Addiction is an uncontrollable habit developed from constant engagement in an act over a while. Many people who suffer from addiction never expected to get to the stage where they cannot stop their addictive behaviors. It covers behavioral addiction such as gambling and substance addiction to drugs and alcohol.

A person increases his chances of recovery from addiction if he cultivates healthy habits. A healthy lifestyle waters whatever seed of recovery sown in his treatment soil. If you are going through addiction recovery, these healthy habits will be helpful for you:

• A new focus:

You should have something else to redirect your focus to do. It can be a new hobby, signing up for a new course, starting an exercise regime, focusing on your work, or helping others go through recovery. Also, focus on staying positive through meditations or reading books on self-help.

• Exercise:

Your physical and mental health is preserved through regular exercise. The benefits exercise adds to your body can also help you overcome your addictions.

Exercise clears your head and makes managing your problems seem more feasible. It is a good distraction from depressing thoughts and will reduce any symptoms of depression and anxiety you may have.

• Networking:

You need to build your relationship with family and friends that may have gotten worse by addiction. If you have them on your side, they can be good support for you and can help you stay on track in your recovery journey.

• Treatment program:

It will be a struggle to stop addiction with no help from a professional. If you want to overcome addiction in a healthy way, sign up with a treatment program. It could be group therapy, inpatient or outpatient rehabilitation facilities, or individual counseling sessions. A treatment program will help you see beyond the surface and identify the root cause of addiction to tackle it from there.

Please note that the points given above all work together to help you overcome your addictions. Most important is you seek the help of a professional to walk you through the journey to recovery.

Addiction is a chronic, relapsing illness like any other mental disorder. There is no cure for it, but reasonable ways to manage it. The more time you spend in sobriety, with a support system around you, the lesser your chances of a relapse.

A support system is principal in fighting against addiction even after treatment because treatment does not guarantee eternal freedom. It is encouraged that an after-care treatment plan is adopted to help a patient sustain the win against addiction. Such treatment can be outpatient programs, group therapy, or individual counseling sessions.

If you are about to be discharged from treatment, while anticipating an aftercare treatment plan, make sure to include a counselor.

During addiction treatment, counselors are great support systems who provide guidance free of judgment, enhance patient recovery, amongst other things. Their focus is to help you overcome addiction.

Similarly, counselors are of importance in your aftercare treatment for the following reasons:

• Close Monitoring: They monitor your progress as an accountability system to reduce your chances of a relapse. They also monitor the environment you place yourself. They ensure you have a supportive environment of people to aid your sobriety. Their focus is to make sure you are not in the same environment that led to your addiction.
• Continued support: You need constant encouragement and pillars to rely on during recovery. Counselors are the perfect fit for this. You can pour out your fears and vulnerabilities around them so they can find the strength in your weaknesses and focus on them.
• Strengthen confidence: Counselors are always there to boost your confidence in the recovery and encourage you to keep going. Being back to the society’s stress, and after one relapse after treatment, you may lose faith in recovery. If you have a counselor, you will be able to rise above the one slip-up and continue the journey to recovery.

In a nutshell, a counselor will help you stay focused and motivated, receive a high level of support, and find enjoyment in a life with no alcohol or drugs

Addiction is a powerful disease that has the capacity to control anyone who is under its influence. People who are addicted generally want to satisfy their addiction lust instead of other important things. As expected, they give priority to the satisfaction of their addiction.

A good number of people who are addicted have no idea that they are. Some of them think their addictive habits make them stay sane. So, they will do all they can to continue in that habit.

While for others, they are addicted, they are aware but they do not want to take action in curbing their addiction.

For some of them, the fear of being stigmatized has prevented them from seeking help. Because, they feel letting someone know might make them end up getting exposed to other people who are unaware. So, the best they can do is to keep it to themselves.

People like these do not readily trust their family and friends, but one person they can always trust is a counselor. A counselor is a professional who is skilled in the aspect of handling addiction and mental health related cases.

Counselors do not treat their clients with prejudice because they understand that they must have faced that from family and friends.

One of the first assignments a counselor has to do, is to help you figure out your condition. If you are aware of your addiction, then a counselor assists you to know the root cause of your addiction.

When you have the full knowledge on how your addiction came to be, it gives you insight on what you have really been going through.

A counselor also advises you to opt for treatment knowing fully well that it is your best shot at having a sober life. You can also trust that a counselor would keep tabs on you all through your addiction recovery and even during aftercare treatment.

