Addiction Therapist for Nashville Residents

Therapy for Drug and Alcohol Addiction

It’s no secret that living with addiction comes with many challenges along the way. Choosing to enter into addiction therapy shouldn’t be one of those challenges. Residents of Nashville know that finding an addiction therapist to combat the ties they have to their addiction is crucial to a successful, recovery journey. 

There is a common belief that to recover from addiction means to eliminate your substance of choice from your life is the biggest step to take in recovery. While it is a necessary step in your sobriety, it is merely the beginning of the therapeutic process. In order to begin the healing process, it is important to dive inwards to find out what has been fuelling your addiction. More times than not, addiction is a coping strategy that is used to mask unpleasant feelings and memories of the past. Effective treatment for addiction is helping you uncover the roots of your addiction first then providing new coping strategies and life skills that will avoid potential relapse behavior. 

What Is An Addiction Therapist?

When you have a specific health concern you want to be referred to a person that is an expert on treating your condition. This isn’t just a true statement for the medical field, it is also important when it comes to the treatment of addiction. An addiction therapist is a highly trained and skilled professional who specializes in supporting patients and understanding what led them to use in the first place. Addiction is typically a byproduct of unresolved past traumas or negative beliefs that have been deep-rooted inside you for some time. For example, someone’s childhood home and the way they were brought up could negatively impact their self-perception due to the messages they received as a child. An addiction therapist will work to provide one on one therapeutic support using treatment modalities that will help you gain an understanding of your emotions, behaviors, and thoughts that impact your addiction. 

Types of Addiction Therapy Programs for Nashville Residents

Addiction is a multifaceted issue that cannot be treated with one treatment modality. In order to heal emotionally, physically, and emotionally from addiction you will need to engage in different forms of treatment that will impact how you see and interpret the world. 

Your therapy may include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). CBT is designed to work with the patient to recognize the patterns of emotions and behaviors that are harmful to your recovery. CBT will have you slowing down your thoughts and emotional process to be able to see the emotions and behaviors that are triggering and lead you to use. CBT and addiction therapy focus on three areas of growth- recognition, avoidance, and coping. Learning how to recognize when and what triggers you is a great first step in a healthy routine for recovery. You and your counselor will develop strategies for you to avoid potential triggers within your daily routine. Lastly, coping, accepting that there are negative emotions or behaviors in the past. By accepting this, you will be able to learn how to turn those problematic negative thoughts and find a way to turn it into a positive means of coping. 

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) provides patients with insight into their negative thinking patterns that can lead to alcohol or drug use. DBT gives patients the tools to cope with negative emotions and thinking that allows them to feel what you are feeling in the moment without turning to substance use for relief. Through meaningful and clear communication, DBT will show you the power of using your words and identifying what you need in a relationship or situation. Creating boundaries and having strong communication foster healthy relationships. Supportive, healthy relationships provide you with the stable, support system you need to remain abstinent from substances. 

Dual diagnosis treatment will focus on your addiction and co-occurring mental health or behavioral concern. Treatment will include managing the symptoms and root causes of both concerns individually. But it is important to understand and process how the two have impacted each other while you are using them. Dual diagnosis treatment will help you learn ways to manage your co-existing concern without turning to alcohol or drugs to self-medicate. 

Your therapist may engage in Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT) with you that will help you learn positive ways to react or respond to triggering situations. As your therapist is working through an REBT model with you, any irrational thoughts or emotions can be pointed out and processed for how you can handle the situation in a manner that supports your sobriety. 

What Does An Addiction Therapist Do?

An addiction therapist meets with you one on one for therapy sessions. During your sessions, your therapist will get to know you and your background better as well as your goals for sobriety. During your sessions, your therapist will listen to you as you look within yourself to find the root causes of your addiction. Not to worry, our therapist will guide you, in a safe environment, to look back upon your life and identify what has been fuelling your addiction. 

