Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) for Drug Addiction Treatment

An addiction treatment center may provide rational emotive behavior therapy to patients. REBT is a type of cognitive-behavioral therapy.

In order to meet the needs of each patient, rehabilitation centers often use a wide range of therapies. An addiction treatment center may provide Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) to patients. 

REBT was one of the first types of cognitive-behavioral therapy that people knew about, and it is still a very effective way to treat addiction. Findlay Recovery Center can help with this; read on to find out more. 

What Is Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy?

REBT is a type of therapy that teaches people how to change the way they think in a way that leads to healthier beliefs and behaviors. This kind of treatment is especially helpful for people who have problems with drugs or alcohol misuse and for people with mental health problems. REBT is especially helpful for teaching people new ways to think and act because addiction is often caused by thoughts and actions that don’t work.

Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy is based on the idea that most people don’t think about their lives in a logical way. For example, a person may think that if he or she doesn’t do a good job at work, they will be seen as a failure. Even though other people can see how incorrect this way of thinking is, the person who has it often can’t.

Irrational thinking can make a person feel and act in ways that are harmful and upsetting as they try to live up to their skewed ideas of reality. People feel defeated and not good enough because they can’t live up to their irrational ideas of how life should be. This can make the cycle of addiction worse and make other mental health problems like anxiety and depression worse.

The goal of REBT is to teach people how to recognize their irrational beliefs and fight them. By doing this, people can set more realistic goals and expectations and stop doing and feeling things that are bad for them. So, self-destructive behaviors like using drugs may be less likely to happen.

How Does Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy Work?

REBT is based on the idea that a person’s negative reactions to things that happen in their life are caused by what they think about those things. As a result, REBT is most concerned with changing a person’s beliefs about life.

There are three common illogical beliefs that Rational Emotional Behavior Therapy targets. The “Three Basic Musts” refers to these three fundamental principles.

REBT says that the “Three Basic Musts” are:

  • An unrealistically high need to do well and get approval from others to be good enough.
  • An irrationally high expectation of others and the need to be treated with respect and considerately by others all the time. 
  • An irrational hope that one will always get what they want.

People often believe things that don’t make sense, but the Three Basic Musts cover the main ideas behind these beliefs. Having these beliefs can make a person feel and think badly, which can lead to destructive actions like using drugs.

REBT says that addiction is caused by thoughts, actions, and feelings that are not helpful. The goal of REBT is to change these bad habits into more positive and realistic ones.

Here are the main ideas behind how REBT works to change thoughts and actions that lead to addiction:

Changing thoughts: Alcoholics and drug abuse addicts often view the world through a rigid, black-and-white lens, where there is only one correct answer; to take more drugs and drink more alcohol. This indicates they consider drug or alcohol use essential to their survival. REBT counters these notions by encouraging people to analyze and examine their own thoughts.

Changing how you see yourself: People who are struggling with addiction and require addiction treatment often have low self-esteem and find it hard to see themselves in a good light. REBT helps people feel better about themselves and more confident about themselves.

Changing behavior: Irrational thoughts often lead to irrational actions. In the case of addiction, this is especially true. Many people who are addicted to drugs or alcohol feel like they need to use them right away, and they do. REBT helps people deal with their irrational behaviors and think about what they are going to do before they do it.

Finding An Addiction Treatment Program That Offers REBT

Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is a type of treatment that can help people get better. Several alcohol treatment and drug rehab centers use this type of therapy as part of their programs to help individuals recover from addiction. Contact Findlay Recovery Center today to find out more about what REBT can do for you or your loved one if you need drug treatment or alcohol rehab assistance.

Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) For Alcohol Addiction Treatment

What is an Intervention

At Findlay Recovery Center, we boost our clients’ confidence in their ability to maintain sobriety at our newly renovated and affordable drug and alcohol rehab treatment program. We offer recovery programs for addictions of all kinds, but for alcohol addiction treatment specifically, we offer therapies such as rational emotive behavior therapy. We believe that everybody has the ability to maintain sobriety and overcome their addiction – all they must do is ask.

When somebody works hard to overcome addiction to alcohol, they realize that there are two fundamental steps that they must take. The first is to get help from a specialist to detox safely. The second is to receive therapeutic treatment within a customized program to ensure that they are able to move through the addiction, the withdrawal and get the help and support that they need. 

Recovering alcoholics have a very strong desire to achieve something after recovery, and the situation can trigger cravings if they are not receiving support or achieving the thing that they would like to achieve. This is where rational emotive behavior therapy can step in.

What is Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy?

This method of emotive behavior therapy is actually a branch of cognitive behavioral therapy. It’s a placement of the same approaches, listening to examine the root cause of addiction and behavior, and in this form of psychotherapy a therapist will be able to help you to focus on the now. It helps you to examine any current emotional stress you may be feeling, and it helps you to examine your unhealthy behavior and how to overcome them. By focusing on right now, you can feel more hopeful towards your recovery and being able to live a life in the now after recovery.

Rational emotive behavior therapy works towards breaking down irrational or false beliefs that have become your reason for using drugs or alcohol. Here are the steps that are used:

Detect

With your therapist, you will be able to detect certain thoughts or feelings that have led you to your addiction.

Debate

Next, the thought will be compared with a different point of you and you will debate this with your therapist. Once you compare your thoughts on an unbiased level, you can get a better idea of the situation as a whole.

Decide

Lastly, once beliefs have been broken down you have to decide whether they are correct or not. The best way to do this is to consider the consequences of that belief – as in, alcoholism.

This is an effective therapy tool to help you to accept yourself and others and the world around you. Your therapist will work with you to determine and show you your feelings and your thinking pattern to determine whether your thoughts are rational, or whether it’s your addiction. 

You will then be able to challenge your negative approach to your stress which is usually triggering your alcoholism, and instead of turning to alcohol to alleviate the stresses, you will learn other coping options that are less destructive for you and your family. It does not need to be suppressed, managed, or judged, just supported.

During detox, you’ll be able to rely on this type of therapy to help you to straighten what’s going on in your mind and unravel a tangle of negative thinking. While rational emotive behavior therapy may not be for everybody for alcohol addiction treatment, it is an effective therapy method that you could benefit from which targeted treatment planning with us. You need to be able to examine why you are addicted to alcohol as much as you are addicted to the substance itself.

If you could face your reasons for turning to alcohol in the first place, you can start to untangle all of the knots that have been caused over the course of your life to lead you to this space you are in right now.

Reach Out to Findlay Recovery Center

If you or your loved ones are seeking treatment for addiction and you would like to know the steps to overcoming addiction in your own home, reach out to us today. Our goal is to help anybody who contacts us because we believe in you. If you are ready to get help then we are ready to help you and support you through this process. 

We won’t tell you it’s going to be easy. Our affordable drug and alcohol rehab center in Ohio is here to help you with tailor-made treatment plans for substance abuse.