What Is Group Therapy
Group therapy is a form of counseling where a group of people comes together to discuss common issues under the guidance of a licensed therapist. The group setting allows for participants to share their experiences, give and receive feedback and support, learn new coping skills, and develop healthy relationships.
What Are The Common Signs And Symptoms Of Addiction
Addiction may feel like it pops up unannounced overnight like your in-laws but, truth be told, there are warning signs and symptoms that emerge and metastasize.
Our natural inclination is sometimes to excuse these signs because no one wants to suspect the worst of their family member or friend that theyre an addict. Theyre just stressed, theyre actually in control of their usage, theyre not hurting anyone, theyre always a little moody, etc. Its understandable but its also enabling.
In order to get your loved one the help they need to overcome addiction, you must be on the lookout for these symptoms and act when you know theyve reached a tipping point so to speak.
The signs of substance abuse are a mixed bag between behavioral and physical and can include:
A person may not experience everything listed but someone whos addicted will certainly exhibit some of them. Its critical to pay attention and take action before things spiral fully out of control.
What that action will look like is different for everyone. A good place to start is getting educated on addiction yourself and talking to experts on the next steps, you can even reach out to us at Principles Recovery Center to learn more and get advice.
The 12 Principles Of Recovery Explained
Recovery can be intimidating. Many people hear about the 12 Steps made famous by Alcoholics Anonymous and think that the whole process is just too complicated. This is precisely why it is so important to have a better understanding of the 12 Principles of Recovery. The 12 Principles are basic spiritual concepts that guide the Steps. When you can grasp the underlying idea behind each Step, it greatly simplifies things and makes it easier for you to follow the path of your sober journey. Lets take a closer look at each of the 12 Principles of Recovery and how they relate to the Steps.
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Can Drug Addiction Ever Be Cured
A range of care with a tailored treatment program and follow-up options can be crucial to success. Treatment should include both medical and mental health services as needed. Principles Recovery Center in Davie, Florida, takes each individuals specific situation into account then assigns them a primary therapist and we outline a robust treatment plan tailored to our clients needs.
Our clinical team has over 30 years experience so you can trust you or your loved one will be provided the best possible treatment every step of the way. We do not believe in having one track, but having a number of different tracks for each client based on their: Drug of choice, Length of Use, Family History, Personal Timeline, and a number of other characteristics. Once we have identified these factors we draw up a specific plan tailored to the individual. We feel this is a major reason why our clients have had a well above industry average success rate.
We can list every aspect of our treatment program online, but we encourage all individuals looking through our site to simply call us using the number at the top of the page to truly get to know how we operate as an institution.
Tips For Overcoming Trauma And Addiction Dual Diagnosis Treatment
When youre dealing with two or more disorders simultaneously, its referred to as a comorbidity. NIDA explains this occurs frequently with substance use and mental disorders. Comorbidity also means that interactions between these two disorders can worsen the course of both.
Given that, the best tip for working through co-occurring disorders is to treat them both at the same time.
There isnt a silver bullet or shortcut to overcoming one and not the other because they tend to make each other worse, as mentioned. Trauma may well lead you to substances as a coping mechanism to get through the difficulties.
As your dependency on drugs or alcohol grows you feel like you need the substance to feel normal. As your tolerance builds, you consequently need more and more to feel like yourself and avoid thinking about the trauma that brought on the addiction to begin with.
That cycle becomes dangerous quickly.
Getting treatment for only your substance use disorder and notaddressing the trauma that preceded and caused it, in many ways leaves you untreated. Sure, you may leave rehab sober but the coping mechanisms you learned might not stand a chance when something triggers you to remember that prior traumatic experience.
Thats why working through them together, in a dual-diagnosis treatment program, gives you the best shot at overcoming them both and leading a substance-free life without the pain and torment of trauma.
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What Are The Guiding Principles Of Recovery
According to the SAMHSA, there are ten guiding principles of recovery:
1. Recovery is person-driven. This means allowing the person to drive their own recovery, including defining their personal goals for recovery. It means supporting their autonomy, allowing them to take action without coercion or manipulation.
2. Recovery is supported by addressing trauma. This means understanding addiction as a common response to coping with traumatic events in ones life. Creating a safe, non-judgmental environment allows the person to feel comfortable sharing these underlying issues.
