Achieving lasting recovery from substance abuse and addiction isn’t a one-time effort. You don’t just arrive at sobriety and remain there moving forward. It takes continued intentionality to sustain your recovery for the long haul. That’s why outpatient therapy for addiction is so key to maintaining the recovery goals you’ve established. And within outpatient substance abuse treatment, a number of therapies play a vital role in relapse prevention, such as cognitive behavioral therapy vs. dialectical behavior therapy and more.
Understanding Outpatient Therapy and Relapse Prevention
When you’ve gone through the detox and inpatient phases of addiction and co-occurring disorder treatment, what’s next? At this stage, automatically entering back into the real world completely on your own would be detrimental to your recovery. If left to fend for yourself, you’d likely revert to your old addictive patterns in just a short time. Instead, outpatient therapy is often the next stage of working toward relapse prevention and sustained recovery.
What is Outpatient Therapy?
Outpatient therapy is considered a step down from residential or inpatient addiction treatment. Once you’ve completed inpatient rehab, outpatient substance abuse treatment allows you to gradually re-enter the real world. You’re no longer under the 24/7 care of a treatment facility. Alternatively, you may have the flexibility to return home or go back to work while still getting consistent therapy needed along your addiction recovery journey.
Within outpatient therapy, intensive outpatient treatment (IOP) is the most structured and rigorous. At Defining Wellness Centers in Mississippi, for example, our IOP program lasts 10 weeks and occurs on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays from 6-9 pm. During IOP, you participate in both group and individual therapy sessions, enabling you to establish a strong foundation for lasting recovery. Because this form of outpatient therapy is more involved, you may be a good fit for IOP if you’re:
- Motivated to participate in programming
- Able to learn and apply recovery skills
- Comfortable in a group setting
- Driven to improve your condition and work towards recovery
- Willing to verbally express your thoughts and feelings
SOURCE: National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
What is Relapse Prevention?
In sustaining recovery, part of the goal of continuing outpatient therapy is to prevent relapse. But what is a relapse, exactly?
A relapse occurs when you’ve returned to your addictive substance after quitting for a period of time. In the context of a lapse vs. relapse, a relapse isn’t a momentary slip-up. Instead, you’ve dropped your recovery goals and are actively using again. Before long, your addiction can take back control of your life as you succumb to the stages of relapse.
Relapsing can be very common in the early phases of recovery. In alcohol addiction recovery, for example, relapse is most likely to happen when you encounter stress or addiction triggers associated with your past drinking, explains the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
Because relapse is such a regular threat to your sobriety, relapse prevention is often a main goal of outpatient therapy and recovery. In an outpatient or aftercare program, you’ll often create a relapse prevention plan alongside your therapy team. Your relapse prevention plan may consist of addiction triggers you want to avoid and healthy coping strategies to pursue when future challenges arise. And part of preparing you to take an active role in preventing your own relapse is participating in various therapies during the outpatient phase of your recovery.
Outpatient Therapy and the Evidence-Based Practice
To sustain your recovery goals — as well as aid in relapse prevention — your outpatient therapy team will utilize a number of therapies in the treatment process. Many of these therapies are considered evidence-based practices. So what are evidence-based practices and why are they important?
An evidence-based practice is a form of therapy grounded in research and scientific principles. That means it’s been proven to work, typically through previous clinical trials and studies. As a result, the time and effort you’re putting into participating in evidence-based therapies will likely work to your advantage in the long run. You can have peace of mind knowing you’re partnering alongside expert therapists who use effective treatments that are also safe and ethical. You’ll likely make more efficient use of your time and even achieve your recovery goals faster with evidence-based treatment. With that said, examples of evidence-based practices we use at Defining Wellness Centers for sustaining recovery include:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Addiction (CBT)
Cognitive behavioral therapy is one of the most common and best-studied forms of psychotherapy, according to InformedHealth.org. It’s also well-known and widely practiced for its versatility, as it can be utilized to treat a variety of addictions and mental health disorders. Cognitive behavioral therapy for addiction is based on the idea that your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors influence each other. As such, CBT identifies and changes any negative thought patterns or behaviors that may steer you towards addiction. By doing so, CBT can help you develop healthier coping strategies that don’t lead you to substance abuse.
Because of the nature of cognitive behavioral therapy for addiction, it’s been shown to be a helpful tool in relapse prevention. In fact, CBT can reduce relapse rates by up to 60% compared to other traditional treatment methods, according to Psychiatric Clinics of North America. Some of the main components of cognitive behavioral therapy for addiction include:
- Cognitive restructuring: This first step involves identifying and challenging your distorted, inaccurate thoughts or beliefs that generate negative feelings and behaviors. By doing so, you then learn how to replace them with more rational thoughts that lead to better emotional responses and more productive actions.
- Behavioral activation: To break the withdrawal and negative reinforcement cycle of addiction, you focus on engaging in positive activities and behaviors that strengthen your well-being.
- Coping skills development: During CBT, you identify the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that trigger your desire for substances. In doing so, you then develop problem-solving techniques, relaxation strategies, and other coping skills to manage your triggers in a healthier way.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy Techniques (DBT)
Dialectical behavior therapy excels at helping you manage self-destructive behavior and emotional dysregulation struggles. Consequently, it’s a very useful evidence-based practice for relapse prevention. DBT is based on the foundational idea that the integration of acceptance and change can lead to healthy growth and transformation. In other words, by accepting the things you cannot change, you can then make proactive changes in the areas of your life that you can positively influence.
Dialectical behavior therapy techniques teach you mindfulness, handling stress without substances, and improved communication and relationship skills. All of these traits allow you to better stay the course in your recovery and maintain your sobriety goals. The core dialectical behavior therapy components at Defining Wellness Centers include:
- Individual therapy
- Group skills training
- Phone coaching
- Therapy team consultations
Motivational Interviewing
A person-centered evidence-based practice, motivational interviewing helps strengthen your motivation to change your behaviors and stick with your treatment, according to Deutsches Artzeblatt International. In the motivational interviewing therapy process, you explore any discrepancies between your current addictive behaviors and your long-term goals and values. This allows you to see the gaps you need to fill, motivating you to change.
Your therapy team helps create an empathetic atmosphere affirming your strengths and progress; this helps to enhance your self-esteem and build upon your motivation to get sober. As you develop greater awareness of what needs to be done to achieve your goals, you create an action plan to move forward with your recovery. Motivational interviewing ultimately supports your relapse prevention abilities by empowering you to take ownership of your sobriety and long-term health.
Narrative Therapy
This unique evidence-base practice helps you reinterpret your life story into a more life-enhancing version. Rooted in the idea that people are capable of reauthoring their lives, narrative therapy helps you see that the addiction struggles you’ve faced are not part of who you truly are as a person. This process helps you separate your personal identity from past problems in your life. You’re able to identify any internalized stigmas or harmful beliefs that have defined you and reframe your story by honing in on your capabilities and past successes. Not only does narrative therapy reduce any shame associated with addiction, but it also increases your self-esteem, self-awareness, and resiliency.
Other Therapies for Sustaining Recovery and Preventing Relapse
While evidence-based practices are extremely beneficial in the recovery process, the best outpatient therapy centers will take a comprehensive approach to your long-term sobriety. This means also including holistic healing practices alongside evidence-based therapies.
With a crafted blend of evidence-based and holistic practices, outpatient therapy can provide a well-rounded path to lasting healing. At Defining Wellness Centers, we provide both holistic and evidence-based treatment in outpatient therapy to promote physical, emotional, and spiritual balance. Some of the holistic therapies we utilize include:
By addressing your mind, body, and spirit in the outpatient therapy process, you’re empowered to fight against relapse and strengthen your recovery for years to come. To get the continued support you need to transform your life for the better, contact our team today.
