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Sound Therapy: The Sensational Healing of Sonic Power

Written by Enlightened Recovery on . Posted in Recovery, treatment. No Comments on Sound Therapy: The Sensational Healing of Sonic Power

Recovery from addictions is not always the same for everyone. Individualized approaches and treatment plans tend to yield better results for those seeking change from addictive behaviors. Exploring alternative therapies, such as sound therapy, may give you more options for your treatment program.

Sound therapy and other sensory therapies can help you heal by incorporating the mind-body connection. Sensations that we experience can elicit emotional responses and release pain. Sound can be a powerful way of stimulating our sensory pathways to help us heal from underlying causes of addiction.

Some sounds in nature, like waterfalls or calm rain, can have a calming effect on us. Other sounds, like musical notes or percussive instruments, can induce specific emotions. Sound therapy can help us learn mindfulness and reduce stress. What might you experience during a sound therapy session?

Mindfulness: Combating Your Distracting Thoughts

A sound therapy session may begin with some basic mindfulness exercises to help you relax and focus. You might even be asked to put a blindfold on to minimize sensory input from your eyes to elevate your sense of hearing. You may complete some breathing exercises or meditation. These exercises can be therapeutic in and of themselves, as you can also utilize mindfulness practices in other areas of your life.

The purpose of practicing mindfulness during sound therapy is to allow distracting thoughts to disappear from your conscious mind so that you can focus on the session. Remember that you can use mindfulness and breathing exercises outside of your sound therapy sessions!

Techniques and Sounds: What to Expect

Sound therapists may use a variety of devices and instruments to create sounds during your session. Sound therapists may use simple instruments like Tibetian sound bowls, gongs, or chimes, to create sounds. The sounds may also be akin to natural sounds, like white noise or other ambient non-musical sounds. Your sound therapist may also use pre-recorded sounds from electronic devices during your session.

As your sound therapist repeats or plays the sounds, you will be asked to relax further. You may feel certain emotions during the session, as sounds can trigger specific feelings in our minds. Sound therapists may also use a technique known as bilateral stimulation.

Bilateral Stimulation in Sound Therapy

Bilateral stimulation is a way of stimulating the brain by producing sensations that alternate from one side of the body to the other. A sound therapist may use bilateral stimulation by producing a sound for one ear and then the other ear in a repetitive, side-to-side fashion.

Bilateral stimulation activates both hemispheres of the brain and can help you relax more easily. Bilateral stimulation is a common practice in other therapies, such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and your sound therapist may use this technique during your session as well.

Music Therapy: A Type of Sound Therapy

Music therapy can also be considered a form of sound therapy. During a music therapy session, you will listen to or engage in playing music with a trained music therapist. You may be asked to sing or write songs to learn new ways of expressing your feelings and emotions. A music therapist may also play specific songs to help you experience certain emotions within a safe environment.

Music and song can have a powerful effect on the mind and you might find yourself experiencing emotions that you struggle with managing. Your music therapist can help you learn to manage these emotions after eliciting them during your session.

The Benefits of Sound Therapy

Sounds, like music and specific pitches, can induce an emotional response in your mind. You may associate a specific song or sound with a memory or a thought. Sound therapy can benefit those in recovery from addiction by teaching new ways of relaxing and providing safe environments for experiencing emotions.

Following a sound therapy session, you may feel more relaxed and better able to manage stress. Sometimes, the after-effects of sound therapy sessions can carry over throughout the rest of the day. You may also benefit from learning how to focus and silence distracting thoughts as you engage in mindful practices during your sessions.

You may feel less anxious and experience positive mood changes. If you utilize alcohol or other substances as a means of relaxing or distracting yourself from thoughts, sound therapy may be a healthy substitute for your addictive behavior.

You may find yourself able to relax more easily without the negative effects of substance or alcohol addictions. Incorporating alternative approaches to treatment, like sound therapy and music therapy, can enhance your existing recovery plan.

Alternative therapies can help you to find newer and exciting approaches to manage your addictions and enhance your recovery treatment. Some approaches may be new to you and exposing yourself to a variety of treatment options can help you feel more in control of your treatment. Sound therapy, and other sensory therapies, can teach you how to relax, focus, and be more mindful throughout your day. In recovery, finding choices and alternative therapies can empower you to cultivate a unique and individualized approach to your recovery treatment. You will be inclined to participate in your recovery if the treatment suits your needs and interests. At Enlightened Recovery, we understand the value of sound therapy and other therapeutic techniques in helping our clients learn to cope with their addictive behaviors. Call us today at (833) 801-5483 to find a pathway to recovery that fits your needs and personality!

Thoughts as Behaviors: Challenging Our Belief Systems

Written by Enlightened Recovery on . Posted in Mental Health, treatment. No Comments on Thoughts as Behaviors: Challenging Our Belief Systems

What are our thoughts? Are they random impulses presenting themselves in our minds like a movie or a dialogue? Are thoughts in our control and representative of our inner selves? Are they deeply significant or are thoughts inconsequential? The answer is all of the above! Thoughts can be strange or silly, prompting us to shrug them off as unimportant.

Thoughts can be insightful and deep, like an epiphany or a realization (or what is known as an “Ah-ha!” moment). They can be within our power and control, as well as random and chaotic. Some of our thoughts constitute our core belief systems.

When we are in recovery from addictions, we might find that our core belief systems do not serve us well. We may have long-held thoughts that are distorted or overblown. Some of our core beliefs may be misguided or not true to our personal philosophy.

While some thoughts are random and out of our control, others, like beliefs, can be viewed as behaviors. Behaviors can be shaped, changed, ceased, or modified. Two effective therapies for challenging our steadfast beliefs are Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT).

Both CBT and DBT are considered evidence-based practices, meaning that they have been proven to be effective and helpful.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Challenge Maladaptive Thinking

“Cognitive” refers to our conscious brain activities, generally referring to our thoughts. Any thought within our awareness, whether manifested by us or at random, can be considered a cognitive process. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) can help those of us with distorted thinking or maladaptive thought patterns.

For some of us in recovery, we may have been told things that are not necessarily true or may not realize that we have damaging thought patterns. These thought patterns can distort our self-image, disrupt our development of confidence, and affect our overall mental wellness.

