Psychological dependency involves all emotional and psychological processes due to substance abuse.
Learning the relationship between substance abuse and psychological processes gives you a better understanding of how and why addiction occurs and why clinical therapy is vital to your recovery. It also helps you understand why therapists defer to evidence-based therapy for addiction treatment. Psychological dependency is not the only component of addiction. There are other external factors. However, it is a key component, which is why therapists focus on the core issues surrounding your condition.
What Do We Mean By ‘Psychological’?
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. So, what we mean by ‘psychological’ is how your mind affects your behavior. This is the crux of addiction treatment therapy.
During your addiction therapy sessions, your therapist guides you through three processes:
- Identifying Your Mind Activity: Many times, we are clueless as to what is going on in our minds. Since we don’t know our mid activity, we don’t understand how to change our behaviors. Therefore, the first step in therapy is for you to identify the negative thoughts, beliefs, or emotions that trigger and fuel your addiction.
- Connect Your Mind and Your Behavior: On one level, we comprehend the connection between what we think and what we do. However, seeing the connection play out day-to-day is more difficult. For instance, we may not realize that stress, anxiety, and depression are what causes us to turn to drugs or alcohol. Your therapist is there to help you make those connections so that you can see why you act the way you do.
- Rewire Your Mind: Psychological dependence occurs because of the way our mind is wired. Your therapist works with you through multiple counseling sessions to help you rewire your mind, which, in turn, helps you change your behavior. Keep in mind that this can take several weeks or months to achieve.
If you’ve begun to self medicate, drug and alcohol detox programs can get you back on the right track physically and psychologically.
Treatment for Psychological Dependency
Since addiction therapy is evidence-based, many of the drug and alcohol addiction treatments that you receive are grounded in scientific research and academic study. Addiction treatment therapy programs use different types of psychotherapy, such as:
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy
- Dialectical behavior therapy
- Motivational interviewing
- EMDR
- Experiential therapy
- Acceptance and commitment therapy
The type of addiction treatment you receive depends on the nature of your substance use disorder and any mental disorders you may have. Your treatment specialist can assess your condition to determine the best treatment options for you.
Learn More About Psychological Dependency
Summit Detox is here with a variety of detox programs to help you break the cycle of addiction and get off of drugs or alcohol for good. To find out more about our drug and alcohol detox center, and further understand psychological dependency, contact us today at (888) 995-5265. We can answer your questions, discuss your addiction, and create a roadmap for your recovery. At our rehab that accepts ComPsych for mental health treatment and addiction services, as well as many other major insurance providers, you can get clean today.
