Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in Boston, MA

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of psychotherapy, aka talk therapy, that has become a leading medically sanctioned treatment for substance use disorders. It’s also used to treat other behavioral health and mental health conditions. If you’re looking for cognitive behavioral therapy in Boston, MA, you’ll find experienced CBT therapists at Psyclarity Health.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of psychotherapy, aka talk therapy, that has become a leading medically sanctioned treatment for substance use disorders. It’s also used to treat other behavioral health and mental health conditions. If you’re looking for cognitive behavioral therapy in Boston, MA, you’ll find experienced CBT therapists at Psyclarity Health.

Psyclarity Health is a top-rated rehab center that features a full continuum of addiction treatment programs based on clinically driven therapies like CBT and holistic treatments that enhance recovery and overall health and wellness. Developed during the 1960s, CBT supports clients’ ability to manage the psychological aspects of their drug addiction to prevent relapse. If you are struggling with an addiction to illicit drugs, prescription drugs, or alcohol, you can rely on Psyclarity Health for high-quality treatment that’s individualized for your recovery needs.

What Is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)?

Cognitive behavioral therapy is a therapist-led form of talk therapy that focuses on the connections between a person’s thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. People tend to ‘fall into’ patterns of thinking and feeling that can have a profound effect on their behaviors. These patterns can become second nature and may be so ingrained in a person that they aren’t completely aware that there are alternatives.

For example, a person may get used to equating work stress with a drink at the end of the day. They associate drinking as a reward for struggling through the day or as an antidote for stress. This process is a form of self-medication and it’s associated with addiction development. Another person might substitute marijuana or another drug for alcohol. During CBT sessions, therapists help clients recognize their unhealthy patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving to make strategic changes in them that will support recovery and help them successfully manage their triggers to use drugs or alcohol.

Who Needs Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?

Anyone who is struggling to manage a substance use disorder can benefit from cognitive behavioral therapy, including people who have a dual diagnosis. A dual diagnosis involves a drug or alcohol addiction and a mental health condition such as depression or post-traumatic stress disorder. Men and women, young clients, and old can benefit from CBT as well as related therapies like dialectical behavioral therapy, which focuses on distress tolerance, and others.

If you are addicted to drugs or alcohol or even if you are not addicted but abusing these substances, you can benefit from cognitive behavioral therapy. This form of therapy is useful throughout the treatment process–at the very beginning of rehab treatment and toward the end. Many people choose to include continued therapy like CBT as aftercare for an indefinite period.

How Does Cognitive Behavior Therapy Work?

During CBT sessions, therapists will help clients identify the psychological and emotional triggers that are associated with and may govern their substance use disorder. Many clients gravitate to drugs or alcohol when they are sad or angry or experiencing some other negative emotion. This makes their emotions a trigger for drug use. Naturally, they will get sad or angry again. To manage those emotions, aka triggers, effectively and prevent relapse, they need new and effective ways to cope with them. That forms the basis of CBT sessions.

During therapy, therapists also help clients recognize unhealthy thought patterns that impact their drug use. These thoughts can be habitual and, like emotions, can be triggered. Thinking that “I can control my drug use” “I’m never going to do that” or “I’m unworthy” are all problematic ways of thinking–they’re either wrong or negative thoughts. Therapists help clients challenge these thoughts so that they can replace them with healthier ones that are accurate and support positivity and continued recovery.

What Conditions Can CBT Treat?

CBT is an evidence-based therapy. That means it has the support of the medical community, which has deemed it safe and effective for treating conditions such as:

• • Substance use disorders

• • Anxiety

• • Depression

• • Bipolar disorder

• • Phobias

• • Post-traumatic stress disorder

• • Obsessive-compulsive disorder

• • Eating disorders

• • Self-harm

• • Stress and more

Clinicians may also rely on CBT, in addition to other therapies, to treat psychosis and schizophrenia.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Addiction

CBT has become a cornerstone in the treatment of drug addiction and alcohol use disorder. CBT can empower clients to identify and manage their thoughts and emotions in healthy ways that are conducive to healthy living. Since addiction is governed by triggers and compulsions, clients need to develop strategies to cope with those triggers before they cause relapse.

CBT is often paired with many other evidence-based and alternative treatments. It blends well with other therapies, but it remains the foundation for many addiction treatment programs around the country–and certainly here in Massachusetts. Psyclarity Health offers CBT at our drug rehab. If you’re struggling with a drug addiction or dual diagnosis, it can help you manage your condition and achieve recovery.

Types of Drug Addiction That Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Treats

Psyclarity Health clinicians rely on CBT for the treatment of all substance use disorders, including opioid addiction, cocaine addiction, alcohol addiction, and others. Clients often respond well to this form of treatment, but some clients are not comfortable or struggle to express themselves during ‘talk’ therapies. That’s why leading rehabs like Psyclarity Health also combine CBT with experiential therapies like art therapy or music therapy to help clients find ways to cope with their triggers and express themselves without words. Together, CBT and other leading addiction therapies can help clients build a strong recovery foundation.

No matter what substance you are addicted to, you can benefit from CBT and its effective strategies. By learning to identify the ways your brain works about your problematic behaviors–you can more effectively manage your mind, preventing unhealthy thoughts and emotions from controlling your actions.

How Our Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Program in Massachusetts Can Help

Enrolling in Psyclarity Health for addiction treatment in Massachusetts is the first step to long-term addiction recovery. Our therapists are credentialed and highly trained. What makes CBT such a beneficial treatment is that it is so adaptable and customizable for every client. Each client has their own set of triggers–their own mental struggles, but whatever they happen to be, CBT can help them improve how they cope with their triggers to achieve more positive outcomes.

We offer CBT during inpatient rehab and outpatient rehab programs. You can expect clinicians to individualize your CBT therapy and help you establish and achieve your own recovery goals.

Getting Help Through CBT at Psyclarity Health

Psyclarity Health can help you put drugs behind you. The process of getting off drugs might seem overwhelming. You might find it difficult or even impossible to imagine a life without drugs or a different lifestyle than the one you have now, but transformation happens–a little more each day. Formal addiction treatment is crucial. Trying to stop using drugs alone generally meets with relapse after relapse. Learn how to manage your drug addiction successfully with our help. Studies show that the longer a person spends in treatment, the less likely they are to relapse. Learn more about our drug addiction treatment programs by getting in touch with us today.

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