In CBT, the person meets with a therapist to begin the process of challenging and changing these distorted beliefs and thought patterns. The therapist will help the person identify and recognize their distorted or unhelpful beliefs. Once these beliefs are realized, the person can begin to test how these beliefs hold up in reality.

For example, a person may think “I will never be happy.” This distorted view of themselves affects much of their self-esteem and their motivations to change–why challenge themselves if they will never be happy? The therapist may ask them to begin noting times of the day when they do feel happy to challenge this belief.

The person will then begin to notice when they do feel happy and content, then they can understand how to change their environments, activities, or behaviors to feel happy more often. Once they understand that their beliefs are not reality, they can begin to dismantle these long-held thought patterns.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy: Learning to Tolerate Distress

Another practice of challenging distorted thinking is called Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). “Dialectal” refers to opposition between two opposing forces; in DBT, this is referring to the opposition of reality and our emotional responses to reality. DBT is generally used for people with difficulty managing their emotional regulations.

They may have an extreme overreaction to changes or unanticipated events due to distorted patterns of thoughts that make them feel anxious or fearful. DBT helps people with “black-and-white” thinking, which leaves them feeling that things are either great or terrible with little to nothing in between.

People who can be best helped with DBT may have a difficult time reacting appropriately to stressors. For example, they may have the same emotional reaction to accidentally dropping a cup of coffee as they do to losing a loved one. During DBT, they can learn to respond more appropriately to the varying degrees of stress in life.

A therapist in DBT will guide the person to handle distress. Someone may have never learned healthy ways of handling stressors in life and have extreme reactions to the slightest changes. DBT focuses on distress tolerance and challenges thought patterns by exposing the person gradually to distress within a safe environment.

In DBT, a person will begin to realize that distress can be tolerated in healthy ways and they learn to respond more appropriately to stress. Similar in approach to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), in DBT a person will also have tasks outside of therapy to test the reality of their distorted thought patterns.

One of the key differences between CBT and DBT, however, is the factor of actively learning to tolerate distress. When beginning recovery, we may begin to notice our thought patterns and beliefs with more awareness than when we were in the throes of addictions.

Once we become more aware of distorted ways of thinking and reacting, we can find therapies to help us challenge our thoughts and our reactions.

Distorted thought patterns and belief systems can keep us stuck. Our thoughts and beliefs can negatively impact our self-esteem and self-confidence. We may have self-defeating thoughts of perfectionism, catastrophizing, or worthlessness. We may have an extreme overreaction to any stress in life due to distorted thoughts or black-and-white thinking. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavior Therapy can help us think more clearly and respond more appropriately to the world around us. Sometimes, the root causes of our addictive behaviors are due to unhealthy thoughts about ourselves or life in general. At Enlightened Recovery, we believe in challenging belief systems that no longer serve to better ourselves. Call us today at (833) 801-5483 to discuss some of our therapeutic approaches to cognitive distortions and unhealthy thoughts.

7 Excuses People Give for Not Getting Help for Addiction

Written by Enlightened Recovery on . Posted in Addiction, treatment. No Comments on 7 Excuses People Give for Not Getting Help for Addiction

If you have a loved one with a substance use disorder, you have probably encouraged them to get help only to be constantly rebuffed. It may have even led to arguments or fights. It can be terribly frustrating to watch drugs and alcohol destroy the life of someone you care about and be unable to stop it. Often, a better approach to encouraging treatment is being willing to listen without judgment.

Not only will this help you better understand what your loved one is experiencing, but this kind of compassion is also often more persuasive than all the pressure tactics in your arsenal. You may hear some of the following excuses people give for not getting help, identified by the National Survey of Drug Use and Health.

“I Don’t Have a Problem”

Approximately 95% of people with substance use disorders who don’t seek help just don’t believe they have a problem. Some of these people legitimately don’t see their drinking or drug use as excessive or problematic, while others are in denial, and others are aware they have a problem but they are too afraid to do anything about it and insist that everything is fine.

If you spend all your time around other people with substance use issues, your baseline for normal use may be off. If your loved one really believes they don’t have a problem despite overwhelming evidence that they do, it may be time for an intervention. At the very least, they will no longer be able to ignore the ample evidence of a substance use disorder. Interventions led by experienced facilitators have a good track record of getting people into treatment.

“I’m Not Ready to Quit”

When a loved one tells you they realize they have a problem but they aren’t ready to quit, it can be even more exasperating than flat out denial. To the average person, if drugs and alcohol are causing serious problems in your life, it’s time to quit. However, if they don’t quit, it means they have some compelling reason. This is when it is particularly important to listen and try to understand your loved one’s ambivalence.

Most people with substance use issues don’t use drugs and alcohol just because they love them so much—although that’s certainly true sometimes—but rather because drugs and alcohol help them cope with some kind of pain, often resulting from trauma or abuse.

Whatever the case, quitting feels like giving up something vitally important, whether it’s a way of coping with challenging emotions or a way of connecting with friends. It’s important to understand this if you want to help them move forward.

“I Can’t Afford It”

People often believe that addiction treatment is for rich people but in reality, there are treatment options for every budget. If you have no money at all, there might be 12-step meetings or free clinics in your area. If you have a little money at your disposal or decent health insurance, you can see a therapist who specializes in substance use issues. Moving up, you can look into outpatient programs and residential programs.

There is even a wide range of prices for these programs and the most expensive ones aren’t necessarily the best. There are more ways than ever to pay for addiction treatment, including insurance and government programs. Treatment programs usually have people who can help you figure out how to afford treatment. While whatever help you might be able to afford might not be exactly what you need, it’s still better than no help at all.

“It Will Affect My Job”

This is one of the more pragmatic objections to treatment. It’s true, for example, that there is still a stigma attached to addiction and it’s true that taking time off for treatment might mean missing some opportunities for advancement. However, there are several important things to note. First, your employer can’t fire you for taking time off for addiction treatment. The Family Medical Leave Act will protect your job for up to 12 weeks.

