-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Cognitive Restructuring for Addiction
Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2005 16:30:13 -0500 (Eastern Standard Time)
From: Terence T. Gorski ttgorski@cenaps.com
Reply-To: Tresa Watson
To: apfn@apfn.org
Cognitive Restructuring for Addiction
Cognitive therapy is a well develop system for teaching people how to effectively manage their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. When cognitive therapy is applied to addiction treatment, it needs to be addiction-focused. It needs to teach abstinence skills, and address the thinking, feeling, and behavioral problems that can lead to relapse. The language of cognitive therapy also needs to be adapted to fit in with the culture of addiction recovery. That culture is strongly based on Twelve Step principles so the similarities between cognitive therapy and twelve steps programs must be explained in clear and easy to understand language.
Cognitive therapy for addiction focuses on five primary skill areas that are critical to addiction recovery: (1) Addiction-Focused Problem Solving; (2) Managing Addictive Thoughts; (3) Managing Addictive Feelings; (4) Managing Addictive Behaviors; and, (5) Making Cognitive Restructuring Skills A Habit.
http://www.relapse.org/custom/cart/edit.asp?p=92050
When addicted people first enter treatment they are usually experiencing serious problems or life crisis. Although most of these problems are caused or complicated by their addiction, the problems must be stabilized before the client can focus on learning how to stop drinking and drugging, and how to stay sober. Once they get sober, a variety of situations and life problems can come up that can cause them to relapse.
To deal with these addiction-related problems, recovering people need to learn to manage these problems in a sober and responsible way by identifying and clarifying problems, setting appropriate goals for staying sober while solving their problems, developing concrete problem solving plans, and continuously reviewing problems and progress in problem solving with a therapist, spiritual advisor, and/or Twelve Step Sponsor. Throughout the problem solving process, recovering people must maintain a keen awareness of the relationship between their life problems and addiction.
http://www.relapse.org/custom/cart/edit.asp?p=78669
Most addicted people have never established the relationship between alcohol and drug use and the problems they are experiencing. To establish this relationship, four clarifying questions are used: (1) How is this problem related to your alcohol or drug use? (2) What will happen to your ability to solve this problem if you KEEP USING alcohol or other drugs? (3) What will happen to your ability to solve this problem if you STOP USING alcohol or other drugs? (4) What can drinking and drugging do for you that you can’t do for yourself without drinking and drugging?
Addictive thinking is any way of thinking that justifies the use of alcohol or drugs in spite of the problems and pain they are causing. When the pain gets bad enough and the problems get severe enough the addict feels trapped with no way out. Feeling trapped activates an addictive thinking process that makes the recovering addict feel like alcohol and drugs can make the pain and problems go away. The addictive thoughts keep getting stronger until the recovering addict is convinced that the only way to manage the pain or solve the problems is to use alcohol or other drugs.
The thought management component of cognitive restructuring for addiction shows recovering people how to identify and manage the addictive thoughts that can cause unnecessary pain and problems and convince them that it’s OK to use alcohol or other drugs to manage their pain and solve their problems.
Addicted people tend to mismanage their feelings and emotions. They block, exaggerate, or distort their feelings. When people block their feelings, they push them down and refuse to acknowledge what they are feeling. When people exaggerate their feelings, they think thoughts that make the feelings more intense. As a result, recovering people can get into an emotional spiral. They have a feeling and think about it in a way that makes the feeling more intense. Then the feeling gets worse and they repeat the process until they are in an emotional crisis.
Unless they learn effective emotional management, they can start to feel so bad that drinking and drugging seem like a good choice. Cognitive Restructuring for Addiction teaches recovering people an effective system for managing feelings and emotions in recovery.
When people become addicted, they develop a wide range of habitual behaviors, called drug seeking behaviors, that have only one purpose – to put them around people, places, and things that support their drinking and drug use. In order to recover from addiction, people must learn to identify and change these drug seeking behaviors and replace them with sobriety seeking behaviors.
