Individual & Group Outpatient Counseling for Opioid Addiction

In order for patients to successfully achieve lasting recovery, they must receive treatment for both the physical and emotional components of addiction. The medication-assisted treatment (MAT) available through Comprehensive Treatment Centers provides patients with relief from the painful symptoms of withdrawal.

These medications are specifically designed to safely eliminate withdrawal symptoms in a comfortable manner while providing the mental clarity necessary to focus on the remainder of recovery. Therapeutic interventions give patients the opportunity to address and treat the root causes of addictive behaviors. Once patients understand what led them to develop opioid use disorder in the first place, it’s much easier to prepare for a future free of addiction.

Individuals who misuse opioids, such as prescription pain medications or heroin, typically do so as a way to escape reality. When a person only receives treatment for the physical aspect of addiction, they are more likely to relapse. Because of this, Comprehensive Treatment Centers believe that a whole-person approach to treatment gives patients the greatest chance for lasting recovery.

We work with patients to develop customized treatment plans that encompass their unique needs and goals, but there are common elements of care at our facilities, including group and individual therapies.

Our compassionate team of counselors is specially trained in the field of addiction and understands the complexities linked to recovery. We base our therapeutic interventions around two different forms of psychotherapy that are proven to provide the most benefit for those who are struggling with opioid use disorder.

• Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): CBT is a type of psychotherapy that focuses on the connection between thoughts and actions. This problem-focused, solution-oriented form of therapy helps individuals identify negative attitudes or beliefs, with the goal of promoting positive behavior patterns.
• Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT): DBT is a form of psychotherapy that focuses on improving participants’ capabilities in mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. This type of therapy promotes acceptance and an understanding of the need for and value of making significant life changes.

It’s important to address the biological, psychological, and emotional components in order for a person to achieve successful long-term recovery from opioid use disorder. That’s why the combined approach of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) and counseling pays great dividends and can lead to long-lasting health and well-being.

We use medication to ease the mental and physical pain caused by an addiction to opioids, as well as the discomfort of withdrawal. Counseling, meanwhile, offers a way to address the psychological challenges that either contributed to or resulted from opioid use disorder. Together, they can help patients mend fractured relationships, improve self-esteem, and develop healthier behavior patterns.

By combining medications designed to alleviate intense cravings with the skills, strategies, and insights developed during counseling, patients are much more likely to resist relapse and make substantial strides on the path toward lifelong recovery.

At our Comprehensive Treatment Centers, individual counseling consists of regular one-on-one meetings with counselors. Effective counseling can help individuals in a number of different ways. Some of the benefits of counseling include:

• Gaining insight, making connections, and developing new perspectives regarding the underlying causes of addiction in a patient’s life
• Providing a safe place for individuals to process through past trauma and pain and exploring how those issues have affected the person’s present-day addiction
• Building healthier habits and effective coping skills that can allow patients to manage stress and negative emotions without needing to turn to substances for relief
• Planning ahead and developing strategies for how individuals can maintain their recovery when confronted with threatening situations that may have caused them to turn to substances in the past
• Time to reflect on progress in treatment and work through successes and setbacks in the treatment process

Building a patient’s knowledge about his or her own emotions, behaviors, and reasons for certain life choices, and increasing his or her ability to recognize those elements in his or her daily life, can be extremely helpful for individuals who are seeking to overcome long-term substance abuse problems. By becoming more thoughtful and reflective in the process of counseling, patients are able to think about the choices that they make and the emotions that they feel instead of simply reacting to situations in their lives.

Many people who receive individual counseling experience a range of benefits, such as:

• Improved self-esteem
• Increased sense of self-awareness
• Increased self-confidence
• Reduced stress
• Greater understanding of their own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors

These benefits, and the many others that can come from regular counseling, can serve as a strong foundation for a fully-recovered, substance-free life.

One of the main types of psychotherapy implemented at CTCs is group counseling . As the term implies, group counseling sessions involve several individuals in treatment, along with at least one professional who leads the session. The number of participants in a group counseling session can vary, with the American Psychiatric Association suggesting that group counseling should typically involve 5 to 15 patients.

Group counseling sessions may address a variety of addiction- and recovery-related topics, and may be structured in a variety of ways. For example, some groups are designed to be educational in nature; within the parameters of an opioid addiction treatment program, educational groups may be designed to provide information about the disease of addiction, the ways that opioids impact the body and mind, or the basics of relapse prevention. Other groups will be designed to encourage personal introspection and to facilitate healthy interaction among group members. These groups may have pre-established topics, such as anger management, conflict resolution, or navigating early recovery, or they may be set up to address issues that are brought up by group participants.

For individuals who have never participated in group counseling before, the thought of addressing personal and potentially unpleasant topics in a group environment may sound like an odd or even intimidating concept. However, group counseling has proven to be an extremely effective means of helping individuals who are healing from an addiction to opioids. The following are among the many benefits of participating in group counseling as part of a medically monitored opioid addiction treatment program at a Comprehensive Treatment Center:

• Groups provide an opportunity for participants to learn from the insights and experiences of others who are struggling with similar problems, and who may be at different stages in their recovery.
• Group counseling provides a safe and supportive environment in which individuals can address issues and discuss personal matters that they may be hesitant or unwilling to speak about with friends or family members.
• The trained and experienced counselors who lead groups at CTCs have specialized knowledge in the issues and challenges that are common in early recovery from opioid addiction, and they are skilled at providing meaningful guidance and feedback.
• Group counseling sessions provide excellent opportunities for participants to practice the productive interpersonal communication skills that can play an essential role in their efforts to achieve and maintain long-term recovery from opioid addiction.
• Having a strong support network can be crucial for individuals who are recovering from opioid addiction. Group counseling can help CTC patients to form healthy interpersonal relationships with individuals who can become a part of their post-treatment support network.
• Groups provide participants with the opportunity to support others who are in recovery, and to learn how to trust and be worthy of the trust of others.
• Group counseling sessions help to end the isolation that can often accompany substance abuse and addiction, and can help participants to develop new perspectives on their struggles and new strategies for pursuing a healthier, drug-free future.
• Groups can help participants to build positive self-esteem and improved confidence.