The counselor is the one person who sticks close like a friend all through your lifetime provided you let him in.

One common mistake we make is going for checkups only when we are sick. This is a wrong move that results in endangering the health.

The best move to make is go for checkups even though there is no medical problem in sight. One reason why checkups are important is because they allow you to uncover health problems that are at the beginning stage.

Some people get addicted because they do not undergo checkups. Going for checkups does not necessarily imply that you are looking forward to the physical benefits. There are other benefits like mental health and emotional health that you will reap.

A doctor would be able to tell if you have a mental health problem from a single check-up session, and he or she would be able to proffer advice that would help you become better.

One thing you should know is, medical health issues are often connected with mental health problems and they can make an individual become addicted in the process.

Addiction negatively impacts the health and preventing it is one of the best ways to living a healthy life. There are some people who are on the verge of addiction, they abuse substances without knowing that there are adverse effects.

Such people need to be closer to the hospital than ever because they are treading on dangerous paths.

Prior to going for a health check, it is necessary that you know about your medical history. This is because, the doctor would most likely ask you as touching the history of certain diseases in your family; if they are present or not.

In preventing addiction from settling in your life and your family, it is vital to go for checkups. For families, it could be a monthly affair.

For individuals too, it could be once in a month. No matter how tight the schedule might be, giving attention to your health by going for checkups needs to be a top priority.  

Having a personal therapist during an addiction recovery process is quintessential. These therapists play the dual role of both a therapist and a counsellor. They ensure that there is a stable support system in place which is responsible to aid individuals who are recovering from alcohol, drugs and other form of addiction. Personal therapists ensure that a strong relationship is formed between them and the client, and it is built on trust and secrecy.

Therapists in this field have a very important role to play, as they aid addicts in managing crisis which are related to addiction management problems. The will to get treatment for addiction is a herculean task, as it involves much trust between the addict and the therapist. Hence, it is essential that counsellors put much effort into ensuring that a firm bond is created, this is known as therapeutic alliance.

Basically, therapeutic alliance is defined as the trust which patients feel with their counsellors, which avails them the opportunity of saying out their problems, and working together with the counsellors cum therapists in ensuring that an effective measure is patterned. Such formidable alliances ensure that patients see their therapists as people who they can totally rely on, bearing in mind that their best interests are in the leading position.

Although, it should be known that before it gets to this level, trust has to be developed, and it usually takes time. However, it starts with the patient being able to converse in a comfortable state during sessions, and having relief after each appointment, and an urge to always return.

Forming strong alliances can be done by:

• Making patients know that you have utmost interest in their welfare
• Being attentive during sessions
• Allowing patients know that you can relate with their problems
• Getting to understand and communicate the basic issues which are present during recovery

Recovering from addiction is no easy path, as many individuals who are hooked on substance abuse are unaware of their own specific abuse pattern. Hence, it is necessary for the therapist cum counselling society to be innovative as regards different modes of motivation, which would be customized for each patient.

Inpatient rehabilitation centers follow a particular format that gives them a decent success rate. The true strength of a rehab’s success rate depends on the strength of its individual conduct, but following the traditional rehabilitation format will get any rehab center started in the right direction. This format includes a detox period for those addicted to a substance, psychological treatment that lasts for at least 28-days, then either a sober living period or attentive aftercare.

The detoxification period is mandatory for anyone addicted to alcohol or drugs. The detox typically lasts for one week, though some withdrawal symptoms can persist longer. The week long period of flushing the body of toxins is critical to the person’s ability to function while in treatment. If their body chemistry is still under the effects of the substance, they will not have full control of their mind or body. It is important that clients detox under professional care because withdrawal symptoms can be dangerous and may need to be medicated.

After detox is complete, the psychological treatment portion can begin. The treatment itself lasts for a minimum of 28-days because studies have shown that is the length of time it takes the human brain to develop new habits and patterns. Treatment consists of private counseling, group counseling, support group meetings, workbook exercises, readings and discussion sessions. The treatment portion of rehab is where the core of the cognitive behavioral work takes place, and it is very important to the client’s psychological development.

When treatment is finished, rehabilitation centers highly recommend a period of sober living, or staying in a halfway house. Most rehab centers provide halfway houses for their clients. A halfway house is a private living residence within the rehab that allows clients to come and go as they please to attend work, social gatherings and the likes. They do not have total freedom, however. There can still be inspections of the living areas and conduct within a halfway house and typically the client continues to receive counseling. If the client chooses not to attend sober living, they still have other aftercare options they can take advantage of, such as counseling and support groups.

