5 Benefits of Couples Addiction Therapy
Couples addiction therapy can be an essential stepping stone for both people in a relationship to get better and achieve lasting recovery together. Couples addiction treatment is only successful if both partners are motivated to get better and realize they have an addiction that needs to be treated by professionals like the team at Resurgence Behavioral Health.
There are six main benefits of couples receiving addiction therapy:
- Expressing Boundaries: A part of the treatment for couples is to separately participate in therapy. During this process, each partner in the relationship will establish and figure out their boundaries in the relationship.
- Rebuilding Trust: This is an imperative part of therapy. When both people in the relationship are suffering from addiction, they might not trust the other one due to possible influence in becoming addicted. Your therapist will work with you to rebuild your trust in your significant other.
- Addressing Trauma: When someone has a substance use disorder, it might stem from unresolved trauma or mental health issues. Speaking about your trauma with your therapist can make you realize how that contributed to your addiction and help prevent a relapse in the future by finding and dealing with the underlying trauma.
- Preparing for Future Challenges: It’s important to plan for life after inpatient treatment as you won’t be in a sober facility the whole time. The challenges you could face are inevitable, whether alone or with your partner, so it’s important to plan for future issues.
- Improve Communication: Part of being in couples addiction therapy with your partner is to increase communication about your treatment plan. This happens when you need a familiar person to talk about your daily troubles and issues that might occur when going through addiction treatment or living in recovery after treatment.
Resurgence Behavioral Health treats each person in the relationship separately because each person has different needs for addiction treatment. Even if each person in the relationship has the same addiction to a substance, they still might have different symptoms or have a different process of dealing with those symptoms. Each patient gets a treatment plan tailored to them because a personalized treatment plan works best for helping people achieve lasting recovery.
What Is Couples Addiction Therapy?
According to the Recovery Research Institute, when a couple enrolls in couples addiction therapy, the duration of treatment varies on the severity of each person’s addiction. If they enroll in inpatient treatment, the program length can vary from staying in the facility for 30, 60, or 90 days. Outpatient treatment for couples can last longer due to less intense sessions and treatment not happening 24/7 at the facility. When couples get inpatient addiction treatment together at Resurgence Behavioral Health, they are allowed to be in the same facility, but can’t share the room. They are allowed to sit together for gaming time and to watch TV.
Once couples transition out of inpatient treatment, they can live together and share a room during their outpatient treatment. Couples might be more inclined to stay sober once out of inpatient rehab because they can motivate each other and keep their partner accountable for avoiding temptations or relapse risks in the future.
Treatment Used During Couples Therapy
According to the National Library of Medicine, behavioral couples therapy creates support for abstinence and improves the relationship that has both people involved in getting treated for addiction. At Resurgence Behavioral Health, couples can be enrolled in the same rehab but will be separated when getting addiction treatment. This has to do with the philosophy of treating each patient based on a treatment plan that’s personalized to them. When couples enroll in rehab at Resurgence Behavioral Health, some of the treatments offered are the following:
- Dual Diagnosis Treatment: Sometimes, patients who are struggling with addiction also have a co-occurring mental health disorder, such as depression or anxiety, and when that’s the case, dual diagnosis treatment is needed. This involves specialized therapy and possibly medications to get mental health disorder symptoms under control while the addiction is also treated.
- Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy: This type of therapy helps a patient learn how to be more positive and productive in reacting to stress, traumatic events, and other experiences. It’s also centered around the philosophy that the event itself isn’t distressing you — it’s your ingrained beliefs that cause you to feel that way.
- 12-Step Programs: According to Alcoholics Anonymous, the 12-Step recovery program is an essential ingredient in the process of recovery before, during, and after addiction treatment is completed. These steps detail specific actions and things to learn to help people fully recover with a different mindset.
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy: This therapeutic approach focuses on helping patients identify negative or incorrect thought patterns and change them into something more productive. This perspective shift only works when the person has fully adopted the new way of thinking.
Resurgence Behavioral Health works with both partners in the relationship separately to ensure each person gets the correct treatment plan for their addiction needs. Couples in addiction treatment are allowed to reconvene after addiction treatment and get the support they need. Once they both finish inpatient treatment, if that’s what was recommended for their treatment plan, couples can have the freedom to live together again at home or in a sober living facility when they start outpatient treatment. Since their partner would have gone through a similar process for addiction treatment, they can help keep the other on the path to recovery and avoid triggers in the future.
Get Couples Addiction Therapy at Resurgence Behavioral Health
When considering couples addiction therapy, it’s important to find a rehab that offers treatment plans that are designed for the individual and customized to each person’s unique needs. At Resurgence Behavioral Health, couples can enroll together while getting separate treatment that works best for them. Each person will undergo an initial assessment to determine possible underlying issues and what’s needed to help them recover. To learn more about getting couples addiction therapy, call Resurgence Behavioral Health at 855-458-0050.
External Sources
Alcoholics Anonymous — The Twelve Steps
Recovery Research Institute — Behavioral Couples Therapy
National Library of Medicine — Behavioral Couples Therapy for Alcoholism and Drug Abuse