This involves three things: First, avoiding people, places, and things that can make them want to start drinking and using drugs. This leaves most recovering people with a lot of free time on their hands. Second, developing a schedule of recovery activities that put them around recovering people and forces them to think about and talk about their progress and problems in recovery on a daily basis. Third, develop the social skills needed to be able to fit in and enjoy their recovery activities.
These new cognitive restructuring skills must become habitual. To develop these habits they need to use addiction-focused problem solving whenever they face any problem in their life. It also means learning the habit of consciously monitoring and managing their thoughts, feelings, urges, actions, and social reactions.
The Cognitive Restructuring for Addiction process can be summarized in the following steps:
http://www.cenaps.com/Courses/CRFA/CRFA%203-Day%20Skills%20Training%20Workshop.htm
Step 1: Addiction-focused Problem Solving: Learn to solve problems that cause pain in recovery and can lead to relapse.
Step 2: Thought Management: Learn to identify and manage irrational thoughts that can activate cravings to use alcohol or other drugs.
Step 3: Feeling Management: Learn to identify, label, talk about, and resolve feelings without using alcohol or other drugs.
Step 4: Behavior Management: Learn to identify alcohol and drug seeking behaviors that put you around people, places and things that support your addiction and replace them with sobriety-seeking behaviors that support recovery.
Step 5: Develop New Habits In Recovery: Consciously monitor the addictive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that cause unnecessary pain, problems, and cravings for alcohol or other drugs. Learn to replace them with sober thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that help to manage stress, relieve pain, and solve problems without having to use alcohol and other drugs.
The successful use of cognitive restructuring can result in profound changes in the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of the recovering addict. Cognitive restructuring is an efficient and effective technique that the client can readily employ when the need arises. Through the structured and systematic process of change, the client can reduce the risk of relapse and create a life of sober and responsible living.
Cognitive Restructuring for Addiction is available as a three day intensive seminar and is offered on May 11 – 13, 2005. The publication is available at http://www.relapse.org . Please contact the CENAPS office at 352-596-8000 or visit http://www.cenaps.com for more information.
==========================
REPLY DIRECTLY TO: ttgorski@cenaps.com
Subject: Cognitive Restructuring for Addiction
Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2005 16:30:13 -0500 (Eastern Standard Time)
From: Terence T. Gorski ttgorski@cenaps.com
Reply-To: Tresa Watson
To: apfn@apfn.org
Cognitive Restructuring for Addiction
Cognitive therapy is a well develop system for teaching people how to effectively manage their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. When cognitive therapy is applied to addiction treatment, it needs to be addiction-focused. It needs to teach abstinence skills, and address the thinking, feeling, and behavioral problems that can lead to relapse. The language of cognitive therapy also needs to be adapted to fit in with the culture of addiction recovery. That culture is strongly based on Twelve Step principles so the similarities between cognitive therapy and twelve steps programs must be explained in clear and easy to understand language.
Cognitive therapy for addiction focuses on five primary skill areas that are critical to addiction recovery: (1) Addiction-Focused Problem Solving; (2) Managing Addictive Thoughts; (3) Managing Addictive Feelings; (4) Managing Addictive Behaviors; and, (5) Making Cognitive Restructuring Skills A Habit.
http://www.relapse.org/custom/cart/edit.asp?p=92050
When addicted people first enter treatment they are usually experiencing serious problems or life crisis. Although most of these problems are caused or complicated by their addiction, the problems must be stabilized before the client can focus on learning how to stop drinking and drugging, and how to stay sober. Once they get sober, a variety of situations and life problems can come up that can cause them to relapse.
To deal with these addiction-related problems, recovering people need to learn to manage these problems in a sober and responsible way by identifying and clarifying problems, setting appropriate goals for staying sober while solving their problems, developing concrete problem solving plans, and continuously reviewing problems and progress in problem solving with a therapist, spiritual advisor, and/or Twelve Step Sponsor. Throughout the problem solving process, recovering people must maintain a keen awareness of the relationship between their life problems and addiction.
http://www.relapse.org/custom/cart/edit.asp?p=78669
Most addicted people have never established the relationship between alcohol and drug use and the problems they are experiencing. To establish this relationship, four clarifying questions are used: (1) How is this problem related to your alcohol or drug use? (2) What will happen to your ability to solve this problem if you KEEP USING alcohol or other drugs? (3) What will happen to your ability to solve this problem if you STOP USING alcohol or other drugs? (4) What can drinking and drugging do for you that you can’t do for yourself without drinking and drugging?
