Different Therapy Options for Quitting Drinking

There are a number of different options for therapy when it comes to giving up drinking, whether you decide to opt for residential rehabilitation or not. Getting the right therapy can be very important when quitting, and is also central to staying off the booze as time goes by

What is Therapy For?

One of the key factors to giving up drinking is the consideration that drinking and being drunk has taken up a considerable part of your daily life. Quite possibly it will have taken up most of it. So when you take the drinking away, you’re also removing a lot of what is the usual routine for each day. This can also include places you go to where you drink with boozing buddies, or simply spending most of the day feeling hazy and focused on alcohol. When that is removed, there is often a gaping hole in people’s lives. Therapy can help you find ways to fill that hole with more productive activity.

It’s also generally the case that the illness has affected not just the drinker, but all those around him or her, particularly close family and those that live with them. Therapy can also help them, and the family unit as a whole. Much damage is done during the course of this illness, and however supportive people are, they will have felt hurt by the drinker, or possibly have been abused by them. Therapy can help mend those scars and heal rifts.

One to One Counselling

This is simply a case of having a sympathetic ear to talk things over with on a one to one basis. Counselling offers a different solution to therapy, in as much as it is more of a listening situation rather than analysis or cognitive reaction. Sometimes it’s just enough to have someone to talk to who is not involved on a personal level and this can help clarify the issues.

Group Counselling/Group Therapy

Some people may find group counselling or therapy difficult, going very public about their problem in a room full of strangers. But the group set up can really help as people share their experiences and ultimately help each other to understand and come to terms with their illness. The whole ‘it’s not just me’ feeling can really support some people.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

The word ‘cognitive’ indicates conscious intellectual activity, and CBT encourages patients to remember, understand and resolve their issues themselves, rather than being given all the answers. It can often be a difficult process, going through some painful memories and experiences, but ultimately it will get to the root of the problem if the patient perseveres.

Psychosocial

When you have been drinking for a long time, you will forget how to act and react around other people. Being drunk means you’ve not been acting normally, then when you become sober, you might find it hard to communicate to people the way you used to. Psychosocial therapy will help to redevelop those interpersonal skills needed to relate effectively again.

Family or Partner Therapy

The damage inflicted by alcoholism affects the whole family and family or relationship counselling can be a huge part of recovery for everyone. Helping those around to understand the illness a bit better, and giving everyone a chance to go through past issues, can help to repair damage to family members too and give everyone a chance to forgive, and understand.