drug and alcohol rehab. At the same time, it can address the mental health issues that often co-occur with substance problems.
Think DBT might help you reach your substance rehab goals? Talk to the professionals at Sophros Recovery Tampa. We can provide you with extensive resources on how a dialectical behavior therapy program works. You can also turn to us for customized outpatient DBT during alcohol or drug recovery. For more information, call us today at 813.686.6306 or connect with us online.
What Is Dialectical Behavior Therapy?
One of the keys to understanding dialectical behavior therapy is its origins. The therapy belongs to a larger school of treatments known as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). It shares CBT’s focus on changing dysfunctional thoughts, emotional responses, and behaviors. However, it also differs in distinctive ways.
Part of what makes DBT unique is indicated in its name. A dialectic is a dialog or conversation between opposite points of view. Instead of rejecting one of these perspectives, it combines them in a way that leads to truthful outcomes. In DBT, the opposite points of view are acceptance and change. You focus on each of them at key points in your recovery.
A Deeper Understanding of DBT
It’s important for any potential participant to learn a bit about how a dialectical behavior therapy program works. Over the course of your time in therapy, you’ll focus on developing four skills:
- Mental awareness or mindfulness
- Your ability to cope with unsettling emotional states
- The ability to interact with others in ways that are effective and respectful
- Your ability to manage or regulate your emotions
The first two of these skills help you openly acknowledge your situation in life and in substance recovery. The second two help you improve your circumstances in each of these areas.
In a DBT program, you split your time between individual sessions and group sessions. Both settings provide their own particular treatment benefits. In some programs, you can talk to your therapist by phone between sessions and get help if you feel overwhelmed. Most people participate for anywhere from half a year to a year. However, your course of treatment may differ.
What Can DBT Help Treat?
DBT can help individuals recover from any form of addiction or dysfunctional substance abuse. Crucially, it also has known usefulness for people affected by:
- Major depression
- Anxiety disorders
- Bulimia
- Binge eating disorder
- Borderline personality disorder
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
In addition, DBT can help if you’re engaged in non-suicidal self-harm or suicidal behavior.
The broad effectiveness of the therapy is so important because many people in substance treatment have a second mental health condition that DBT can help ease. This means that a single therapy method can be used to overcome multiple serious issues at the same time.
You Could Start DBT at Sophros Recovery Tampa Today
For customized outpatient DBT, turn to Sophros Recovery Tampa. We can help you design a treatment plan focused solely on substance rehab. We can also help you create a plan that includes both substance and mental health recovery. Just call us today at 813.686.6306 or contact us online to take that first step today.
