5 Benefits of Having a Counselor in Recovery
You’re only as strong as the company you keep. As such, a big part of successful recovery relies on a strong support network. Building a strong network includes being active in participating in meetings and other healthy social settings. However, while in early recovery, you may experience thoughts that can create fear and doubt about handling the challenges of recovery. When you succumb to these fears and doubts, you might retreat into isolation.
Seeking support from a counselor can provide you the help and resources that you need to address and overcome challenging thoughts and emotions. In addition to attending meetings, therapy, and seeing friends and family, you might find that you benefit most from working with a counselor. Let’s take a look at the five benefits that come from having a counselor.
#1 Help Heal Attachment Disorders
Childhood relationships form the lifelong foundations for trust and security in relationships within the first five years of life. During these developmental stages, attachment deficits, such as neglect, abuse, or absent parents can contribute to how you perceive and develop relationships. Trying to manage attachment disorders by using substances only worsens situations by creating additional physical and mental health problems. Using substances also weakens your relationships.
Seeking a counselor can work with you consistently to help you uncover some of the reasons behind your attachment disorders. Working with a counselor will help you address trauma-related events and evaluate what and why you might develop certain kinds of relationships. Working with a counselor to understand your childhood insecurities and trauma will also help you uncover the driving attachment to your substance use. When you identify the root of your trauma, you can work to form healthier habits in response to when you feel triggered.
#2 Change the Stress Response
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a short-term therapy that can help you identify misguided and destructive responses to certain people, places, and situations. It also works to help you address the thoughts that arise from encountering a triggering situation. In addition to CBT, counselors can also work with you to manage the triggers that provoke you to use substances. A counselor can help teach you how to avoid certain situations, including how to say no and self-monitor subconscious cravings that you might otherwise be unaware of. Working with a counselor to better identify how you feel and experience different situations can help you take the steps needed to eliminate these triggers.
#3 Improve Family Dynamic
Family counseling is often vital to a successful recovery and helps to reduce relapse rates. Relationships within struggling families may not have been a factor in developing your disorder; however, substance use impacts your family regardless. In family counseling, you and your family will learn healthier communication skills, including verbalizing essential issues that need to be addressed. When you are able to improve communication, it not only helps you and your family heal but also begin the process of rebuilding trust. An improved family dynamic will also show friends and family the progress that you are making in your recovery, and you can use these moments as benchmarks for progress.
#4 A Safe Setting for Sharing
Attending therapy in a group setting is beneficial because it allows you the opportunity to discuss and share your experiences with others. It is also great for forming healthy relationships because it helps you understand that you are not alone in what you are feeling. Further, the spaces provided through group therapy offer security and comfort, allowing you and others to feel safe with opening up. The counselor offers a supportive outlet for emotional expression while facilitating the discussion so that each participant may attain a deeper understanding of their substance-related issues. Group therapy with a counselor also encourages companionship and connection. Such encouragement reassures that you are all experiencing this together.
#5 Helps Treat Dual Diagnosis
A substance use disorder (SUD) is often accompanied by a co-occurring mental health disorder, such as anxiety, depression, post-traumaticCognitive-behavioral stress disorder (PTSD), or bipolar disorder. Without treating the mental health condition, you are much less likely to achieve an effective and sustainable recovery. Counseling and therapy will help you manage a dual diagnosis by providing the counseling needed for changing destructive behaviors and any additional treatments or medications needed to address your mental health disorder and SUD. In many–if not most–cases, SUDs are a product of deeper psychological issues, and counseling can benefit you by finding long-term care solutions relevant to your needs.
There are many skills that you can learn through counseling that are useful in your recovery and everyday life. At Choice House, we offer to counsel through individual, family, and group therapy. Through our various counseling programs, men can develop skills to help with problem-solving, conflict resolution, and developing communication and interpersonal skills. We also utilize our Rock Mountain location to create a setting that fully realizes and encounters some of the challenges you will face in your everyday life. However, ours is a space designated to provide safety and security for you while you prepare yourself for recovery. If you are currently struggling and in need of help, don’t wait–seek the care you need today. Remember, your health is your priority and should always come first. To find out more information about treatment options and the recovery process, contact us at Choice House today by calling (720) 577-4422.