Individual Therapy: How Does It Help?

A major part of any rehab programme you undertake with Banbury Lodge will involve individual therapy. But what is this type of therapy and how will it help you. We hope to enlighten you in the following paragraphs.

What Is Individual Therapy?

Individual therapy is the process by which you will work closely with a therapist or counsellor to address the issues that caused your illness. While getting clean and sober is an important part of your recovery process, it is just as important that you learn how to stay that way.

Rehabilitation is used to help you overcome the psychological issues that caused your addiction in the first place. Individual therapy is a crucial part of the rehabilitation process.

During sessions, you and your counsellor or therapist will explore and discuss your feelings and behaviours. You can expect the environment to be non-confrontational and comfortable. Together, you will delve into your life and memories to identify the cause of your illness.

Studies have shown that individual therapy sessions are beneficial in terms of helping patients to come to terms with the issues that have led them to this point in their lives. You may find it therapeutic to have someone impartial to speak to, particularly if you have been feeling quite isolated from the people you love.

How Will Individual Therapy Help Me?

Talking about your feelings can help you to learn why you developed an addiction in the first place. It is important that you come to terms with the issues that triggered your addictive behaviour; unless you do this, it is unlikely that you will be in a position to move forward to a substance-free life.

At Banbury Lodge, we want to make sure that you benefit from your time with us. We use individual therapy as well as many other types of therapy to help you overcome addiction for good.

Our counsellors and therapists have been fully trained to help you identify the negative thought processes that resulted in you being trapped in the grip of a destructive addiction for so long. They will then work with you until you have established a set of goals that you would like to achieve.

With continued counselling sessions, you will learn various coping strategies that will help you to reach the goals you have established. For many people, trying to reach their goals means developing new thought patterns and learning ways to avoid triggers to additive behaviours.

How Many Therapy Sessions Will I Need?

Banbury Lodge will assess your situation when you begin a programme of treatment with us. While availing of our inpatient programme, individual therapy is likely to feature regardless of other aspects of your treatment.

When it comes to the number of counselling sessions you will need, this will depend on your own personal situation. The severity of your illness and how responsive you are to therapy will both play a role. There may be deep-rooted emotions and memories that you have suppressed that could mean you require more treatment sessions than another person, for example.

Through the use of individual therapy, some patients discover that what they believed to be the reason for their addictive behaviour was not the case at all. It is not inconceivable to find that the real source of the illness was something that occurred many years ago, during childhood.

The goal of individual therapy is to help you overcome the emotional and psychological difficulties that you are facing. The length of time this takes will differ from one person to the next, but it is only with ongoing support that you will be in a position to recover.

What Are the Benefits?

There are many different therapy options that counsellors and therapists utilise, but individual therapy is almost always included in a treatment programme for addiction recovery. This is because there are so many benefits for both the patient and his or her counsellor.

One of the biggest advantages of this type of treatment is the fact that it gives you the chance to talk about your issues in complete privacy. With one-on-one sessions, you will develop a rapport with your counsellor and you will learn to trust him or her.

Over time, you will feel much more comfortable sharing various elements of your life. You will realise that this type of environment gives you the chance to be completely honest and open, in a way that may not be entirely familiar to you.

The ability to focus on your specific issues in a non-judgemental environment with the benefit of an impartial and objective viewpoint from your counsellor or therapist can have massive benefits for your overall recovery.

During individual therapy sessions, you will have the opportunity to dig deep into your memories and emotions. These sessions will allow you to progress with your recovery faster than if you were to have group therapy sessions alone.

What Types of Therapy Will My Counsellor Use?

As mentioned above, your treatment programme will most likely contain individual therapy, and sessions will continue for the duration of your treatment as well as for some time afterwards. However, there are several different therapies that your counsellor might use during the sessions. Below we have listed just a few examples.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

The aim of CBT is to identify, challenge and change maladaptive behaviours. Your counsellor will work closely with you to help you develop new positive ways of approaching various life situations. Once you have developed these new behaviours and thought processes, you will work on reinforcing them until they become natural to you.

Dialectical Behavioural Therapy

DBT is used to help with controlling emotions. Your therapist may use various techniques such as mindfulness, CBT, and distress tolerance to help you learn how to deal with your emotions in response to various life situations.

Motivational Enhancement Therapy

Motivational enhancement therapy (MET) is used to break down the barriers that might be preventing you from moving forward in your recovery. Quite often, the biggest obstacle to recovery is an inability to see the seriousness of the addiction. This form of denial is challenged with MET through a series of supportive and non-confrontational methods. The idea is to increase your motivation and commitment to get well. This treatment will help you to confront your inner demons by using a series of questions and answers that will expose the issues that caused the addictive behaviour.

How Can I Access Individual Therapy?

If you are ready to get started on your journey towards sobriety, Banbury Lodge is here to help. We provide an inpatient programme where you can expect a tailored programme of care that has been designed around your needs with each.

Individual therapy plays a vital role in addiction recovery, so you can expect it to form the basis of your treatment plan with us. We will provide a full assessment of your situation when you get in touch with us, after which we will be in a position to recommend a treatment programme that we believe will be most effective for you and your particular requirements.

We will discuss the options with you in full so that you can make an informed decision regarding your care. You should know that our counsellors and therapists are fully trained, and our clinic is regulated by the Care Quality Commission.

Our record of success speaks for itself and we can assure you that your comfort and safety is paramount in everything we do. Please get in touch with us today for more information on how we can help you to overcome your addiction and how you can access individual therapy to help toward this objective.