Second, there are a lot of treatment options that won’t require you to miss work at all. You can go to 12-step meetings, see a therapist, or enter outpatient treatment while still living at home and going to work.

Third, a substance use disorder will also affect your job sooner or later. Addiction is a progressive disease and even if you are able to keep it from affecting your job performance right now, your work will likely suffer in the future. It’s far better to do something about your substance use on your own terms, rather than waiting for your boss to notice, assuming they haven’t already.

“I Don’t Want People to Know”

As noted above, the stigma of addiction is still very real, despite progress in recent years. It’s a legitimate concern, especially for people whose livelihoods depend on their reputation. As with work, your friends, family, and neighbors will eventually notice your substance use and it’s better to address it on your own terms. Treatment programs and therapists are bound by the same confidentiality as doctors and hospitals, so your best chance of keeping your substance use issues private is to be proactive about getting them under control.

“I Don’t Know Where to Get Treatment”

This is another pragmatic challenge. Although it seems like treatment programs are everywhere these days, it’s hard to know who to trust. Even among quality, reputable treatment programs, not every program is a good fit for every person. Choosing a good treatment program may feel completely hopeless to someone with a substance use issue, especially if they have a co-occurring condition such as major depression or an anxiety disorder.

Be willing to thoroughly research the most appropriate treatment program for your loved one. If you don’t know where to start, more often than not your doctor, therapist, and even your local church will have a list of resources for you to contact.

“I Can Quit on My Own”

Finally, some people with substance use disorders like to believe that they could quit if they really wanted to, and don’t think they need treatment or any accountability. In reality, one typical sign of addiction is trying to quit but being unable to. When your loved one says they want to quit on their own, they’re still trying to pretend they have control over a situation they lost control of a long time ago.

If they insist on taking this approach, discuss specific plans, goals, and timelines for quitting. Set up clear lines and methods of accountability, such as “How long, specifically, will it take you to get sober?” and “How do you intend to accomplish it?” You can also ask “How can I know you’re really not drinking or using in secret?” It’s great if these questions and methods of accountability can effectively work. If not, it strengthens your case for getting your loved one into a more structured plan of treatment.

Getting someone you love to accept treatment for a substance use disorder is one of the biggest challenges you’ll ever face. Addiction tends to make people deceptive and willing to do anything to avoid quitting. Knowing some of the common excuses can help prepare you for the challenge.

At Enlightened Recovery, we know that the roots of addiction are complex. It’s difficult for people to come to terms with having a problem and it’s difficult to face the reasons for the problem. That’s why we strive to create a supportive, positive environment that uses both modern therapeutic techniques and ancient wellness practices, such as yoga and meditation. To learn more about our approach to treatment, call us today at (833) 801-5483.

6 Misconceptions About Addiction Treatment

Written by Enlightened Recovery on . Posted in Addiction Recovery, treatment. No Comments on 6 Misconceptions About Addiction Treatment

Of all the people in the US who have a substance use disorder, only about 10 percent ever get help for it. It shouldn’t be surprising then, that a lot of people have mistaken ideas about what addiction treatment programs are like. These misconceptions, along with just not knowing what to expect at all, scare people away from treatment or at least give them plausible-sounding excuses not to go. Although treatment for addiction certainly has its challenges, it might not be what you expect. The following are some common misconceptions about treatment.

“You Have to Hit Rock Bottom for Recovery to Be Possible”

The most common myth about treatment for a substance use disorder, and the one that probably does the most damage is the idea that you have to hit rock bottom in order to recover. This idea keeps people from seeking help when they consider their own substance use only mildly problematic and it prevents family and friends from encouraging someone they are concerned about to get help. In reality, “rock bottom” is whenever you want it to be. It’s when you decide that you don’t like the direction your life is heading and you want to make a change.

It’s not even really necessary to be committed to getting sober. Pretty much everyone feels ambivalent about entering treatment but many of these people do pretty well. Some people don’t even want to get help. Consider drug courts, for example. These courts give non-violent drug and alcohol offenders the option to seek treatment rather than serve jail time, an opportunity most defendants take advantage of, even if they are far more enthusiastic about staying out of jail than about getting sober. Despite their reluctance to enter treatment, research shows that drug court participants typically have much better outcomes–less recidivism, better employment status, and so on–than people who serve jail time.

“Treatment is Too Expensive”

People see that some celebrity or other has announced they’re entering treatment and they draw the conclusion that treatment is only for the rich and famous. While there are posh treatment facilities for the upper crust, these don’t necessarily have better treatment outcomes. At luxurious facilities, your money often goes to amenities rather than treatment and so more moderately priced programs typically offer a better value.

What’s more, treatment has never been more affordable. Because of the opioid crisis, there is now more federal money available for treatment, and state and local governments are also offering more assistance as well. For most people, insurance will pay for at least some of their treatment and most quality treatment programs work with several insurers. In short, treatment is probably more affordable than you would think. Contact a few programs you’re interested in and see if they can help you pay for treatment.

“Detox Is All You Really Need”

Detox is often a major obstacle to recovery. Many people are so afraid of withdrawal symptoms that they just keep drinking or using. It might make sense then, that many people believe that if they can just get over that particular hump, then they’ll be fine. Unfortunately, that’s not usually how it works. Every stage of recovery has its own challenges. Once you get past the detox hump, you still have to deal with cravings, friends who don’t support your recovery, co-occurring mental health issues, and so on. Addiction is a complex problem and physical dependence is rarely the only factor.

“Treatment is Boring”

A lot of people imagine treatment as going to some sterile facility where they don’t know anyone, following a strict schedule, spending endless hours in classes and group therapy sessions, interrupted only by sleep and bland meals. Perhaps even worse, you may imagine having to participate in some kind of pep-rally style positivity. In reality, there is a lot of variation in treatment programs.

The best programs are designed to be challenging and engaging. There will always be challenging times, like facing your demons during therapy but much of treatment is also about finding out what brings you joy and connects you to other people. At various times, you might engage in exercise, sports, outdoor activities, art or music, and any variety of activities. Recovery works best when it’s about discovering joy and meaning rather than relying on grim determination.