3. Recovery emerges from hope. This means supporting hope by helping the person break down their long-term recovery goals into short-term manageable ones, making the process seem more realistic and clear.
4. Recovery is based on respect. This means maintaining an attitude of respect toward the person without the attitude of judgment or blame that can further stigmatize the individual, driving them into further isolation.
5. Recovery is culturally based and influenced. This means considering the persons culture in supporting their treatment. It also means adopting their own understanding of their culture rather than your own predetermined idea of it.
6. Recovery is holistic. This means considering the biological, psychological, and social forces involved in recovery, supporting healthy development in each of these domains.
The Four Major Dimensions Of Recovery:
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Support Groups & Meetings
Building a strong system of support is vital to recovery. Sometimes the best support comes from someone with experience. Peer-run support groups exist for almost any addiction, including 12-step programs such as marijuana anonymous, cocaine anonymous, gamblers anonymous, sexaholics anonymous and overeaters anonymous.
Failing to correct unhealthy behaviors developed during active addiction can increase a persons risk for relapse. Dry drunks, for example, are people who have achieved sobriety from alcohol but continue to act impulsively and display other behaviors associated with alcoholism. Regular attendance at support group meetings can help people recognize and avoid thoughts and actions that may lead to relapse.
How A Support Group Can Help
If youre looking to make positive changes in your life, there are many support groups out there that can help. For example, Narcotics Anonymous is a 12-step program that helps addicts learn how to live a sober life. In addition to these recovery programs, there are many other organizations you can join to aid your sobriety. If youre struggling with addiction, the sooner you reach out for help, the better off youll be.
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What Are The 13 Principles Of Drug Addiction Treatment And Strong Recovery
This might clarify why drug abusers are in danger of relapse even after significant stretches of restraint and notwithstanding the possibly wrecking results. Here are the principles for addiction treatment and to stay in Recovery.
1. The first and foremost thing is, No single treatment is appropriate for all the patients. Matching the treatment settings, the interventions, and the services to each patients problems and needs is critical.
2. Treatment needs to be readily available. Because drug addicts may be uncertain about entering treatment, taking advantage of available services at the moment people are ready for treatment is critical. Treatment applicants can be lost if treatment is not immediately available and readily accessible.
3. Effective treatment takes care of different requirements of the individual, in addition to their medication use. Therapy should address the singulars medication use and related clinical, mental, social, profound, professional, and legitimate issues. Treatment should be suitable to the patients age, orientation, nationality, and culture. Treatment needs to be flexible and to provide ongoing assessments of the patients needs, which may change during treatment.
10. Treatment does not need to be voluntary to be effective. Assents or temptations in the family, work setting, or law enforcement framework can altogether increment treatment section, maintenance, and achievement.
How A Drug Affects Your Brain
When considering how to get free from addiction, its important to understand how drugs negatively affect your mind. Drugs, such as heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamines can change your brain chemistry while making you feel better. When you become addicted to these substances, your brain starts releasing more dopamine than usual. Your brain releases dopamine when it has an activity it finds pleasurable, for example when you see or hear something that makes you laugh. Jason Shiers of Wide World Coaching who is a Certified Psychotherapist and Certified Transformative Coach says regardless of the drugs effect on the brain, addiction recovery is possible at any point, the system is always working exactly as it should, and it only needs to be left alone to return to an equilibrium.
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Principles Of Drug Addiction Treatment: A Research
Finding Recovery Resources That Can Help
Brandon Novak is a recovery advocate that struggled with a heroin addiction himself. After years of trying to commit to sobriety, he finally succeeded. While it took him a while, today, as a certified intervention specialist, he dedicates his time to helping families find their loved one’s addiction treatment.
If youre searching for drug treatment or want to look into a sober living facility to help you transition to a sober lifestyle after rehab, Brandon can help. Call him today at to learn more about his sober living facility, .
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How Gratitude Fits In With Addiction Recovery
Live each day with an attitude of gratitude, and happiness will swiftly follow.
This isnt just an anecdotal statement. A recent Harvard Medical School study found that people who regularly expressed gratitude in everyday life were generally happier and even had healthier relationships than those who did not. The studys participants also expressed greater life satisfaction and contentment. This is important for addiction recovery, because all of these feelings are crucial to fading the desire to abuse substances.