As you begin to uncover the past memories that have impacted your substance use, you will be able to identify triggering emotions, thoughts, or situations. Once this is established, you and your therapist will begin learning skills and coping tools to help you move through these stressors so that when you encounter them again, you will be able to stay true to your recovery goals. 

How Effective is Addiction Therapy for Substance Abuse?

Addiction therapy is the recommended industry standard to assist you in removing substance abuse from your life. The key element to a long-lasting recovery is engaging in therapeutic treatment for emotional healing from your addiction. You get what you put into your treatment and the more you engage in the therapeutic process and be open to the process, you will increase your chance of developing a new, healthy lifestyle that will foster your sobriety success.

It has been shown in studies that a longer time spent in addiction therapy will increase your chances of success in recovery. Your addiction took time to develop to the point it was before you decided to enter into therapy. That means that it will take time to gain perspective and healing from the therapeutic process. Allowing yourself the necessary time to open up, build rapport with your therapist and engage in the effective forms of therapy provided will be what will solidify your new healthy, recovery lifestyle. 

Why Should I Go To Therapy for Addiction?

You know you have a problem with substance use but maybe you are left wondering if you need to take the time to go to therapy for addiction. You might think you can handle this on your own. If you are pondering if therapy is the right route for you to take to tackle your addiction, you can ask yourself the following questions.

1. Do you tell yourself this will be your last time drinking or using but then end up going back to substances again?
2. A stressful situation or triggering emotion arises, do you turn to substance use to cope?
3. Do you know you want to stop using but you find yourself turning to alcohol or drugs anyways?
4. Have you noticed your life being affected because of your substance use? In work, school, or home life? 

If any of these rings true for you, it might be time to speak with an addiction therapist. Addiction is a powerful disease that can take hold of your life making it hard to stop drinking or using drugs. An addiction therapist understands the powerful nature of this disease and wants to help you find solutions for how best to manage your addiction and remain abstinent from drugs and alcohol. 

Addiction Therapist Options for Couples

Couples who get entangled in a life of addiction together can be each other’s support while also being the one that enables the other. You entered into your relationship because you genuinely love your other half but since addiction has run rampant in your lives, the essence of your relationship has been affected. 

Addiction therapy is a beneficial option, not only for you individually, but will help rebuild your relationship from the ground up. As you are engaging in active addiction, the ability to show care and affection towards each other can be impacted. The focus of the relationship goes from growing together as a couple to shifting to feeding your addiction. You may not be aware of how your addiction has impacted your partner or, on the other hand, you may have lost sight of how to be in the relationship without the influence of substances. Addiction therapy will support you both in learning how to effectively communicate with each other again by expressing your needs in the relationship and future aspirations for one another going forward. As you learn to be together, sober, in your relationship you can find ways to express your feelings towards each other and redefine how you want to spend your time together. 

Addiction Therapists at Resurgence

Addiction therapists at Resurgence want to help Nashville residents find their drive for life again as they remove the influence of substances from their life. Through comprehensive methods of treatment, you will gain self-acceptance and awareness of the unique, dynamic person you are. You will be inspired to look beyond the painful past of addiction and gain the ability to see the bright future you can have in recovery. 

References:

​​https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/treatment-program/related/drug-rehab-success-rates/

Living with addiction comes with many challenges. Reach out to Resurgence and try addiction therapy today! #addictiontherapy #addictiontherapist #resurgencehttps://t.co/1hh4AEzlYJ

— Resurgence Behavioral Health (@RBHRecovery) October 27, 2021

David Rofofsky
After growing up in New York, David chose to get help with substance abuse in California because of the state's reputation for top-tier treatment. There, he found the treatment he needed to achieve more than nine years of recovery. He's been in the drug and alcohol addiction rehab industry for eight years and now serves as the Director of Admissions for Resurgence Behavioral Health. David remains passionate about the field because he understands how hard it is to pick up the phone and ask for help. However, once the call is made, someone's life can be saved.

Research | Editorial