“You Have to Find Religion”

It’s no secret that AA and similar groups were originally based on the idea of religious conversion. You can’t beat addiction on your own, so you rely on a higher power to help you. There are certain corners of the recovery community where people believe that a spiritual awakening is the only path to sobriety but it’s just not true. Plenty of people enjoy a strong recovery without such an “awakening.” Recovery is always an individual journey.

Many of the principles work for many people, but in the end, you have to do what works for you. Even in the 12-Step approach, more people typically benefit from the group support and the systematic process than from any religious conviction. If your faith helps you recover, then great, but it may not be for everyone and it doesn’t have to be.

“Recovery Ends After Treatment”

Finally, a lot of people have this idea that you can go into a treatment program, they fix you up, and you’re no longer addicted when you leave. In reality, treatment is more like a training camp. You learn a lot of recovery skills, interpersonal skills, emotional regulation skills, and so on. You find out if you have any co-occurring mental health issues and you begin treating those.

However, you have to carry all this work through to your regular life after you leave. To that end, it’s typically a good idea to step down levels of care or at least pay special attention to making a smooth transition through therapy and regular attendance of 12-Step meetings. Treatment is really only the beginning but it can give you a good head start and a map for the road ahead.

There are somewhere around 14,000 addiction treatment centers in the US and whatever negative preconception you have about treatment is probably true of at least one of them. However, good treatment programs know that real change comes from engagement and self-discovery, not from being badgered or bored into compliance.

At Enlightened Recovery, we believe that joy and connection are the keys to a strong recovery. We offer a variety of services, including interventions, individualized treatment, and transitional care. To learn more about our program, call us today at 833-801-5483.

6 Ways to Reduce Inflammation for a Stronger Recovery

Written by Enlightened Recovery on . Posted in Mental Health, treatment. No Comments on 6 Ways to Reduce Inflammation for a Stronger Recovery

Addiction science is still relatively new and researchers are making new discoveries all the time. In recent years, the role of inflammation in addiction and mental illness has started to gain attention. Some studies have found that inflammation may contribute directly to addictive behavior while other studies suggest that inflammation plays a significant role in at least some forms of depression, which in turn increases your risk of developing a substance use disorder.

In the case of depression, researchers believe the inflammatory response, which is meant to fight infection and prevent the spread of disease, triggers a series of behavioral changes. These include fatigue, slow movements, sleep disturbances, isolation, and inability to concentrate–all common symptoms of depression. When you’re actually fighting an infection, these symptoms aid your recovery but when you’re not, you just feel depressed.

It’s also possible that in some people, stress triggers an inflammatory response because, from an evolutionary perspective, your body is preparing to face a physical threat. The inflammatory response gives your body a head start in fighting any infection that may result from injury. That’s why the current thinking goes, life stress can trigger a depressive episode.

It’s clear that if you’re recovering from a substance use disorder, inflammation is not your friend. Keeping inflammation under control should help you feel better and it will likely improve your physical health too. Here are some suggestions for reducing inflammation.

See Your Doctor

First, if you’re feeling the symptoms of inflammation, the first thing to do is see your doctor. Symptoms of inflammation may include body pain such as aching in the muscles and joints, fatigue, excessive mucus, rashes, and digestive issues. As noted above, depressive symptoms such as excessive or disturbed sleep, poor appetite, poor concentration, and social isolation may also be symptoms.

Seeing your doctor about these symptoms is important because they could signal a variety of medical issues, including allergies, autoimmune diseases, asthma, hepatitis, and other conditions that may require medical treatment.

Fix Your Diet

There are two major considerations with diet: avoiding inflammatory foods and eating more anti-inflammatory foods. Of the two, avoiding inflammatory foods is probably the most important. The worst offenders include sugar and high-fructose corn syrup, which are especially abundant in sodas; trans fats, and omega-6 fats, which are common in fried foods and packaged pastries; vegetable and seed oils; refined flour, such as white bread and pasta; and processed meats. Cutting these foods out of your diet should help you feel better pretty quickly.

On the other side, anti-inflammatory foods will make you feel a bit better and they’re typically nutritious as well. Anti-inflammatory foods include berries, especially blueberries, fruits like oranges and cherries, dark leafy greens, tomatoes, nuts, fatty fish, and olive oil. When in doubt, go for whole foods with a minimum of processing.

Coffee and Tea

As discussed above, what you consume has a major effect on your inflammation. Because many people drink their inflammation as well as their calories, coffee and tea deserve special mention. Drinks high in sugar and high-fructose corn syrup, such as sodas, energy drinks, and fancy coffee drinks may be contributing to your inflammation more than anything you eat. It’s better to replace those drinks with tea or coffee.

Both are full of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds. Green tea is the best in this regard, but all coffee and tea offer some benefits. One recent study found that the mechanism by which caffeine keeps you from falling asleep may also reduce the production of inflammatory molecules in the body.

Manage Your Stress

As noted above, inflammation is often triggered by stress as the body prepares to face a physical threat. Unfortunately, this system is not well adapted to our current, more chronic forms of stress. Prolonged levels of high cortisol impair the body’s ability to manage inflammation and this is likely one reason chronic stress increases your risk for a number of health issues, including heart disease, obesity, and more frequent illness.

Managing your stress by reducing your obligations, getting regular exercise, getting adequate sleep, socializing with positive people, finding ways to relax every day, and so on, can significantly reduce inflammation.

Exercise

Exercise is important for recovery for many reasons, including improving your mental health. There are several mechanisms by which this works and one may be that it reduces inflammation. We don’t entirely understand how exercise reduces inflammation but studies show that regular moderate exercise does reduce inflammation markers in the blood.

This may happen because exercise stresses the body, causing minor damage, which is managed with increased production of anti-inflammatory molecules. However, it works, it’s clear that even 20 minutes of moderate exercise, such as walking, each day reduces inflammation.

Maintain a Healthy Weight

Being overweight significantly increases inflammation in the body. Excess body fat actually releases inflammatory chemicals and research suggests that this is a major reason obesity is linked to health issues such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and depression.

The good news is that many of the behaviors that reduce inflammation also help you maintain a healthy weight. Eliminating inflammatory foods, eating more anti-inflammatory foods, and exercising regularly make maintaining a healthy weight much easier, and the anti-inflammatory effects are compounded by fat loss.

