An Evidence-Based Therapy sessionThere were many years in the world of addiction treatment where medical science was completely baffled about addiction. It wasn’t until 12-step fellowships came along in the 1930s that people were actually able to stay sober for extended lengths of time, but medical science still needed to understand what was happening to those who became addicted to drugs or alcohol.

Obviously, technology was limited in the 1930s, but it has since progressed quite a bit and the world is finally beginning to understand more about the disease of addiction. Evidence-based therapy has changed the way people with an addiction are treated, and the results have been extraordinary.

Understanding Addiction and Evidence-Based Therapy

For many years, people with an addiction to alcohol or drugs were regarded as completely hopeless cases. Up until the mid-20th century, there wasn’t much any medical facility could do for someone with a dependence to substances like alcohol or heroin. People were often told after multiple relapses that their only hope of staying sober was to be locked up in jail or a sanitarium. These were troubling times because people who suffered from addiction felt as though there was no light at the end of the tunnel, and many people had misconceptions about the disease of addiction.

Many people look at someone who suffers from an alcohol or heroin addiction and think the individual should have enough strength and willpower to overcome the problem. The thinking is that these people should be able to see what their drinking or using is doing to themselves and others and be able to stop. However, this isn’t the case. After extensive research, addiction has finally been classified as a legitimate mental illness.

Research has found that people suffering from addiction have an abnormal reaction to mind-altering substances. The prefrontal cortex of the brain is designed to restrict the pleasure system and provide the person with logical thinking as well as self-control. If you were to take 90% of the world’s population and monitor their brain activity when they drink alcohol or use a drug, you’d see something much different than someone who suffers from the disease of addiction. Addiction is a disease of automatisms, which is where evidence-based therapy comes into play.

Forms of Evidence-Based Therapy

Evidence-based therapy has been shown to help people recover from their addiction. Medical institutes have tracked the success rates of these types of treatment methods as well as how a person’s brain is retrained during the process, which makes these methods the most effective way of treating people with an addiction to alcohol or heroin. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is one of the most commonly used forms of evidence-based therapy because it’s designed to help retrain the mind by allowing a person to replace old self-destructive behaviors with new ones.

Although some people may question 12-step fellowships as a form of addiction treatment, 12-step programs are actually evidence-based. Although you’ll be going through a variety of different therapeutic methods like CBT, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy in treatment, 12-step fellowships are an excellent way to continue your sobriety upon discharge.

Beaches Recovery Provides Long-Term Recovery

By coming to Beaches Recovery in sunny Florida, you’ll not only be able to get sober, but with the help of evidence-based therapy, you’ll be able to stay sober as well. Beaches Recovery is dedicated to helping provide clients with the tools they need to leave treatment with the confidence that they can continue their sobriety for the long term.

It’s time to put your life back on track. Through the Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) or Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP), you’ll be able to overcome your addiction to alcohol or heroin, so give Beaches Recovery a call today at 8666050532.