Addictive thinking is any way of thinking that justifies the use of alcohol or drugs in spite of the problems and pain they are causing. When the pain gets bad enough and the problems get severe enough the addict feels trapped with no way out. Feeling trapped activates an addictive thinking process that makes the recovering addict feel like alcohol and drugs can make the pain and problems go away. The addictive thoughts keep getting stronger until the recovering addict is convinced that the only way to manage the pain or solve the problems is to use alcohol or other drugs.
The thought management component of cognitive restructuring for addiction shows recovering people how to identify and manage the addictive thoughts that can cause unnecessary pain and problems and convince them that it’s OK to use alcohol or other drugs to manage their pain and solve their problems.
Addicted people tend to mismanage their feelings and emotions. They block, exaggerate, or distort their feelings. When people block their feelings, they push them down and refuse to acknowledge what they are feeling. When people exaggerate their feelings, they think thoughts that make the feelings more intense. As a result, recovering people can get into an emotional spiral. They have a feeling and think about it in a way that makes the feeling more intense. Then the feeling gets worse and they repeat the process until they are in an emotional crisis.
Unless they learn effective emotional management, they can start to feel so bad that drinking and drugging seem like a good choice. Cognitive Restructuring for Addiction teaches recovering people an effective system for managing feelings and emotions in recovery.
When people become addicted, they develop a wide range of habitual behaviors, called drug seeking behaviors, that have only one purpose – to put them around people, places, and things that support their drinking and drug use. In order to recover from addiction, people must learn to identify and change these drug seeking behaviors and replace them with sobriety seeking behaviors.
This involves three things: First, avoiding people, places, and things that can make them want to start drinking and using drugs. This leaves most recovering people with a lot of free time on their hands. Second, developing a schedule of recovery activities that put them around recovering people and forces them to think about and talk about their progress and problems in recovery on a daily basis. Third, develop the social skills needed to be able to fit in and enjoy their recovery activities.
These new cognitive restructuring skills must become habitual. To develop these habits they need to use addiction-focused problem solving whenever they face any problem in their life. It also means learning the habit of consciously monitoring and managing their thoughts, feelings, urges, actions, and social reactions.
The Cognitive Restructuring for Addiction process can be summarized in the following steps:
http://www.cenaps.com/Courses/CRFA/CRFA%203-Day%20Skills%20Training%20Workshop.htm
Step 1: Addiction-focused Problem Solving: Learn to solve problems that cause pain in recovery and can lead to relapse.
Step 2: Thought Management: Learn to identify and manage irrational thoughts that can activate cravings to use alcohol or other drugs.
Step 3: Feeling Management: Learn to identify, label, talk about, and resolve feelings without using alcohol or other drugs.
Step 4: Behavior Management: Learn to identify alcohol and drug seeking behaviors that put you around people, places and things that support your addiction and replace them with sobriety-seeking behaviors that support recovery.
Step 5: Develop New Habits In Recovery: Consciously monitor the addictive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that cause unnecessary pain, problems, and cravings for alcohol or other drugs. Learn to replace them with sober thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that help to manage stress, relieve pain, and solve problems without having to use alcohol and other drugs.
The successful use of cognitive restructuring can result in profound changes in the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of the recovering addict. Cognitive restructuring is an efficient and effective technique that the client can readily employ when the need arises. Through the structured and systematic process of change, the client can reduce the risk of relapse and create a life of sober and responsible living.
Cognitive Restructuring for Addiction is available as a three day intensive seminar and is offered on May 11 – 13, 2005. The publication is available at http://www.relapse.org . Please contact the CENAPS office at 352-596-8000 or visit http://www.cenaps.com for more information.
==========================
REPLY DIRECTLY TO: ttgorski@cenaps.com
- The Trouble with Tasers —Anne-Marie Cusac, Tue Apr 12 02:53
Message Board by American Patriot Friends Network [APFN]
