Cognitive-behavioral therapy was born from two popular methods in psychotherapy in the second half of the 20th century. It is cognitive( change of thinking) and behavioral( behavior correction) therapy. Today CPT is one of the most studied methods of treatment in this field of medicine, has passed many official tests and is actively used by doctors all over the world.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy
Cognitive-behavioral therapy is a popular method of treatment in psychotherapy, based on the correction of thoughts, feelings, emotions and behavior, designed to improve the patient's quality of life and relieve it of addictions or psychological disorders.
In modern psychotherapy, CBT is used to treat neuroses, phobias, depressions and other mental problems. And also - to get rid of all kinds of dependence, including drugs.
KPT is based on a simple principle. Any situation first forms a thought, then comes an emotional experience that results in a concrete behavior. If the behavior is negative( for example, taking psychotropic drugs), then you can change it if you change the way of thinking and the emotional attitude of a person to the situation that caused such a harmful reaction.
The essence of the method
From the point of view of KPT, drug dependence consists of a number of specific behaviors:
- imitating( "friends smoked / sniffed / pricked and I want") - actual simulation;
- based on personal positive experience from taking drugs( euphoria, avoiding pain, increasing self-esteem, etc.) - operant conditioning;
- coming from the desire to experience pleasant sensations and emotions again - the classic conditioning.
In addition, a number of prerequisites that "fix" dependence:
- ( conflicts with parents, friends, etc.) may influence the thoughts and emotions of a person;
- environmental impact( TV, books, etc.);
- emotional( depression, neurosis, desire to relieve stress);
- cognitive( the desire to get rid of negative thoughts, etc.);
- physiological( intolerable pain, "breaking", etc.).
CPT always begins with the establishment of contact between the doctor and the patient and a functional analysis of the dependence. The doctor must determine what exactly makes a person turn to drugs in order to continue working with these causes.
Then it is required to set triggers - these are conditional signals that are associated in a person with drugs. They can be external( friends, dealers, a specific place where the use takes place, time is Friday night to relieve stress, etc.).And also internal( anger, boredom, excitement, fatigue).
For their detection, a special exercise is used - the patient should record his thoughts and emotions in the following table for several days with the indication of the number and date:
| Situation | Automatic thoughts | Feelings | Rational response | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real event | The thought that arose before the emotion | Specific emotion( anger, anger, sadness) | Answer to the idea | Feelings that appeared after a rational thought |
| Thoughts that caused an unpleasant feeling | Degree of automaticPCA thoughts( 0-100%) | strength of emotion( 0-100%) | response rationality degree( 0-100%) | feelings that have appeared after rational thought |
| unpleasant physical sensations and emotions | feelings that have appeared after rational thought |
In the future, various methods are used to develop personal skills and interpersonal relationships. The first include techniques for managing stress and anger, various ways to take leisure, etc. Learning interpersonal relationships helps to resist the pressure of acquaintances( suggestion to use a drug), teaches you to fight criticism, re-engage with people, etc.
The technique of understanding and overcoming narcotic hunger is also used, the skills of giving up drugs and preventing relapse are being developed.
Indications and stages of CTD
Cognitive-behavioral therapy has long and successfully been used all over the world, it is practically a universal technique that can help in overcoming various life difficulties. Therefore, most psychotherapists are convinced that such treatment is suitable for everyone.
However, for treatment with the help of CPT, there is an important condition - the patient himself must realize that he suffers from addiction, and decide to independently fight drug addiction. For people who are prone to introspection, accustomed to monitoring their thoughts and feelings, such therapy will have the greatest effect.
In some cases, before starting a CT, you need to practice skills and techniques to overcome difficult life situations( if a person is not used to coping with difficulties on their own).This will improve the quality of future treatment.
There are many different methods within the framework of cognitive-behavioral therapy - special techniques can be used in different clinics.
Any CBT always consists of three consecutive stages:
- Logical analysis. Here the patient analyzes his own thoughts and feelings, reveals errors that lead to an incorrect assessment of the situation and wrong behavior. That is, the use of illegal drugs.
- Empirical analysis. The patient learns to distinguish objective reality from the perceived, analyzes his own thoughts and behaviors in accordance with objective reality.
- Pragmatic analysis. The patient determines alternative ways of responding to the situation, learns to form new settings and use them in life.
The effectiveness of
The uniqueness of the methods of cognitive-behavioral therapy is that they assume the most active participation of the patient himself, continuous self-analysis, his own( and not imposed from the outside) work on the errors. KPT can occur in different forms - individual, alone with the doctor, and group, - perfectly combined with the use of medications.
In the process of work on getting rid of drug dependence, CBT leads to the following effects:
- provides a stable psychological state;
- eliminates( or significantly reduces) the signs of a psychological disorder;
- at times increases the benefit of drug treatment;
- improves the social adaptation of the former drug addict;
- reduces the risk of disruptions in the future.
Reviews
KPT techniques are used in a variety of clinics - both specialized narcological and psychiatric. The technique is also used separately by practicing psychotherapists. All specialists are unanimous - CPT shows excellent results in the treatment of dependence, provided that the patient is ready to cooperate and independently came to the decision to start a new life without dependence.
It is much more difficult to meet the opinions of patients about CPT - it is possible, the reason is that the time of application of the technique is rather short. Almost always cognitive-behavioral therapy is combined with other methods of treatment and rehabilitation program.
But all drug addicts who managed to overcome a terrible dependence, admit: the main thing is to realize the problem and understand that you can make another choice. It is cognitive-behavioral therapy that helps to see this choice and take a step into the future without drugs.
Video on the basis of cognitive-behavioral therapy: