How Therapy Can Help Fight Addiction
Most experts today consider opioid addiction to be a chronic, relapsing illness. Just like other chronic illnesses such as diabetes or high blood pressure, opioid addiction treatment in some form must be lifelong.
Many people with opioid addiction will continue to take maintenance therapy in the form of methadone or Suboxone (buprenorphine/naloxone), sometimes for decades. By the same token, experts say, they should also continue some form of counseling.
This idea runs counter to historical views of drug rehab, in which a person was considered "cured" after a relatively short period in treatment. However, evidence is mounting that lifelong treatment with counseling or maintenance therapy and, often, both should be standard drug abuse treatment for most people with relapsing opioid addiction.
Counseling and Addiction
In this article
- Why Counseling Is Important in Addiction Treatment
- Individual vs. Group Therapy
- Outpatient vs. Residential Treatment
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- Contingency Management Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Couples and Family Therapy
- Maintenance Therapy
Maintenance Therapy
Most experts today consider opioid addiction to be a chronic, relapsing illness. Just like other chronic illnesses such as diabetes or high blood pressure, opioid addiction treatment in some form must be lifelong.
Many people with opioid addiction will continue to take maintenance therapy in the form of methadone or Suboxone (buprenorphine/naloxone), sometimes for decades. By the same token, experts say, they should also continue some form of counseling.
This idea runs counter to historical views of drug rehab, in which a person was considered "cured" after a relatively short period in treatment. However, evidence is mounting that lifelong treatment with counseling or maintenance therapy and, often, both should be standard drug abuse treatment for most people with relapsing opioid addiction.