Therapies

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive Behavior Therapy is a practical discipline designed to alter patterns of thinking and behaviour in order to achieve optimal change in a person's overall well-being. It uses a person's thoughts, behaviours, and thinking patterns to help a person when faced with emotional issues in life. Unlike other therapies, most CBT sessions only last less than one hour. Some people choose to attend more than one session per week but not more than three a week as people need time to reflect and implement all of the changes being presented in their lives.

This process was founded in the 1960's by Beck whose studies highlighted the dynamic between thoughts and feelings and how people react emotionally using those parameters. He observed people talking to themselves in their heads. Have you ever walked into a shopping mall and saw people talking to themselves? Well, we all talk to ourselves in one form or another whether that is giving oneself a pep talk of confidence or pondering your next move.

The whole theory by Beck is based on not specific events that hinder our progress in life but rather the way that we think about an event or person in time. If we can change our thinking patterns about something over time our feelings attached to that event will change to over time. The work comes in finding those emotional patterns and behaviours from childhood until adulthood that hindered or helped your emotional development. For some to get to this point, its art therapy, voice/speech, dreams, hypnotic, writing poems about a traumatic event, and other means of mind enhancement to aid in the healing of the emotions and soul. The more a person can dispel of the negative thoughts in his/her mind, the greater the paths in the brain can be carved to experience positive and cheerful events.

Biofeedback

When you lift your knee to make another step on the staircase, or when you lift your arm to wave, you take control of these actions. Other body actions – like skin temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure- are involuntarily controlled by the nervous system. You do not make your heart beat faster. It is initiated by the environment, like when you are excited, nervous, or exercising. Biofeedback is a technique that helps you have more control over these instinctive actions.

How Biofeedback Therapy Works

Researchers are not sure why and how biofeedback works. All they understand is how biofeedback accelerates relaxation, which helps relieve numerous conditions associated with stress. During a session in biofeedback, electrodes are attached to your skin. The use of finger sensors is also applicable in this session. The sensors/electrons send signals to the monitor, which displays a flash of light, or an image representing your breathing and heart rate, skin temperature, blood pressure, muscle activity, sweating, or skin temperature.

When you get subjected to stress, these functions alternate. Your muscle activity tightens, your heart rate speeds up, blood pressure rises, breathing quickens, and you start to sweat. You can note the happenings of these stress responses on the monitor, and get immediate feedback when you try to calm them down. Biofeedback sessions are only done in a treatment office, but there is some computer software that relays the biofeedback sensor to your personal computer.

A biofeedback therapist will help you practice these task-full relaxation exercises, which you will fine-tune and help to gain control over your different body actions. For instance, you can use a technique in biofeedback for relaxation and turn down brain waves that activate a headache.

There are several relaxation techniques used in biofeedback therapy, including:

• Progressive muscle relaxation – interchangeably tightening and relaxing different muscle clusters in your body.
• Deep breathing
• Guided imagery – concentrating on an image (such as the texture and colour of an apple) to have your mind focused and aid you feel relaxed.
• Mindfulness meditation – let go of your negative emotions and focus on your thoughts.

As you lower your blood pressure, slow down your heart rate, and ease tension in your muscles, you will instantly get feedback on the screen. Eventually, you will be a master of controlling these actions on your own without the aid of the therapist of the screen.

Holistic Treatment

The most successful treatments take a multifaceted, holistic approach and treat the entire patient. First, there are medical therapies. Substances such as Chantix help with tobacco addiction. Disulfiram helps to treat alcohol problems. Flumazenil helps to treat patients addicted to benzodiazepines. There are many different addictions out there, all demanding different treatments.

Addiction should also be a treatment of the mind. Attending counselling sessions with licensed therapists are very important to getting to the root of the problem. Furthermore, group therapy sessions are a cornerstone of holistic therapy. Seeing that there are many other people out there struggling with the same problems is very beneficial to the health and mindset of the individual.

Finally, meditation therapy is very important. The individual needs to reflect inward on the causes of their addiction treatment and how best to eliminate the root of the problem. Only be eliminating the cause of the addiction will the treatment be successful.

Motivational Enhancement Therapy

The most successful treatments use a variety of treatment methods. This can involve outpatient counselling and inpatient hospitalisation, group therapy, and various medical treatments. One of the newer treatments on the scene is called Motivational Enhancement Therapy. Everyone knows that counselling both with therapists and group sessions are an essential part of breaking addictions. Motivational Enhancement Therapy is a subset of counselling. This newer therapy focuses on speaking to the patient in such a way that fosters the development of internal motivation. In this way, the patient finds the root cause that has led to their addiction along with possible solutions. Without treating the cause no treatment will have success because, like a weed, the addiction will return. By allowing the patient to develop their own motivation and goals for breaking the addiction, Motivational Enhancement Therapy helps the patient find their way out themselves rather than forcing or guiding the patient down an intended path. Because every patient's addiction and reasons for that addiction are different, the path towards treatment and cure are different as well.

Ultimately, Motivational Enhancement Therapy is only one of many different treatment choices. This is a newer treatment that has shown promise with a moderate rate of success so far. Those patients who are more driven will find more success with Motivational Enhancement Therapy because this treatment derives from the internal confidence of the patient.