More and more research is finding that inflammation is a mediating factor in many diseases, including depression. The good news is that unless you have an underlying medical issue, you can do a lot to reduce inflammation and the consequent health risks just by making a few healthy lifestyle changes, including eating a healthier diet, exercising regularly, managing stress, and maintaining a healthy weight. Furthermore, these various efforts tend to reinforce each other.

At Enlightened Recovery, we believe that the secret to a strong recovery from addiction is living a happy, healthy life. Our program emphasizes holistic, individualized treatment for mind, body, and spirit. To learn more, contact us today.

How to Write a Compelling Intervention Letter

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If you’ve tried reasoning with your loved one, encouraging them to get help, and yet their substance use only seems to be getting worse, it’s possible that the only thing left is to stage an intervention. Most people are familiar with interventions; they’re when you get some family members and possibly some close friends together, confront the person about the obvious damage their substance use is causing, and ask them to accept help.

A lot goes into a successful intervention and you should always enlist the help of an experienced interventionist to guide the process. However, one part of the intervention that you may be deeply involved with is writing an intervention letter. There are two main reasons for writing a letter beforehand. The first is that you want to have something to say and you want to say it without rambling. In other words, you don’t want to find yourself drawing a blank when it’s your turn to speak—after all, it is a form of public speaking—and you don’t want to go off on tangents that eat up everyone else’s time. The second reason is that interventions are often emotionally intense and you don’t want to get drawn into any arguments that might derail the process. With those two things in mind, let’s look at some considerations for writing a powerful intervention letter.

Start with love and support.

First, it’s critical to open your letter with a sincere statement of love and support. When someone walks into an intervention, they instantly become defensive. It’s important to remember—and to remind them—why any of you bothered to engage in such an unpleasant task. You wouldn’t do it unless you were genuinely concerned for the person and wanted them to be happy. It’s often a good idea to share a happy memory or express sincere gratitude for something the person did for you.

Emphasize that addiction is a disease that needs treatment.

When you’ve expressed your love and support, it’s typically a good idea to follow it with a statement about how their behavior when using drugs and alcohol is at odds with the decent, kind person you know they really are. What’s more, you understand that they have been behaving in this uncharacteristic way because addiction is a disease; one that needs treatment.

Give specific examples of how substance use has hurt your loved one.

After you’ve expressed your love and support and stated your belief that addiction is a disease, it’s time to move on to the meat of the letter: the real harm that drugs and alcohol have caused your loved one, and by extension, their friends and family. There are a few important points to keep in mind about this. The first is that you want to keep your examples as concrete as possible. Value judgments and generalizations open you up to arguments, so stick to facts. Instead of something like, “You’re always getting drunk and starting arguments for no reason,” go with something like, “Last Wednesday, when you were drunk, you were yelling at me so loudly that the neighbors called the police.” You can say that you felt scared, angry, hurt, and so on, but try to refrain from attributing feelings, thoughts, and motivations to the other person.

Next, stick to incidents you’ve experienced firsthand. For one thing, this gives you more credibility since you’re not relying on hearsay and rumors. Another reason is that there is a room full of people who are going to share their own stories and there’s no point relating a secondhand version of their stories.

Finally, resist the urge to embellish or labor your points. The incidents you choose should speak for themselves.

Ask them to accept help.

After you’ve shared a few examples of how substance use is hurting your loved one, reiterate that addiction is a disease and ask them to accept treatment. Say that treatment can be effective and life can get better. If they won’t do it for themselves, ask them to please do it for you.

State the consequences of not accepting help, when appropriate.

Sometimes it’s necessary to spell out the consequences of not accepting help. This is only done in a small percentage of cases and your intervention specialist will make a judgment on whether an ultimatum is appropriate in your case. If you do give your loved one an ultimatum, you have to be prepared to follow through. If you say that you’ll take the kids and leave unless your spouse accepts help, then you have to do it. Otherwise, they’ll know they can just continue to do whatever they want because your threats are meaningless.

Ask for feedback before the intervention.

With so much at stake, writing an intervention letter can feel like a huge task, especially if you don’t write very often. To make it manageable, start by breaking it down into the smaller tasks described above. Do a little brainstorming. For example, when you are writing the part describing the effects substance use has had on your loved one’s life, see if you can come up with 20 examples—from those, pick the most striking three to five to detail in the letter.

After you have a first draft of the letter, the real work begins. Put it away for as long as you can, to get a little space. That might not be long under the circumstances. When you look at it again, read it to yourself aloud. When you do that, a lot of awkward phrases will jump out at you. Since you have to read it aloud anyway, you might as well do it early. Make sure to have someone else look at it, so you can get some perspective from outside of your own head. Finally, you will probably have an opportunity to read the letter during a rehearsal or at least to show it to the interventionist. Take their feedback seriously; they have a lot more experience with interventions than you do.

An intervention is typically the last resort, but they often succeed in getting people into treatment. The important points of an intervention letter include opening with love, emphasizing that addiction is a disease, spelling out as concretely as possible the consequences of your loved one’s substance use, and asking them to accept help. At Enlightened Recovery, interventions are one of the many services we provide. To learn more, explore our website or call us today at 833-801-5483.

Can You Exercise Your Way Out of Addiction?

Written by Enlightened Recovery on . Posted in Addiction, treatment. No Comments on Can You Exercise Your Way Out of Addiction?

Exercise is now an integral part of many addiction recovery programs. This may include mind-body exercise like yoga or tai chi, more intense physical activity like weightlifting—or outdoor sports, which is somewhere in the middle. In a similar vein, many therapists are now incorporating exercise into their treatment for substance use issues and other mental health issues. It seems like we are always seeing new studies about how exercise can improve your mental health and help you stay sober, so a lot of people get the idea that maybe exercise is all they need. Can you really exercise your way out of addiction?

Exercise supports recovery.

First of all, it’s clear that exercise does support recovery and that addiction treatment programs know what they’re doing when they make physical activity an integral part of treatment. Several animal studies and a few small studies in humans have found that exercise can help reduce the risk of relapse. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20529968] In this case, the animal studies may be more compelling, since rats rarely respond to therapy. There are three primary ways exercise supports recovery.

