For most people if they decide to stop or manage their drinking or drug use they need some help. Therapy can be an effective way in helping achieve those goals. Some people have a hard time thinking that therapy can be helpful because they have a belief they can do it on their own. Here are just a few of many ways therapy can help with drinking or drug use.

Self Accountability

Having a neutral party that you report to can be helpful in following through with your goals. A therapist will help you explore why you succeeded or failed more than you would do on your own. Knowing that you have an appointment coming up can be helpful in becoming more observant about your choices. 

Learning New Skills

In therapy you will be sitting with a professional who has experience and knowledge that can help you overcome all the pitfalls that others have before you. Your therapist will teach you cognitive skills (strategies of thinking/awareness of thinking) and behavioral skills (things you behaviourally do that will help promote success). Although, you will likely have ideas on some of these before therapy, a therapist can be a shortcut to teach you many more in a shorter amount of time.

Stress Relief

Seeing a therapist and talking about issues in your life can just in itself be stress reducing. It may feel difficult to talk about things if you are not used to opening up, but that does not mean it can’t help reduce stress. Although there is much more therapy, allowing you to simply process your stress can be extremely helpful in reducing your drinking or drug use. 

If you think yourself or a loved one has an issue with drinking or drug use check out https://www.valor-counseling.com/services/adult-counseling/addiction-counseling/ to see if you or they have some characteristics of problem use.