By: Lakeview Health
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, optimum counseling for addiction rehabilitation occurs at both individual and group levels. Individual counseling focuses upon certain aspects of recovery and wellness, while group therapy focuses upon others. The two may offer crossover benefits, but each provides unique therapeutic attributes that supplement treatment as a whole. Most addiction treatment programs involve both individual and group therapy.
Group Therapy in Addiction Treatment
Group therapy is facilitated by a therapist who guides a group of patients in addiction treatment through a session together. This type of group works well for addiction treatment because it naturally allows patients to strengthen by bearing firsthand witness to the recovery of others, while also reducing isolation of their own addiction. Group therapy creates a culture of recovery. Group is widely known to be more effective than individual therapy in treating:
- Depression
- Shame
- Isolation
- Anxiety
- Denial
- Temporary cognitive impairment
- Skewed sense of self
- Personality disorder
The group approach works so well because it provides certain inherent forces that individual therapy cannot provide. Those forces are both therapeutic and beneficial. They include:
- Confrontation
- Affiliation
- Peer support
- Identification
- Gratification
Individual Counseling as a Companion to Group Therapy in Rehabilitation
Individual counseling is a staple of addiction treatment and often continues from rehab well through aftercare. Individual counseling provides more individualized focus on the patient’s very unique needs from which a group may not benefit. Those individualized benefits from the tailored approach of one-on-one counseling include:
- Reduction or cessation of substance abuse
- Building of skills for relapse prevention
- Strengthening of adherence to recovery
- Better perspective toward social, family and professional relationships
- Enhanced communication through personal insight
- Recognition of negative patterns of thought and behavior
- Increased motivation toward sobriety
- Building of coping and social skills
Some common types of individual therapies used in addiction treatment include:
- Cognitive behavioral therapy
- Motivational enhancement therapy
- Contingency management
Together, Group and Individual Therapies Empower Lasting Recovery at Lakeview Health
In the addiction treatment setting of Lakeview Health, as well as in aftercare, both group and individual therapies have their place. Together, these two basic forms of therapy help individuals better understand their addiction, overcome it and gain recovery rich in socialization, trust, personal empowerment and a more realistic perspective of themselves and their own lives. Lakeview Health of Jacksonville, Florida provides a wide array of therapies as part of a continuum of care. These therapies include individual counseling sessions, group therapies, family therapy programs and even holistic approaches that include surf, equine, yoga, music, fitness and recreational therapies. If you or your loved one are in need of addiction treatment, Lakeview Health provides evidence-based therapies along with dual-diagnosis treatment and other aspects of care needed to ensure the best possible chance of long-term sobriety. Call Lakeview Health now at 866.704.7692 to learn more about how you can leave the problems of addiction behind for greater wellness.