Improves Physical Health

Addiction can take a terrible toll on your health, leading to a range of problems including malnutrition, cardiovascular disease, liver disease, diabetes, stroke, cancer, and infections. Exercise can help offset many of these risks, especially cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Improves Mental Health

While the physical health benefits are certainly nice, the mental health benefits of exercise likely contribute more to a prolonged recovery. Exercise increases levels of the feel-good neurotransmitter, serotonin, as well as dopamine, endorphins, and BDNF, a hormone that actually grows neurons in certain areas of the brain. Exercise can improve your mood within minutes and regular exercise can actually create structural changes in your brain, such as thickening the prefrontal cortex, which helps improve your self-control and emotional regulation. Exercise also improves your sleep, which has both mental and physical benefits.

Reduces Your Reactivity to Stress

Perhaps the biggest benefit of exercise—and the one responsible for many of the other benefits—is that it makes you less reactive to stress. Chronic stress obviously increases anxiety, but it also disrupts your sleep, increases your levels of hormones such as cortisol that can damage your cardiovascular health, and increases inflammation, which has been linked with depression. Researchers believe that among the benefits noted above, regular exercise affects the brain’s hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal, or HPA, axis, making you less vulnerable to stress and also less vulnerable to depression and anxiety—two challenges that commonly go along with substance use disorders. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1470658/]

However, exercise alone is not enough.

The benefits outlined above certainly tip the odds in your favor. Since most people cite stress as their biggest trigger of craving, anything that makes you feel less anxious or overwhelmed is certainly going to help you stay sober. The same is true for depression and other mental health challenges. However, there’s much more to recovery than turning down the volume on challenging emotions.

Doesn’t Teach Recovery Skills

While exercise is one lifestyle change that broadly supports sobriety, it’s certainly not a silver bullet. You won’t magically stay sober just by running 30 minutes a day. There are many skills specific to recovery. You have to know your triggers, learn to tolerate discomfort, devise behavioral strategies to avoid temptation and deal with peer pressure, learn to regulate your emotions, learn healthy strategies for managing and coping with stress, and other things that exercise alone won’t teach you.

One way to think of it is if you’re training for a sport—say, boxing. Obviously, a boxer has to be in good physical shape, which means running, push ups, weights, jumping rope, and so on, but no matter how fit they are, they won’t necessarily get better at boxing unless they actually train for boxing. It’s a high-skill activity that requires technique, timing, and knowing how to handle getting punched in the face. Similarly, in addiction recovery, you need both specific skills and lifestyle changes.

Doesn’t Address Mental Health Issues

Most people recovering from addiction will have co-occurring mental health issues, such as an anxiety disorder, major depression, PTSD, ADHD, a personality disorder, or others. As discussed above, exercise can help with these issues, but exercise alone is typically not enough. Some mental health issues require medication and most require some kind of specific therapeutic intervention. No matter how much you run, for example, you’re not likely to process your trauma or overcome your intense fear of social situations. That typically requires therapy. Exercise can improve your mood, but it often doesn’t change your thinking or behavior.

Doesn’t Provide Social Support

Finally, it’s important to remember that social support is one of the keys to a strong recovery. Exercise can certainly be social. In fact, studies have shown that team sports and other forms of group exercise are the best overall for improving mental health, both because they improve consistency through accountability and because they add a socializing aspect to exercise. While this is certainly good, the people you play basketball with every Saturday probably have no idea what it’s like to struggle with addiction. Any social connection with positive, supportive people is a good thing, but for the purposes of recovery, it’s especially important to have a group of friends who know what you’re going through.

Exercise is one lifestyle change that should be part of every recovery program. There are mountains of evidence that it improves mental and physical health and improves recovery outcomes. However, exercise in itself is typically not enough to keep you sober. Addiction is caused by many factors and a comprehensive treatment plan needs to recognize the specific factors relevant to you. At Enlightened Recovery, we know there is no one-size-fits-all in addiction recovery. We incorporate exercise and other activities into our individualized and holistic treatment programs. For more information, call us today at 833-801-LIVE or explore our website.

Eight Common Misconceptions About Psychotherapy

Written by Enlightened Recovery on . Posted in Mental Health, treatment. No Comments on Eight Common Misconceptions About Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy will be part of the equation for many people trying to overcome a substance use issue. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, more than half of people with substance use disorders have a co-occurring mental health issue. [https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/common-comorbidities-substance-use-disorders/part-1-connection-between-substance-use-disorders-mental-illness] These commonly include anxiety disorders, major depression, ADHD, PTSD, personality disorders, bipolar disorder, and psychotic disorders. These are often the driving force behind addiction and therefore need to be addressed for recovery to last.

For people without co-occurring disorders, therapy can be a way to help deal with trauma and shame as well as learning strategies for regulating behavior. Unfortunately, there are many myths and misconceptions about psychotherapy and these may make some people reluctant to seek help. The following are some of the more common misconceptions about therapy.

“Going to therapy means you’re weak.”

This one seems like it should be outdated by now, but unfortunately, it’s not. There’s still a stigma attached to mental health issues. People don’t want to be seen as weak or unreliable, and they’re afraid that going to therapy is like admitting they aren’t in control of their lives. This is especially true of men, who are less likely than women to seek therapy. In reality, mental health problems, like physical health problems, are just something that happens. We all understand that having the flu isn’t a character flaw; it’s just your body’s way of fighting a virus. Seeking therapy for a mental health issue shows that you are willing to take responsibility for yourself, which is the opposite of weakness.

“Therapy is just paying someone to be your friend.”

You often hear that going to therapy is just like paying someone to be your friend. Of course you’re going to feel better when, for perhaps the first time in your life, someone gives you their undivided attention for 50 minutes and seems interested in what you have to say. While that sense of validation is important, there’s more to therapy than just a gab session. A friend is not likely to bring years of psychological training and experience to bear on your conversations. A friend is not likely to have helped many people cope with similar problems or know how to help you overcome distorted thinking. What’s more, you don’t really want your therapist to be your friend. You want to get along and feel comfortable talking to them, but it’s also important to respect the therapeutic relationship.

“Therapy is all just common sense.”

A lot of what your therapist tells you may sound obvious after you hear it, but then you have to ask yourself, “If it’s so obvious, why didn’t I think of it myself?” As with any riddle, the solution is obvious once you know it. It’s often hardest to understand your own problems. We all have biases and blind spots, and even after we overcome those, we have defenses that prevent us from seeing the truth about ourselves. A therapist’s skill lies not only in understanding your problems, but also in helping you understand—and accept—your problems. And, of course, once you’ve reached that point, you have to know what you can do to solve your problems. Your therapist won’t do this for you or tell you what to do, but they will help you discover a solution.

“Therapy goes on forever.”

A lot of people imagine that once they enter therapy, they’ll be in therapy for the rest of their lives. They may be thinking of the old stereotype of psychoanalysis, where you come in every day for years and talk about your childhood, your dreams, look at inkblots, and so on. While there are still practicing psychoanalysts, most therapists today have more of a cognitive-behavioral focus. Instead of going over your whole life in minute detail, you identify the problem you want to solve and you work on changing your thoughts and behaviors to help solve it. With this approach, people typically notice improvements in as little as a few weeks, but, of course, this varies considerably depending on your issues.

“Therapy is too expensive.”

Therapy is too often seen as a luxury and it’s certainly true that mental health care is not as accessible as it should be. However, it may be more accessible than you think. Insurance often pays for therapy up to a certain amount each year and many therapists work on a sliding scale. Before you assume you can’t afford therapy, talk to a few therapists and see if they will work with you on the price.

“Therapy is all about placing blame.”

A lot of people assume therapy is about placing blame, often on parents or a spouse. Understandably, this makes some parents and spouses resist their loved ones getting much needed treatment. However, therapy is not typically about placing blame but rather understanding dynamics. It’s true that dysfunctional relationships contribute to problems, but it’s also true that labeling one person as “the problem” doesn’t do much to improve the situation.

“All you really need is medication.”

For a long time, there was this belief that mental health issues were all about chemical imbalances in the brain. That is probably true to some extent, but the idea that you can fix mental health issues with medication alone has been largely discredited. Medication may still be part of treatment, but these days, therapists are taking a much broader view of mental health that includes thinking, behavior, relationships, and healthy lifestyles.

“Talking about your problems only makes them worse.”

Another common misconception about therapy is that by spending a lot of time talking about your problems, you’re only reinforcing them in your mind and embracing a narrative of victimization. While this might be true in some situations, it largely misunderstands how therapy works. It’s true that in the old psychoanalytic view, the client would talk and talk and when they finally uncovered the root of the problem, they would be cured. Today, therapy is typically more focused on specific problems and the thoughts and behaviors that might lead to a solution. So in a cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT session, you might describe a problem you’re having, but then your therapist may draw your attention to an underlying assumption that could be untrue. In this kind of approach, you are talking about your problems, but always in a way that challenges or reframes them.

It’s important to realize that most people’s objections to therapy are really just rationalizations for avoiding it. They are afraid of going for a variety of reasons, so they latch onto these rational-sounding excuses. It’s normal to be apprehensive about facing your demons. Therapy isn’t always easy, but it has improved a lot of lives. The only way to know if it will help you is to try it with an open mind. At Enlightened Recovery, we use evidence-based therapeutic techniques to help our clients overcome substance use issues. To learn more about our treatment programs, call us today at 833-801-LIVE or explore our website.

Why Transitional Care Matters for Addiction Recovery

Written by Enlightened Recovery on . Posted in Addiction Recovery, Healthy Living, treatment. No Comments on Why Transitional Care Matters for Addiction Recovery

Completing a quality addiction treatment program is a great start to recovery. You get away from the stress and bad influences of your regular life, you work with a therapist, you get a chance to recover your health, and you establish new habits in a supportive environment.

You can accomplish quite a bit in a relatively short time during an intensive program. However, it’s also important to have a smooth transition back to regular life.

The protective, supportive environment of inpatient treatment is great for healing but it doesn’t much resemble real life. Too often, people who do well during treatment have trouble once they leave.

An estimated 40 to 60 percent of people who get treatment for a substance use disorder relapse within the first year of completing treatment. Transitional care can help you get back to your normal life with less risk of relapse. Here are some common ways people get tripped up and how to get past them.

 

Support 

 

Perhaps the biggest difference between being in treatment and being home is the lack of support. When you’re in inpatient treatment, everyone around you is either trying to help you stay sober or trying to stay sober themselves.

The staff works hard to make sure there are no drugs or alcohol in the facility, that you’re relatively comfortable, that you have the emotional support you need, and that you’re living a relatively healthy lifestyle. 

 

When you get home, things may be much different. The people around you may not know how to support you. Unlike treatment staff and other people in recovery, they may not really understand what addiction and recovery are like.

Since people in recovery are often encouraged to distance themselves from friends who drink and use drugs, they often feel lonely at first. You may not feel like you have someone you can talk to when things get hard. 

 

For most people, the best way to cope with this lower level of support will be to attend mutual aid meetings, such as a 12-Step group. It’s fairly common for people to attend meetings every day—at least for a while—after leaving treatment.

Another good option, especially for people who have had difficulty transitioning in the past, is to step down to a lower level of care. So, for example, if you have just completed a month of inpatient treatment, you might enter an intensive outpatient program so you can start getting back to normal life while retaining much of the continuity and support of treatment.

 

Structure

 

One thing you can’t help but notice in inpatient treatment is that everything happens on schedule. There’s a time you get up, times for meals, times for therapy, times for activities, and so on.

While this certainly makes it easier to coordinate everyone’s activity, it also serves a therapeutic purpose. When you have a healthy routine, it’s easier to make healthy choices. You are more likely to get enough quality sleep, eat at regular times, exercise, and do other things that promote recovery. 

 

Unfortunately, a month in treatment is typically not long enough to make this routine stick. Research indicates that it takes an average of two months—and often much longer—to make a new behavior automatic.

By the end of the month, you may be pretty used to your regular schedule and so you may suddenly feel pretty adrift when you go home and no one cares what time you get up or do anything else.

