Behavior therapy effectiveness in drug addiction treatment: Humans can change their behavior for good health

Effects of behavior therapy in addiction treatment will yield serious positive result that brings hope and joy to the affected families

With the persistence prevalence of drug addiction in our societies and the world over, anything that will offer relief is worth trying. Professionally it has been established that behavior therapy is one of the treatment solutions for substance abuse, and because of that we want to explore into some of the productive effects of behavior therapy in addiction treatment. We appreciate that the impact of addiction is very disturbing and to help you understand the best possible ways of handling this phenomenon, we spoke the experts from the home of addiction solution at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under the able leadership of doctor Dalal Akoury MD and also the President of the facility. Remember that doctor Akoury is a veteran addiction expert of several decades and has been offering relentless addiction treatment to millions of people across the globe. Her expertise is all we need even as we get to the discussion about the effects of behavior therapy in addiction treatment. Therefore if you are or anyone you know is struggling with addiction or addiction related complications, then this is the place to be for a solution with a professional touch.

In the meantime it is important to appreciate that behavior therapy one of the treatment mechanisms based on the idea that maladaptive behaviors can be eliminated by the adoption of new healthier behaviors. If we can all understand this, then one very important idea is that under this frame work the individual will choose to do things based on past consequences of their actions. In other words they will have to learn to behave in a certain way that will be productive for them and if this is achieved then they will be able to put aside any negative behaviors that can jeopardize treatment of addiction. Doctor Akoury is registering that in the event that the past experiences of doing some things may have led to a positive outcome, then the individual will be more likely to do it again in the future. This explains why people begin abusing substances; once they associate alcohol or drugs with reward they will have an increasing desire to abuse again in the future. Careful attention should be taken in all this exercise because in many instances the reward and punishment can be used as tools to encourage people to adopt healthier behaviors. It has led to techniques such as aversion therapy and token economy.

Behavior therapy effectiveness in drug addiction treatment: The goals of behavior therapy to treat addiction

Owing to the devastation of addiction in our systems, it is only fair that when seeking for solutions, we must opt for the goals and objectives that will offer remedies. The following are therefore some of the goals of behavior therapy for treating addiction:

Modify behavior in relation to substance abuse
Improving the skills for healthy living by all standards
Modify attitudes towards alcohol and drug abuse
Help the individual get more from rehab and other treatments
Encourage people to stay in treatment longer and indirect victims to offer moral support to the direct victims
To enhance the effects of medications

Behavior therapy effectiveness in drug addiction treatment: Types of behavior therapy used to treat addiction

When opting for behavior therapy for addiction treatment, choice of the therapy will be of great significance. This is so because there are a variety of different behavior therapies that can help any individual dealing with addiction. Some of these may include the following:

Overt sensitization involves pairing maladaptive behavior with undesirable consequences. A good example of this would be the drug Ant abuse which is given to alcoholics to encourage them to stop drinking. If they touch alcohol while taking this drug it will make them very sick. Electrical shocks can also be used and this method may involve less risk than Ant abuse.
Covert sensitization is another type of aversion therapy. Here there is no attempt to pair an actual negative consequence with the behavior, but instead the individual just mentally pictures a negative consequence.
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy works by helping the client understand their thoughts and emotions. The point here is that the individual addict will come to the realization that even though they may not always be able to control what happens in the outside world, they will be able to be in charge or take control of their thoughts and feelings about it.
A token economy is where the individual receives rewards for good behavior. This is usually in the form of tokens which they can later exchange for items or privileges.
Motivational interviewing involves challenging and encouraging the addict to take action to change their behavior. The client is encouraged to gain a deeper understanding of their addiction, and the means by which they can escape.

Behavior therapy effectiveness in drug addiction treatment: Behavior therapy techniques

There are a variety of techniques that the behavior therapist can use. Doctor Akoury emphasis is that the usefulness of these activities can increase the patient’s understanding of their present circumstances and get motivated into adapting new behaviors. Some of these useful behavior therapy techniques may include:

Engagement – this can be done by assigning certain roles to the clients/patients will allow them to improve their understanding of social interactions and alter their behavior in response to this problem. Like for instance this could be applied in the development of skills that will enable alcoholics decline to take a drink when offered.

Behavior modification – this is another technique and it is where the client appreciated by way of giving a reward for desirable behavior.

Self-monitoring – this is where the individual details their actions in a journal throughout the day. This journal is then shared with the therapist. A good example of this would be the client who is asked to record how much they are drinking.

Scheduling of activities – this involves the client agreeing to take part in certain activities before the next session. These activities will be of a positive nature where the individual will be encouraged to change their normal behaviors.

Behavior contracts – this is very interesting and it involves the individual making commitment by way of signing a contract not to engage in the undesirable activity again. The contract will have some attached consequences if there is any breach. The consequences may include losing certain benefit which is usually detailed as incentives for sticking to the terms of the contract. Finally nurturing behavior to defeat addiction is not easy and that is why we have the experts from AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center to help you out in case of any difficulties. You can therefore call doctor Dalal Akoury today to schedule for an appointment with her and all your pending concerns will be addressed professionally.