Addiction & Dual Diagnosis Treatment in Connecticut

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

CBT is a talking therapy that helps people identify negative thought patterns and behavior and exchange them for more objective, realistic ones. The emphasis is on identifying and facilitating a behavior change.

CBT focuses less on the past (“why”) and more on the present (“how” or “what”). This approach brings the person into the shared present moment with the therapist and helps the person learn stronger coping skills and healthier habits.

This type of therapy is associated with rapid action and results. Some of these results include less stress, more positive thoughts, and working more productively.

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)

DBT is a talking therapy that helps guide clients towards a non-judgmental self-acceptance. Some people get trapped in a negative feedback cycle, where negative thoughts of themselves compound, piling higher and higher until they are trapped by their own self-loathing.

This is particularly strong in people with co-occurring mental and substance-use disorders, who feel strong shame as a result of their disorders. The goal of DBT is uncritical self-acceptance. You learn the tools to self-manage your own emotions and practice neutral or positive awareness.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

EMDR is a therapy that retrains a person’s brain to process traumatic memories. When the brain experiences a traumatic event, it re-lives that memory in the form of symptoms like stress, anxiety, or depression.

A neural pathway is created by accessing the memory, and the brain will revert to whatever thought patterns or behaviors accompany it. EMDR uses visuals, sound, vibrations, or some other stimuli as the person is reprocessing their memory to create new, desired responses rather than the response born out of the original event.

While it is a relatively new therapy, it’s been thoroughly researched, widely respected, and seen much success in treating people with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Experiential Therapy

Experiential Therapy is an interactive therapy that involves movement, touch, sound, or visual stimulation in an activity of a person’s choosing. Rather than one single activity comprising the whole of experiential therapy, “experiential therapy” is a broad genre in which different types of therapy fall, like equine therapy, adventure therapy, art therapy, and animal therapy.

The goal is to help you disconnect from negative associations with your past under the guidance of a skilled provider.

Family Therapy

Family therapy takes a holistic perspective on addiction recovery by considering the effect of any pre-existing family dynamics on the client.

Entrenched familial behaviors such as poor conflict resolution, bad communication styles, unhealthy coping mechanisms, abuse, and unaddressed trauma can all be explored in a safe environment where the therapist assures that self-expression is guaranteed for each family member.

The goal is to restore the family to a healthier level of functioning to avoid relapse triggers in the family member suffering from addiction.

Internal Family System (IFS)

Unlike the name suggests, IFS does not involve outside family members such as spouses, siblings, parents, or children. Rather, IFS is an explorative talking therapy that involves exploring and accepting a person’s many “selves.”

Different from multiple personality disorder, which involves distinct modes of consciousness, these many selves are different aspects of our singular personality, such as the “inner child” or “rebel at heart.” The goal of IFS therapy is to move you towards uncritical acceptance of all parts of yourself and to understand each part’s needs and fears.

Motivational Interviewing

Motivational interviewing is a talking therapy effective for people who know they need to change their behavior but struggle to find the willpower to do so. Often, the result of behavioral ambivalence in people is a conflict in unrecognized desires.

The desire to get better might exist, but the desire to keep experiencing the positive effects of addiction might be mitigating it. The goal of motivational interviewing is for you to take ownership of your life and start making concrete steps toward your desired healthy behavior.

Psychodrama

Psychodrama is a role-playing, live-action therapy that helps people process difficult memories or emotions. For people who have difficulty expressing their emotions, psychodrama can help them move from discussing issues into embodied action.

Always performed in a group setting, participants will role-play designated characters in the stories of others, as well as being the protagonist in their own story. The goal is to gain insight into your own experiences as you support the experiences of others.