 

One thing you can do is to preserve your treatment routine as much as possible. Although it may not be automatic yet, it should be relatively easy if you make a deliberate effort.

Having some firm commitments, such as daily 12-Step meetings or intensive outpatient sessions will also help give some structure to your days. If you’re worried about being at loose ends after leaving inpatient treatment, one option is to enter a sober-living environment.

You will live with other sober people and have less structure than inpatient treatment but more structure than living at home. Typically, residents have a curfew, are required to work or look for work, are assigned chores, and participate in 12-Step meetings.

 

Applying Skills to Real Life

 

Finally, it’s important to remember that there is a huge difference between applying cognitive and behavioral strategies in a safe, controlled environment like inpatient treatment and applying them out in the world when there are real stakes. The hypotheticals and past situations you deal with in treatment aren’t always the same as the challenges you face in real life.

Real life is endlessly inventive when it comes to creating problems and you will inevitably have to face some challenges you didn’t prepare for. 

 

Some of the solutions already mentioned will certainly help with this. Attending 12-Step meetings, participating in intensive outpatient treatment, and living in a sober residence all give you opportunities to discuss new problems with people who have been there.

Many treatment programs also offer follow-up counseling for just this purpose. 

 

Another good idea is to get a therapist who you can see regularly. Most people with substance use disorders have co-occurring mental health issues, such as major depression, anxiety disorders, and others that typically require ongoing, or at least intermittent, support.

A therapist with experience treating addiction and co-occurring disorders can help you manage any mental health issues while also applying your recovery skills to whatever challenges you’re currently facing. 

 

Going from the structured, supportive environment of inpatient treatment to the chaotic indifference of real life is too often overwhelming for people new to recovery. Recovering from addiction is a long process that entails mastering new skills, thinking in different ways, and making healthy lifestyle changes, all of which takes time and support. 

At Enlightened Recovery, we know that treatment is just the beginning of recovery and we support our clients with follow-up care, including sober living options. For more information, call us today at 833-801-LIVE.

Self-Advocacy In Recovery

Written by Enlightened Recovery on . Posted in Recovery, treatment. No Comments on Self-Advocacy In Recovery

As you continue to work through this transformational journey of healing and recovery, you’ll find that a variety of situations come your way. Healthcare teams, administration professionals, doctors, recovery leaders, peers and more will become part of your social support team as you discover more of what you need. If you’ve recently started a treatment program, you’ve likely started some assessments in order for your healthcare team to get a good idea of what they can do to help you the most. 

While it’s great to have a team of people who can help you in times of need, the reality is that only you will be able to truly understand what you need and what you don’t need in a given moment. They’ll be able to get some great ideas, of course, from talking to you and reviewing information about you such as your medical history, family history of abuse and more, but part of that entails being able to speak up for yourself and stand up for what’s going to help you – otherwise nobody will know.

What Self-Advocacy Means

Self-advocacy could be defined as believing in yourself and standing up for what you believe would be best for your mental, physical and spiritual health. At Enlightened Recovery, your needs are very well respected and listened to. Self-advocacy means being well-aware of your own needs and being able to articulate those needs to others, so they can help you in the best way possible. If you’re wondering right now of ways that you could serve as a self-advocate consider these ideas: 

  • Believe in your abilities. You know what you’re capable of, and what can push you over the edge. Trust your gut.
  • Decide on some recovery goals and stick to them. Create a vision for yourself, and set some goals for where you’d like to be in the next week/month/year.
  • Educate yourself. Learn as much as you can about your addiction and/or mental illness, so that you’re more informed about your experience and can get a better handle on what you’re going through.
  • Gather support. Surround yourself with people who want to be there by your side.
  • Speak for yourself. When the time comes, speak clearly and respectfully, using as little words as possible to explain what you need. Doing this helps to avoid any confusion.

Discover Who You Are

As you experience a variety of situations, you’ll come across moments where you’ve done an excellent job of speaking up to what you need. In other instances, however, you may feel bad afterwards because you didn’t handle the situation as appropriately as you should have. You must remember that recovery is a process with ups and downs, twists and turns, trials and errors – recovery takes time, and it’s all about learning who you are and working towards speaking your truth.

Previous research has sought to explore how self-identity is built throughout addiction recovery, and what researchers have found is that we all have an “inner story” that we tell ourselves about how our lives are going. Parts of the story we tell ourselves may be truthful, but other parts may be a complete lie. In order to be the most authentic version of ourselves, we’ll need to uncover the parts of our story that were perhaps hidden from ourselves – and this can require some digging. 

As you dissolve some of your past fears, and begin moving towards healing and restoration, you’ll find this feeling of truth that feels wonderful – and it all takes time to form.

Recovery

Awareness is at the heart of finding ourselves and connecting with a power greater than ourselves, and addiction takes us away from that. 12-Step programs, however, guide us closer as we’re able to meet others who are walking similar paths as well as people who’ve become more confident in their own truth over time. Studies have found that by strengthening your sense of spirituality – or, in other words, connecting with a higher power – you’re less likely to relapse and more likely to remain strong on the path towards sobriety.

As you walk along this winding path, keep your eyes, mind, and heart open to learning from your experiences. Ask questions and reach out to people around you who can help you learn more about yourself; instead of seeing certain experiences as “black and white,” consider opening up your mindset to explore different scenarios that could potentially be the cause or reason. If you’re willing to adapt to various situations, you’ll find that you become wiser and stronger over time.

If you’re ready to begin the path towards healing, speak with someone from Enlightened Recovery today. The time to rejuvenate your mind, body and spirit is now – and the sooner you begin your treatment program, the sooner you’ll be on your path towards authenticity, discovery and healing. 

Mental health and substance use disorders often co-occur and must be treated simultaneously for the best chance of long-term success in addiction recovery. Enlightened Recovery understands that many people who are in recovery have experienced trauma during their lifetime. We want to help you heal not only from addiction, but also from trauma. If you or someone you know is battling a substance use disorder, call Enlightened Recovery today at 833-801-LIVE to learn how we can help on the road to a full recovery – mind, body, and spirit.