Therapy

“I’m too old for yoga.”

Every day in the United States, millions of Americans are battling some form of pain. This pain can range from brief to long-lasting. Whether it’s acute or chronic, pain can feel incredibly difficult to manage. Prescription medications can sometimes help you deal with pain, but it’s incredibly easy to develop a drug dependency if you’re not careful. In some cases, seemingly helpful friends or family members will offer up their medications to help with pain relief. Without medical direction, however, the odds of becoming dependent on these medications increase. The work that you do daily can have a big impact on the pain that you experience. Therefore, practicing proper ergonomics can have a very positive impact on your life, potentially eliminating the need for pain medication.

Stress is uncomfortable and it’s often hard to deal with if we’re not aware of healthy coping strategies. For many in addiction recovery, stress is something that sparked substance abuse, to begin with. Therefore, if proper stress management is lacking, it’s likely you will return to substance abuse to relieve the pressure.

For decades, healthcare professionals have explored different ways to help treat things like mental illness and addiction. Unfortunately, these struggles often co-occur. For example, a person that is battling with substance use disorder (SUD) may also suffer from depression. Addiction recovery is about treating the whole self, meaning that all aspects of well-being need to be addressed to sustain sobriety. Since everyone has unique ways of learning and responding, creative treatment techniques must be employed. Psychodrama can be incredibly beneficial, as it allows people to express themselves in new ways while gaining insight into different perspectives.

Unfortunately, education on mental illness is greatly lacking in today’s society. As a result, the issue doesn’t receive enough support. Scenes of people acting out or breaking the law due to mental illness often perpetuate stigmas. People who don’t know someone personally with a mental illness may find it hard to empathize with someone who has a mental illness because they simply don’t understand or can’t relate. Bipolar disorder is one of the most misunderstood mental illnesses. By learning about what many people with bipolar disorder experience, we can help others understand what it really means to have this disorder and how it can affect daily life.

As human beings, we thrive on connection, love, and community. We need people around us who can make us feel loved and cared for - and when it comes to addiction recovery, we really need people who can uplift us in tackling some of the most challenging moments of our lives. Recovery is about healing, restoration, self-growth, becoming stronger and most of all, developing the tools we need to live happier and healthier. Whether you’ve just begun your recovery path or you’ve been working on recovery for several years now, there’s one major denominator that always stays the same: the importance of social support for every phase of your life.

Couples tend to face a lot of challenges the longer they’re together, as life throws different situations their way. If you’re with a significant other who has been struggling with addiction, it’s sure to cause some major challenges for you both. By recognizing some of the main obstacles you’re both facing, you will be able to work through them more effectively in couples therapy; addiction recovery can take a major toll on the relationship but by being proactive and learning about what you’re each going through during this vulnerable time, you’ll be one step ahead in healing and restoration. The American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) notes that when addiction is involved, couples are often unhappy. Substance abuse tends to take more time away from the relationship, and once it becomes the reason for arguing, couples tend to see a vicious cycle appear:

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a type of psychological treatment used to help treat conditions such as depression, anxiety disorders, substance use disorders (SUDs), marital problems, eating disorders, and much more. The American Psychological Association (APA) emphasizes 3 core principles that CBT relies on:

“At first I didn’t understand what was going on…sometimes I did not want to be around people, or do anything.  I experienced ups and downs - sometimes depression would grab a hold of me, other times I was simply anxious about anything and everything.” This is an excerpt from a personal story posted by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA). If you have been diagnosed with depression, you can likely relate to feelings of emptiness, hopelessness, fatigue or insomnia, and perpetual negativity that seems to plague your thoughts. Depression takes hold of about 300 million people around the world, and 16.2 million adults within the United States alone. When it comes to recovery, it often depends on the individual and what works best for them. For some, the medications alone provide a major relief. For others, a combination of medication and psychotherapy gives them a sense of clarity while they work through deep-rooted issues, and yet for others, the journey to finding the right treatment “fit” still ensues. Neurofeedback therapy is one component of mental illness and addiction recovery that is becoming more widely used. This form of therapy in particular shows real-time brain activity so that you can see what’s going on – ultimately, you learn tools for self-regulating by watching and adjusting your own brain functioning. Previous research has shown neurofeedback therapy as a positive influence on those with depression. For instance, a 2014 review published in the journal Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience emphasizes the flexibility and noninvasiveness of neurofeedback therapy, making these positive components for those wanting something quite painless. Lynda Thompson, PhD and director of a neurofeedback institute in Canada, told the American Psychological Association (APA) that neurofeedback therapy works like a video game – where children and adults can move through the game only if they are calm and focused. She stated, “The method rewards the healthier brainwave patterns.” For those with depression, neurofeedback therapy could be a great component to add to a treatment regime, as it can help train a person to self-regulate their own brain waves and behavioral strategies as they learn what works best for them. If you haven’t already, speak with a professional from a reputable treatment center to learn more about this option. With technology advancing the realm of mental illness and addiction recovery, more and more options are becoming available. Recovery is possible.

Therapeutic relationships are similar to other professional relationships in that it takes time for both parties to come to an understanding of one another. At first, you may have an idealistic view of your therapist – but these perceptions may fluctuate over time as you move forward with therapy. Sometimes it’s a clash between preferred approaches in therapy, and other times it’s based on perceived dissimilarities. Either way, it’s important that you give your therapist a fair shot at working with you because, just like any collaboration, it takes time to develop a solid understanding – unless, of course, unrealistic or inappropriate situations are taking place – always keep your safety number one. If there are very clear, distinct differences that are going to have a major impact on your success in recovery (for example, if you believe wholeheartedly that addiction is a disease but your therapist explicitly states on their information pages and handouts that addiction is a personal choice) there’s a likely chance that this professional relationship will not work well together. There are four main phases of therapy:

There are two kinds of couples when it comes to couples therapy. First are the couples who don’t think they need professional help or work on their relationship. Second are the couples who realize that needing professional help and working on their relationship isn’t a bad thing. One group is ready to do the work required of them in therapy. The other is not. Most of the time, both people in the relationship need to be willing and ready to seek therapy if the relationship is to work. Unfortunately, many couples wait too late – until one has already mentally distanced themselves and left the relationship – before seeking help. CNN notes that couple’s therapy should be sought long before a couple believes they “need” help. Kristie Overstreet, a licensed mental health counselor told CNN, “Most issues within a couple start small and then grow in size when they don’t get resolved. This is where therapy can help, by giving tools and techniques to improve conflict resolution.” For many, seeking therapy early on can save a relationship - even years of distress. Many couples find that an objective third perspective from a counselor can help them recognize problems and how to fix them before the issues become bigger. Oftentimes therapists will assign couples homework to know they are working on their problems outside of the therapist’s office as well. There are many other benefits that couple’s therapy can provide, according to Psychology Today:

According to a 2014 study titled “Acupuncture: Past, Present, and Future”, acupuncture has been around for more than 40 years and has taken upon more than 10 million treatments each year in the United States alone. Medical News Today states that with acupuncture, an acupuncturist will place small needles among meridians - or energy highways - to help open up energy flow and balance a person. Holistic practices such as acupuncture, also known as alternative therapeutic methods, have become increasingly popular as Americans attempt to find non-invasive remedies to everyday issues they’re experiencing. The following are some amazing benefits that acupuncture has been said to provide: