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How SMART Recovery Programs Factor Into Addiction Treatment

SMART Recovery is a four-point program created by healthcare specialists who have been in the field for over 30 years. It’s a science-based method that has helped thousands of people recover from addictive behaviors. SMART Recovery uses tools to help individuals with substance use disorder (SUD) change their thinking, emotions, behavior, and lifestyle. The program includes meetings where you can share your experiences with others going through similar difficulties, online support groups, and other resources to keep you on track.

What Is SMART Recovery?

SMART Recovery is a national organization dedicated to helping people overcome addiction with a four-point program. The acronym stands for Self-Management And Recovery Training (SMART); the program is based on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). The SMART Recovery method is based on science and does not focus on spirituality. The SMART Recovery program is one of the most well-researched addiction recovery programs, with a robust scientific foundation.

The Four Point Program

The SMART Recovery four-point program is designed to help you change your thinking, emotions, behavior, and lifestyle. The four points are:

  1. Building and maintaining the motivation to change
  2. Coping with urges to use
  3. Managing thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in an effective way without addictive behaviors
  4. Living a balanced, positive, and healthy life

SMART Recovery is a multifaceted strategy that guarantees the client receives comprehensive care. It is a well-rounded approach to give each client the best possible chance at Recovery.

How It Works

SMART Recovery is based on the principles of CBT. CBT helps individuals change their behavior by altering their thoughts, feelings, and actions. This approach takes a holistic approach to Recovery, recognizing the connection between physical health, mental health, and addiction.

SMART Recovery is also based on motivational enhancement therapy (MET), which focuses on helping individuals recognize the pros and cons of substance use. A therapist might ask questions such as: “What do you get out of using? What are some downsides?” The goal is to help clients identify a new way of thinking about substance use that can provide healthier alternatives to using substances.

Finally, SMART Recovery incorporates rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT), which teaches people how to deal with negative emotions in ways that don’t include self-destructive behaviors. The idea behind this technique is that it’s possible for individuals struggling with co-occurring disorders such as anxiety and depression, or any other kind of mental illness, to create positive changes in their lives.

The Steps of SMART Recovery

There are four steps to the SMART recovery program. These steps promote well-rounded care, whether you struggle with drugs or alcohol, gambling addiction, or other addictions. It can be a vital portion of your treatment to help you become successful in Recovery.

First Step

The first step toward Recovery is recognizing that there is a problem. It’s important to understand that drug addiction or alcoholism can be overcome with the right support and that you are in charge of your recovery process. You should know that SMART Recovery offers solutions for overcoming addiction.

Second Step

The second step of SMART recovery involves developing a list of pros and cons for continuing your current behavior or changing it. This will help you gain insight into your behavior’s advantages, disadvantages, and costs.

  • Pro: I can drink whenever I want.
  • Con: I have to deal with my hangovers every single time.
  • Pro: Alcohol numbs my anxiety and makes me feel good about myself for a few hours.
  • Con: The next day, I feel terrible because I drank too much and didn’t eat anything all night long; then, my anxiety comes back tenfold, and so does my depression.

Third Step

The third step of SMART recovery involves learning how to manage cravings and prevent relapse into old habits and addictions. Cravings are a normal part of the recovery process, but it can be easy to misinterpret them. You may believe yourself to be weak or failing in your sobriety. The more you understand cravings, the easier it is to deal with them in a healthy way, and this is where SMART Recovery comes in.

In SMART Recovery groups, members learn how to deal with their circumstances when they experience cravings for substances. Instead of succumbing to feelings of defeat or guilt when we feel tempted to use, we remember our commitment and use our resources wisely.

Fourth Step

Step four is crucial to learning how to maintain balance without falling back into old habits. This is an important part of the SMART recovery program; it helps you fight urges or cravings. It also gives you the tools needed to get through stressful situations and avoid triggers that could lead to relapse.

Learning this skill early on in the process will help prevent relapses later down the road, which can happen when people fall back into old habits or stop practicing self-care.

At Excel Treatment Center, we utilize SMART Recovery because it is a proven approach for overcoming addiction that has been used around the world for nearly 30 years. It’s based on science and does not focus on spirituality. It offers real-world tools to help you change your thinking, emotions, and behavior—and it can even help you recover from relapse. If you or someone in your life needs help recovering from addiction, then SMART Recovery may be the best option. Our commitment when using SMART recovery is to help clients work through their addiction to be able to come out on the other side and live a full life in recovery. If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, please reach out to us so that we can help you on this challenging journey through treatment and into recovery. To learn more, call us at (833) 883-9235. 

Author Stephanie Maitner Categories Uncategorized

Reclaiming Healthy Parenthood in Sobriety

While struggling with an addiction can feel like a completely isolating experience, it is still a disease that affects everyone. It involves the person struggling with addiction and their family and friends. However, even as one successfully navigates their sobriety, it can be difficult to reclaim one’s role as a parental figure within the family. There may still be barriers standing in the way of an individual regaining a sense of authority and respect for one’s children.

Transitioning into a parental role following addiction recovery comes with unique hurdles and stresses. However, it is possible to reclaim this role despite one’s history with addictive substances, using one’s newfound sobriety as a catalyst to rebuild the respect and trust essential to a familial unit.

Effects of Addiction on the Family

Addiction affects many people, and it is common that one’s family has also struggled to manage the addiction as a family unit. While one may want to tout their newfound sobriety following an effective treatment program, it is important not to shy away from how addiction has affected the rest of the family.

Confronting the Past

There will be times when one is asked to tackle criticisms of one’s past head-on, and being prepared for these dialogues is paramount to regaining trust in transparency. Taking time to acknowledge and listen to how addiction has affected one’s children is crucial for allowing a child’s voice to be heard. Having this conversation can also help guide parents to continue adjusting their parenting strategies to cater to the specific needs of their children.

These conversations can be challenging and may cause feelings of guilt, doubt, and shame; however, it is important to work through these emotions in order to heal. Therefore, it is important to be emotionally ready to navigate these conversations with a healthy approach and mindset when preparing for these conversations.

Healing Takes Time

Likewise, healing from addiction takes time for all involved. While one may want to reclaim their parental role as soon as possible to rebuild one’s familial structure, patience and time are necessary. It can take a long time for trust to develop and for one’s authority and voice to be heard with the intended effects. Treating one’s role as a parent as an ongoing dialogue can aid the healing process as one’s familial dynamic continues to rebuild the relationships following recovery.

Tackling the Dialogue

Sometimes, an individual will correct a child’s behavior only to be met with resistance. For those who have struggled with addiction, this can be a very trying time as a child may not want to listen to or respect a parent’s corrections or disciplines. A child may even bring up harsh past criticisms of one’s behavior. While unfortunate, it is important to be able to separate these two dialogues – the dialogue around correcting a child’s behavior and the dialogue surrounding one’s past. For most instances, both dialogues will need to happen, though not simultaneously.

Navigating the Feeling of Resentment

Asking oneself if such resistance is due to a parental approach or a feeling of resentment is challenging to process. However, refocusing dialogue on one’s past actions and onto the problematic behavior at hand is paramount. Tackling correcting a behavior first while also offering to discuss any pent-up feelings regarding one’s past use afterward or later in a safe space can help a parent retain authority at the moment while not silencing the feelings of one’s child. Remember, it will take time to tackle the tougher subjects, but with some patience and persistence, you will reach your goals together.

Keeping Focus on the Present

One’s role as a parent can be expressed through examples such as dialogues. Making a continued effort to improve oneself, maintain one’s sobriety, and further develop one’s sober identity and hobbies can be a potent message of transformation. Not only can tending to one’s new hobbies continue to benefit one’s sustained sobriety, but it can also help a parent reclaim their parental role by example.

Engage in New Hobbies to Redefine Identity

Inviting one’s children to engage in these new hobbies alongside oneself can further help redefine one’s identity and, thus, their relationship with their children. Trying to force oneself into a parental role can be difficult and is often a road met with resistance. Approaching this role with a degree of understanding, dialogue, and a focus on one’s continued and sustained sobriety can help to rebuild trust in one’s relationships with their children. The goal should be to re-establish a healthy outlook for the future as a healthy family.

Balancing your recovery as a parent can be a difficult act. There are a plethora of additional stresses tacked on to your recovery goals while learning to not only address maintaining your sobriety but also the familial dynamic and its effects. At Excel Treatment Center, we understand the difficulties of balancing your recovery with reclaiming your role as a parent. We can help you create a personalized plan to help you meet your goals today. With individual and group therapy, family programs, relapse prevention, and even parenting classes, we are prepared to help you make the transformation in your life both inside and outside of the recovery sphere. To learn more information on how we can help you, or to speak to a caring, trained staff member about your unique situation, call Excel Treatment Center at (833) 883-9235 to speak to us today.

Author Stephanie Maitner Categories Uncategorized

Benefits of Yoga During Outpatient Treatment

Recovery from addiction is a lifelong process that can be made more accessible by incorporating regular exercise into your daily routine. Yoga is a great way to stay active and connect with your body and mind, especially when incorporated into an outpatient treatment regimen. With mindfulness, yoga helps people focus on their breathwork, which can help them remove negative thoughts or stressors that may trigger drug cravings. By creating structure in your day through attending regular classes or simply doing yoga at home, you are making an opportunity for yourself to practice being present in each moment so that you don’t feel overwhelmed by triggers during outpatient treatment.

What Is Yoga?

Yoga is a supplemental or adjunct health activity frequently seen as a natural remedy and does not replace traditional treatment. However, yoga is beneficial when combined with conventional outpatient treatment techniques. Yoga is used in treating substance use disorder (SUD) and during recovery to help avoid relapse and ease withdrawal symptoms and cravings.

Yoga and Mindfulness

Yoga and mindfulness are great ways to improve health, mentally and physically. It can help you connect with your thoughts and feelings, be in the present moment, and create structure and routine. Yoga is not just about stretching or exercise; it’s a form of mindfulness that can help sync the mind and body. Mindfulness is about being aware without judgment or criticism, thus allowing yourself to experience each moment without trying to change it.

When you’re mindful, you can focus on what’s happening around you instead of what you perceive as going wrong inside your head. You can learn more about this through yoga classes or practicing at home when doing simple poses when you become more mindful of the things around you instead of stressing over ideas of a future that may or may not happen. It is an especially helpful practice to help reduce anxiety and promote mental clarity when approaching stressful activities in outpatient treatment.

Being mindful both before and after receiving addiction treatment has many positive effects. Many overlook that addiction affects both the body and the psyche. For long-term sobriety, having a strong mindset and motivation can occasionally mean the world.

Mind-Body Connection

Another benefit of yoga is that it can help you learn to focus on the body, breath, and mind. This skill is an essential part of recovery because it helps people:

  • Focus on the present moment
  • Take care of themselves
  • Relax their bodies and minds
  • Get rid of negative thoughts and feelings

The mind and body share a connection. Most people don’t feel worse after doing yoga. That’s because practicing yoga alters the chemistry of the body. By releasing tension in such locations, you help the energy of life flow. This makes you feel better, and when you feel better, your mind is relaxed.

The mind-body connection plays such a key role in outpatient treatment. It includes a whole-person perspective to comprehend each person’s issues and what they require for overall wellness. Incorporating yoga into your treatment program and connecting your mind and body will help you stay calm and focused. It will help you stay connected to your purpose and stay focused and relaxed as you work toward recovery.

Being Present

Yoga allows people in recovery to practice being in the present moment. Yoga is another form of meditation that allows you to move your body at will. This can help improve the quality of your sleep, which will help you feel more energized during the day. Yoga also teaches people to be mindful and aware of their thoughts or feelings. It’s important for people in recovery because they need to learn to be mindful so they don’t relapse into addiction again. It will also help you identify triggers that occur because of a certain thought or occurrence. This is vital to being able to identify and overcome triggers.

Structure and Routine

A regular yoga class helps create structure and routine. It can be a great way to add structure to your day, which is important when you’re in outpatient treatment. Yoga classes are often held at the same time each week, allowing you to anticipate when they will happen and plan accordingly. As a bonus, it gives you something more interesting than sitting in bed all day.

Yoga can also help build a routine that includes exercise as part of your life outside of treatment. Many people find yoga an easy way to stay active even after leaving the clinic because it doesn’t require special equipment or gym memberships—just some floor space and possibly 1-2 blocks depending on the pose.

Helps Process Emotions

Yoga is a great way to manage stress, cravings, and anxiety, and it can be used as an outlet for anger management and depression. All these things can be overwhelming for someone recovering from SUD, so yoga helps them learn how to process these emotions positively rather than using drugs or alcohol.

Yoga also teaches individuals how to connect with their body through movement and breathing, which helps them understand what is going on inside their minds without needing substances to feel better about themselves or the world around them.

Yoga can be a great way to improve health, mentally and physically. The mind-body connection also allows clients in outpatient treatment to connect with their thoughts and feelings. At Excel Treatment Center, we want you to be as successful as possible in your treatment program and recovery. We utilize the benefits of yoga to allow people in treatment to practice being in the present moment while teaching them how to process emotions and cope with stressors like anxiety or depression. Regular exercise is important during recovery to help individuals stay healthy and maintain structure, and yoga is one way that can help you as part of your outpatient treatment plan. If you or someone you know is struggling to manage a mental health or substance use disorder, please reach out for help today. To learn more about our programs, call us at (833) 883-9235.

Author Stephanie Maitner Categories Uncategorized

EMDR Therapy to Help Treat Trauma

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is an effective form of psychotherapy that has been found to be very helpful in managing the challenges faced by individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). EMDR therapy helps speed up the way one’s brain processes information. It also helps relieve some symptoms of PTSD, such as negative beliefs about oneself, and reduces stress levels associated with trauma triggers.

What Is EMDR Therapy?

EMDR therapy is an effective therapy that will help individuals get to the root of and manage trauma. It’s been shown to be especially helpful for people who have experienced abuse or trauma, such as:

  • Sexual assault
  • Domestic violence
  • Physical or emotional abuse by a family member or loved one
  • Car accidents
  • Violent crimes

Francine Shapiro developed the EMDR technique in 1987 after she observed how her clients with PTSD became calmer when their eyes moved back and forth across a therapist’s office wall.

The basic premise is that your brain stores memories in two separate ways:

  • Emotionally charged images like those from a traumatic event
  • Facts about what happened, before or afterward

When re-experiencing painful emotions from past events, you may be able to think about them more objectively if these two forms of memory can come together as one narrative. For example: “I’m remembering how scared I was during the fire at my house.”

How It Works

EMDR stands for eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy. It consists of eight phases that include the following components:

  • Cognitive processing: This phase involves identifying and processing negative beliefs or thoughts that have been formed as a result of experiencing trauma. The client may also be asked to write about how these beliefs cause them to feel uncomfortable, anxious, or depressed.
  • Body sensory integration: This phase involves tapping into the sensations associated with the trauma to replace them with other experiences such as relaxation or calmness. For example, clients may be asked to link their traumatic memories with pleasant ones in order to alter their negative feelings about themselves.
  • Stimulation phase: In this stage, therapists use stimuli such as tones that are paired with each traumatic memory until it becomes neutralized through repetition over time.

The therapist will guide you through eye movements designed to help you process painful memories or feelings by focusing on the present. By doing so, EMDR therapy helps you understand and remember what happened during a traumatic event without feeling overwhelmed or emotionally dysregulated. This technique also involves recalling positive experiences that occurred before and after the trauma, which helps reaffirm that your life is still fulfilling and meaningful despite what happened during your traumatic experience.

IS EMDR Right for You?

Since trauma can be difficult for many people to talk about, EMDR therapy may be helpful for those who have difficulty opening up about their past experiences or who find themselves unable to confront certain memories of abuse head-on. In addition, EMDR therapy has been shown to reduce pain responses in clients experiencing chronic pain syndromes such as fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) with minimal adverse effects compared to antidepressants.

Helps With Focus

EMDR therapy is a treatment that uses eye movements to help you process painful memories. It’s the same idea behind eye exercises for vision problems: by focusing on one thing, like an object or a letter, your brain can zero in on what it’s supposed to be doing. In this case, EMDR therapy uses eye movements to help you process your trauma and move on with your life.

Manage Anxiety and Depression

If you’re struggling with anxiety or depression after surviving a trauma like experiencing sexual assault, EMDR therapy can help. This short-term approach helps clients break through barriers and heal from past events by working directly with the mind instead of just talking about them repeatedly without any progress toward healing.

Discover the Root of Trauma

When individuals are treated with EMDR therapy, they can get to the root of their trauma and learn how to manage it. This is helpful because when people are discharged from treatment, they will still be able to manage their symptoms on their own.

Getting Help Today

Here at Excel Treatment Center, we take the time to talk to you to learn about your struggles and learn the best way to treat you. We come up with a treatment plan that will help you be successful. You will work with a team of mental health professionals that will create a specific plan tailored to you. This may include EMDR therapy to help you in your recovery.

EMDR is an emerging therapy that can help you deal with trauma and the root of your trauma. At Excel Treatment Center, we understand that symptoms related to PTSD and other types of trauma can take a toll on your life. With the help of EMDR, we will work together to help you overcome your trauma. Our trained staff and professionals are here to guide you through this process so you can regain control of your life and live up to your greatest success. Remember, you don’t have to face these battles alone, and we can provide the help you need. If you or someone you love is struggling and have not considered EMDR therapy, please reach out so we can assist you in your journey. To find out more information about our programs, contact us today by calling (833) 883-9235.

Author Stephanie Maitner Categories Uncategorized

Navigating Treatment While in School

Getting treatment can be difficult if you are in college and have a mental health or addiction disorder. There are many things to consider when seeking help for a mental health or addiction disorder. You may wonder how it will affect your schoolwork. What treatment programs will help you manage your needs and attend school? You might wonder if you should drop out of school temporarily or permanently. Knowing the answers to these questions will help you make the best decision for yourself and your future.

Addressing the Issue

If you are struggling with a mental health or addiction disorder, then you will want to address the issue as quickly as possible. Don’t wait until things get bad to seek professional help.

The right treatment will help you create a healthy environment for yourself and others. It also helps you be upfront about your situation with everyone involved. Reaching out to friends, family, and peers can create a support network to ensure that your well-being comes first. Therefore, when you need more support, you will have the resources to help with challenges navigating school and treatment.

How Long Will Treatment Last?

The length of your treatment program can vary based on the severity of your mental health or addiction disorder. For example, if you have an alcohol problem and struggle with depression simultaneously, it may take a more involved treatment to address these co-occurring disorders.

Consider choosing a treatment center that offers transitional living options so that once treatment is complete, there will be somewhere safe for you to live while you adjust back into society.

Having a Conversation With Professors

If you have a mental illness or addiction disorder and are concerned about how your treatment may affect your academic performance, it might be helpful to talk with your professors. Let them know that you are going through treatment. Of course, you only need to tell them what you’re comfortable telling them. Sometimes, letting your professor know can allow for more flexibility with deadlines and attendance. They may also be able to provide guidance for campus resources, such as group meetings for students managing addiction and mental health disorders.

Setting Goals

Creating goals is a great approach to keeping you structured, motivated, and accountable. Some things to remember when setting goals include:

  • Set goals that are realistic
  • Smaller achievable goals help you realize the larger goals
  • Set goals that help lend structure
  • Share your goals with a trusted friend or family member to stay accountable and motivated

Manage Your Schedule

You should also avoid scheduling classes on days where you have appointments that cannot be moved, such as group or individual therapy sessions or medical check-ups. If you can’t get your professors to change the time of your classes, consider looking for another class scheduled during a time that works for you. You might also want to ask if there are any accommodations available so that you can keep pace or catch up on missed work.

Taking Time Off

Taking a semester off from your studies may allow you time to get back on track with medication and therapy so that when it comes time for college, your symptoms won’t be as severe as they were before taking this break. Taking an extra year after high school could allow you more time to figure out what options would work best for you. Sometimes, having such serious issues makes it difficult for someone who isn’t suffering from these same problems to understand what needs to be done. You can use this time to:

  • Consult a professional
  • Find an appropriate diagnosis and treatment
  • Educate those around you about what you are experiencing

Recovery Is Possible

It’s important to remember that recovery is possible even while attending college or university. The first step on the road to recovery is accepting that you have a problem and reaching out for support. It’s also important to have a plan. Such plans might include anything from joining an addiction treatment program to changing your diet and exercising. Having a backup plan will also help you stay motivated when temptations arise during stressful times in your life. For example, while studying for exams or working multiple jobs.

Regardless of how challenging life may become, it’s critical that you remain flexible with yourself and others around you so as not to lose sight of what matters most. What matters most is maintaining your health throughout this process. Your honesty about where things stand today will help you find a treatment plan that is right for you.

In order to ensure you have a successful college experience, it is important to stay organized and know your limits. This requires working toward your goals one day at a time. At Excel Treatment Center, we understand that there are always steps you can take when things get tough. We can help guide you through the process, helping you develop tools to navigate treatment and recovery and help you determine if your school has resources available for students managing a mental health or addiction disorder. We will also help you establish a healthy support network of friends, family, and peers that will keep you motivated and accountable. If you or a loved one needs help, don’t wait; reach out for help today. To learn more about our evidence-based programs, please contact Excel Treatment Center today by calling us at (833) 883-9235. 

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