Individual counseling plays a very important role in inpatient rehab. Every rehab of good repute provides its clients with individual counseling. Group counseling and support groups are also vital components, but individual counseling is a method of eradicating underlying addiction causes that cannot be dealt with in any other way. It is an atmosphere where a client can let themselves become totally vulnerable and honest in the safe presence of a professional counselor without fear of shame or judgment. Every component of inpatient rehab is important, but individual counseling is frequently an area where clients make the most progress.

The cognitive behavioral work that takes place within individual counseling is very important to a recovering addict’s mental health. The negative thought and behavior patterns that are ingrained in an addict’s psychology have been affecting the person for so long that they typically play out on a subconscious level. Most addicts cannot explain why they are addicted or what life events pushed them toward addiction. They simply know that engaging in their addiction distracts them from the negative thought and behavior patterns they play out. Only a professional counselor has the training to make sense of these thoughts and behaviors that the addict is not totally conscious of.

Many times, an addict will be struggling with a mental disorder that has not been diagnosed. When a person is battling an addiction and a mental disorder, it is called a dual diagnosis, or co-occurring disorder. The trouble is, many people do not have their mental disorder diagnosed. For this demographic, individual counseling within inpatient rehabilitation is vital to understanding their psychological profile and receiving appropriate treatment. This is why individual counseling within rehab should not be considered optional.

And lastly, individual counseling in inpatient rehab is important to the clients so that they can practice relationship skills and trust building. A person’s relationship with their private counselor is a very important human relationship. The client reveals very personal information to their counselor and experiences trust in their professional conduct.

Clinical addiction treatment is a very important method of treating addiction directly. Every stage of developing and applying addiction treatment is useful, but when treatment materials have been tested on multiple levels and are believed to be effective by experts, bringing them into a client treatment setting is the final and most important step in their application and evolution. This is the stage where the addiction treatment’s methods, materials, philosophies and strategies can effect the addict’s thought patterns and behaviors for the better.

New addiction treatment methods are frequently developed within the safety of studies, lab trials, focus groups and test phases. First, an addiction treatment method is determined to be sound psychological treatment by mental health professionals by seeing that it has the tenants of effective modern psychology. Then, it is developed into an addiction treatment model and practiced in mock treatment settings. Focus groups of applicable cases are organized in order to test out certain methodologies and principles within the proposed addiction treatment. Finally, the proposed treatment method is tested on several real cases of addiction and given the green light to move forward.

An effective addiction treatment method, such as the notorious “Twelve Steps,” is practiced and applied in addiction treatment centers throughout North America and the entire world. The widely circulated treatment methods to not become popular for no reason. Many qualifications and success statistics are met before addiction treatment methods are picked up on a large scale. Different addiction rehab facilities pick up different addiction treatment methods depending on what they specialize in, however, treatment centers with higher operating budgets are more likely to use materials that are current, modern and respected among mental health professionals.

Clinical addiction treatment refers to types of addiction treatment that are administered directly to patients instead of conducted in labs or developed in theoretical studies. Laboratory and experimental addiction treatment usually precedes clinical addiction treatment, which is utilized once it has been established and tested by mental health industry experts.

Most addiction treatments begin at the theoretical level and are developed through focus groups. Psychologists and mental health experts present situations, questions and conflicts to test subjects to measure their responses. Test subjects are often chosen because of their particular psychological make up and are either volunteering or receive a stipend. These test subjects or focus groups are imperative to learning how to approach and guide people of a particular mental state.

Addiction treatments are largely psychological and less chemical, therefore the term clinical refers to something quite different in the addiction sphere as it does in the medical sphere. An addiction and mental disorder treatment program is developed through focus groups and psychological experiments that give mental health experts a strong understanding of what different types of psychologies respond to. Clinical psychological addiction treatment relies on this theoretical information to develop and practice established addiction treatments that are administered on addicts. mental disorder treatment program

There is a chemical element to addiction treatment, however, and the theoretical and laboratory stages of developing these treatments is very similar to that of the medical world. Doctors prescribe medications particularly for the purpose of helping someone withdraw from substance abuse, and of course, in the case of co-occurring disorders where someone is addicted and has a mental disorder, psychiatric drugs are often prescribed. These medications are developed in laboratories and must be approved by the Food and Drug Administration before they can be circulated.