The evidence is in the statistics: effective long-term rehabilitation demands a holistic approach. No one therapy or strategy suits every individual. In fact, a rehab client’s therapy needs will change depending on their progress, setbacks and evolving personal needs.
Depending on the nature and severity of your addiction, you might suffer from physical, cognitive and emotional decline. The damage to your social bonds, like family ties and friendships, will take their toll, too.
Different types of rehabilitation programs give you the knowledge, strategies and support you need to face all of the challenges your addiction brings with it.
For you to have the best possible shot at achieving and sustaining your sobriety, you’ll need a treatment plan that addresses your unique physical, psychological, emotional, social and spiritual needs (maybe some more than others).
In this guide, we’re going to talk about eight critical types of therapy that can help you reach your sobriety goals.
If you’d like to learn more about evidence-based, holistic drug and alcohol rehabilitation for yourself or a loved one, please reach out to us.
The Hader Clinic can help you at least get clean with our 14 or 28-Day Detox & Withdrawal program. If you choose to go on to inpatient rehab with us, you’ll get continued access to all of the following therapies.
1. Physiotherapy
Physiotherapy can help you improve your mobility, strength, and overall physical well-being. Prolonged drug and alcohol abuse can leave significant physical damage, including muscular atrophy, tightness and pain.
When you enter rehab, their physical therapists will give you an initial assessment to discover your weaknesses and pain points, and then design a personalised physical therapy plan to help you recover and improve.
Physio is often an excellent treatment for non-medicinal pain management, and can help relieve the physical triggers that could cause a relapse.
Benefits of physiotherapy in rehab
- Increases strength
- Improves balance
- Helps manage pain and chronic health conditions
- Improve physical confidence
- Provides achievable short and long-term goals
- Improves morale and emotional wellbeing
2. Occupational therapy
Occupational therapy, like physiotherapy, aims to improve your mobility and physical independence. More specifically, occupational therapists help you improve your ability to carry out everyday activities (occupations) like writing, eating, or brushing your teeth.
The activities that occupational therapy helps may seem basic, but long-term addiction can significantly frustrate even simple motor functions.
Benefits of occupational therapy in rehab
- Improves fine motor skills
- Enables independence
- Improves morale
- Provides long-term strategies that can be practised independently and post-rehab
3. Cognitive behaviour therapy
Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), also known as cognitive behaviour rehabilitation, is an approach that uses several techniques to help those struggling with negative behaviours (like addiction) to understand the root causes of their behaviour, identify its triggers and unlearn them, and then replace their problematic behaviour with healthier alternatives.
CBT is remarkably effective at helping people struggling with drug and alcohol dependencies to overcome their addictions. At The Hader Clinic, our cognitive rehabilitation therapists work closely with all of our clients as part of our holistic approach to care.
Benefits of cognitive rehabilitation therapy
- Educates about the nature of addiction in general, and their addiction in particular
- Provides short-term strategies and long-term skills needed to maintain sobriety
- Helps regain control over addictive behaviours and temptations
4. Speech therapy
Speech therapy covers a wide range of treatments that can help those with growing addictions just as much as they can those with severe addictions.
The physical and neurological effects of addiction can make it difficult for you to communicate effectively. Speech therapists can help you strengthen the control you need to speak. More broadly, their exercises can also help you chew, swallow and eat safely. Speech therapy exercises overlap with respiratory therapy and brain injury treatment, so they are often used as a supplemental treatment.
The benefits of speech therapy are foundational for a happy, independent life.
Benefits of speech therapy in substance abuse rehab
- Improves speech and communication
- Improves overall language skills
- Improves the ability to eat and drink
- Empowers self-confidence
- Helps clients to socialise
5. Art therapy
Art therapy is one of our more popular forms of therapy. Far from being a frivolous exercise, art therapy can be a powerfully emotional and cathartic treatment that can help a client unpack their addiction triggers and imagine a happy, sober-free life.
One of the key reasons art therapy is so effective and popular is because of how accessible it is. Art therapy is not an art class; the goal isn’t to become a competent artist. Rather, the goal is to give clients a method to express ideas they cannot in traditional therapy sessions.
Expressing anxieties about your drug and alcohol addiction through art can be a powerful first step towards healing. Similarly, expressing your successes leaves you with a physical record of how far you’ve come, giving you something to reflect on when you struggle with the temptation to relapse.
Benefits of art therapy in drug and alcohol rehab
- Relieves stress and anxiety
- Improves happiness and morale
- Improves focus, memory and creativity
- Improves fine motor skills
- Provides a space for self-expression for those struggling with mental health disorders
- Easily accessible therapy for those with cognitive and physical disabilities
6. Pharmacotherapy
Pharmacotherapy uses approved drugs to help drug and alcohol rehab clients improve the psychological, emotional and physical effects of their addiction. These can include depression, insomnia and chronic pain.
Substance abuse specialists conduct careful due diligence before approving pharmaceutical treatment for their clients, as they don’t want to risk creating a new drug dependency. However, it can be a necessary and effective treatment in specific circumstances.
For example, medicinal drugs can be used to wean you off of a far more addictive drug. They can also be used to help ease your experience of detox and withdrawal. You may even be given a long-term prescription to help you manage your addiction and maintain your sobriety.
Rest assured that at The Hader Clinic, you will be assessed by highly trained and competent medical specialists, who will determine whether pharmacotherapy or a drug-free alternative is best for you.
Benefits of pharmacotherapy in substance abuse rehab
- Manages chronic pain
- Manages mental health disorders
- Eases withdrawal symptoms
- Helps prevent relapse
- Helps achieve long-term sobriety for certain clients
7. Spiritual counselling
A person’s spiritual beliefs can underpin their sense of reality, their place in the world, and their relationship to their addiction. Spiritual care provides rehab clients access to resources and counsellors of their faith tradition, including religious texts and figures like priests, imams or rabbis.
Not all clients have spiritual beliefs and therefore do not need spiritual care. Some have nontraditional or niche faith beliefs that are nonetheless essential parts of their lives. A holistic approach to rehab demands that care providers work with their clients to create personalised plans that accommodate their spiritual needs.
Benefits of spiritual counselling in rehab
- Provides spiritual stability
- Provides a client-specific framework for empathy, forgiveness, healing and hope
- Gives clients long-term motivation
- Helps clients make the complex lifestyle changes necessary for sobriety
8. Family counselling
Family therapy is a group therapy that a recovering addict attends with their kin. The sessions provide a space for all to voice their concerns, frustrations, joys and pride with the goal of mending and fortifying family bonds.
Family counselling can be one of the most challenging therapies a recovering addict can attend — and that is what makes it potentially one of the most rewarding. The stronger your support system, the better your chances of long-term sobriety.
For some clients, these sessions will revolve around rebuilding trust after past betrayals or relapses. For others, it can be about educating loved ones on the challenges of recovery and what they can do to help.
Benefits of family counselling in addiction rehab
- Educates loved ones on the recovery process
- Gives the recovering client needed support and affirmation
- Repairs important family bonds
- Gives space to address and resolve grievances
- Teaches empathy and compassion
A worthwhile addiction rehabilitation facility will be able to provide you with most or all of these types of rehab therapy, and likely several more. That’s exactly what you can expect at The Hader Clinic.