Likewise, expressing gratitude to others has also been shown to increase levels of dopamine and serotonin. These brain chemicals are what make us naturally feel joy, and higher levels of both have an inverse correlation with drug abuse. Basically, a life of gratitude gives you a more positive outlook on your new life in recovery and makes you less likely to relapse.
What Do Stimulants Do
Whether its a prescription or not, all stimulants act in the same basic way. NIDA explains it as such stimulants increase the activity of the brain chemicals dopamine and norepinephrine. Dopamine is involved in the reinforcement of rewarding behaviors. Norepinephrine affects blood vessels, blood pressure and heart rate, blood sugar, and breathing.
Dopamine is of course colloquially known as the feel-good hormone so one of the effects of stimulants is something of a rush of euphoria.
Additionally, stimulants can do the following:
- Increase heart rate
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Process Of Behavioral Change
Addiction recovery involves more than giving up the substance thats causing the addiction. Its important to understand why youre using drugs to get sober, and then to make a plan to change your behavior. For example, some people turn to heroin for the first time because they become depressed after years of abusing alcohol and prescription drugs. Others start abusing drugs as a way of dealing with their emotions. Either of these types of emotional problems can be overcome. You dont have to stay stuck in your addiction recovery, and you shouldnt wait until your life is falling apart before you reach out to others for help.
Finding Spiritual Growth In 12 Step Programs
There are many spiritual principles of recovery, and they all promote being someone of integrity, among other things. These spiritual principles correspond to each of the 12 steps of AA and NA, and programs that utilize the 12 step model ask you to practice these principles in all of your affairs. In doing so, the spiritual principles help you to not only stay away from alcohol or drugs, but to become a better person.
A large part of recovery is personal growth. Working a 12 step program of recovery can assist in this growth! Becoming a better person starts with self-awareness. Self-awareness starts by reminding yourself of your goals you wish to achieve and the person you want to be. So, as we practice these spiritual principles, we transition into the best versions of ourselves as a result. Therefore, when we follow the 12 step model and carry the messages of wellness that have helped other alcoholics maintain their sobriety, we too will maintain our sobriety. In fact, the last step speaks to having a spiritual awakening!
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The Ten Principles Of Recovery Are:
1. Driven by hope: In positive psychology, hope is the belief that individuals can attain goals. For individuals suffering from mental health disorders or addiction, the hope is to achieve sobriety or mental well-being.
2. Person-driven: An individual going through recovery is in charge of the process. While they may have a team of health professionals and loved ones, the individual is in command.
3. Multiple Pathways: Many elements contribute to the recovery process. Recovery for one person may include environmental modifications, peer support, meaningful activity engagement. The process for another person will often look different.
4. Holistic: Treatment should consider the whole person: Mind, body, and soul. Linking these three components in treatment can contribute to an individual’s success in recovery.
5. Peer Support: The experience of recovery can be daunting when your support system has not been through the same challenge. Peers are an excellent resource for problem-solving, especially in times of crisis.
6. Culture: The recovery process should always respect an individual’s beliefs and cultural background.
7. Trauma-informed: Successful recovery often hinges on acknowledging and processing past traumatic events. This is especially notable when trauma has led to mental health challenge or addiction.
8. Relational: Meaningful relationships provide an individual with a feeling of belonging, emotional support, and encouragement.
Practice Gratitude For A Change Of Perspective
Addiction recovery comes with various challenges, so being told you should be grateful may come across as a bit silly at first. However, practicing gratitude regularly can actually change your perspective on the recovery process and even make staying sober an easier process. It all starts with knowing what to be grateful for each day.
While you can always be grateful for your home and your possessions, real happiness comes from being appreciative for the deeper things in life. It is up to you to decide what means the most to you, but just being in your current position means you already have at least a couple things to be grateful for. And it goes far beyond just saying thank you when someone does you a favor.
For example, very few people if any manage to overcome addiction and reach sobriety all on their own. As you are learning to navigate your life in recovery, its important to appreciate and acknowledge all of those who have helped you along the way. While you may not be in a position to actively thank them every day, you can still adopt a grateful mindset for having such a wonderful support network.
Its also worth being grateful just for being in addiction recovery. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration estimates that there are more than 22 million people in the U.S. suffering from addiction, yet less than 20 percent of them manage to seek treatment. Just the fact that you are on a sober path is gratitude-worthy!
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