12-Step Support Programs: One of the most common recovery support methods utilized today is the 12-Step Model. The founders of Alcoholics Anonymous created the 12 Steps as a guideline to overcoming alcohol addiction. Eventually, the program gained enough success that other addiction support groups adapted the steps to fit their own needs.
West Los Angeles is home to some of the best 12-Step support meetings in the world. Due to the interesting nature of the people who call Los Angeles home, we are lucky to experience some of the best and most powerful speakers out there and enjoy the positive impact that it has on our clients. 12-Step Support Programs provide individuals support, encouragement and accountability as they continue to overcome their addiction.
Art Therapy: Overcoming addiction is much more than overcoming the physical turmoil that addiction brings. In order to fully heal, it’s crucial to heal the underlying cause of the addiction. Art Therapy is utilized in our treatment regimen as a psychological component.
Art Therapy provides clients with an emotional outlet to express themselves, including the feelings, experiences, and thoughts that clients feel are too painful to articulate into words. Clients are able to use ink, clay, paint, or other materials to address the core issues of addiction. Many of our clients find art therapy a relaxing and enjoyable way to face the complex problems that they face in recovery. As individuals are exploring creativity, they are also expressing feelings and reducing stress.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): It’s extremely common that those struggling with substance abuse disorders also struggle with co-occurring mental health disorders. When clients struggle with negative thoughts, feelings, and emotions, it is only exacerbating the addiction and vice versa. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy doesn’t teach clients how to avoid these worrisome thoughts but instead teaches them how to move through them.
ACT encourages clients to manage their thoughts by understanding them. Clients learn healthy coping strategies that allow clients to stop avoiding emotions, accept them as what they are, and move forward. By learning acceptance-based strategies and mindfulness to their thoughts, people are able to respond to them rather than ignore, obsess, and check out over them. ACT contributes to the positive behavioral changes essential to long-term recovery.
Assertiveness Training: When a person is dealing with addiction, it’s likely that their addiction has isolated them socially and caused them to lose their positive assertiveness with others. Assertiveness training assists clients in gaining control over the previously out-of-control lives. When an individual learns how to be assertive, they are learning how to effectively communicate their needs to others.
Assertiveness Training will give clients a newfound sense of confidence, capability, and empowerment. It involves the individual being honest and acknowledging their own feelings first. Once they are clear about their feelings, they are able to be consistent and persistent when it comes to communicating with others. It also teaches clients how to properly establish healthy boundaries with others.
Attachment-Based Therapy: When a person struggles with maintaining healthy relationships, it could result in mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety. This is where Attachment-Based Therapy comes into play in addiction treatment with co-occurring disorders. Humans are born with a natural need for attachment, and how a caregiver responds to this need for attachment contributes to how we maintain relationships as adults.
Every client’s story is different. Despite this, it is almost certain that an individual struggling with addiction has damaged or strained personal relationships. Attachment-Based Therapy is a short-term counseling method that aims to improve a client’s ability to rebuild or develop trust in their relationships. This includes developing a trusted connection within the client-therapist relationship in order to effectively express emotions. In Attachment-Based Therapy, clients will learn how to recognize what’s happening in their own mind while being able to distinguish that from what’s happening in the minds of others. Through this type of therapy method, clients will be able to work through the psychological processes in the brain that have prevented them from forming solid relationships.
Case Management: Novo Detox offers clients case management services to help them maintain their trajectory towards long-term recovery. Case Managers are involved in multiple therapeutic and medical processes for those overcoming addiction. It’s important for case managers to thoroughly understand models of addiction, diverse cultures, and recognize the importance of support teams as it relates to finding the right resources for clients.
When a client works with a case manager, they are better able to coordinate their treatment services. Case Management Support at Novo Detox provides clients with services such as interpersonal counseling, virtual counseling with spouses or family members and sponsor selection. In addition to helping clients with treatment coordination, case managers can also assist you in filling out disability and Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) paperwork and helping with other legal issues.
Chemical Dependency Counseling: At our treatment facility, we understand that all of our clients will undergo a unique journey to recovery. The Chemical Dependency Counseling Program is tailored to meet each person’s individual needs as they attempt to navigate their new lives in sobriety. A significant part of the program is assisting clients in treating their dependency issues and discovering the underlying causes of their addiction.
Chemical Dependency Counselors understand the social, family, and mental health issues associated with chemical dependency. They help clients not only understand the cause of their dependency but also identify their triggers that could lead to relapse. Chemical dependency counseling sessions provide support to clients by giving them a place to talk about the issues they face and put a recovery plan in place.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): One of the most commonly used addiction treatment therapy modalities, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy helps clients understand the connection between their thoughts, emotions, feelings, and behaviors. Cognitive Behavioral therapists provide patients with the coping tools needed to resist cravings and prevent relapse. Clients work closely with therapists instill skill sets customized to them.
CBT is all about working to identify negative thought patterns in order to improve emotions and promote positive behavioral changes. Patients will learn how to eliminate substance-use patterns by replacing them with healthy behaviors. CBT assists in helping patients overcome addiction by dismissing negative beliefs and insecurities, providing self-help tools, and teaching effective communication skills. Therapists use a variety of techniques to accomplish this including thought records, goal setting, and behavioral experiment exercises.
Dance/Movement Therapy: In many cases, individuals suffering from drug or alcohol addiction find it difficult to put their emotions or feelings into words. Dance or Movement Therapy is an expressive form of psychotherapy that may be more effective than talk therapy for some patients. Dance therapy can be done with or without music, choreographed or freestyle movements.
Dance therapists use movement as a way to help clients relax and open up to their emotions. Dance and movement are used to provide a “voice” for emotions that may be difficult to articulate, help resolve feelings from trauma, and assist in uncovering buried emotions. Along with that, dance and movement therapy are used as a way for clients to process and release internal conflicts and worries.
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT): Originally developed to treat patients with borderline personality disorder and suicidal thoughts, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy is now one of the most common therapy methods used to treat addiction and co-occurring mental health disorders. The core ideas of DBT, including improved coping skills, communication skills, and self-image are essential to achieving recovery from addiction and mental illness.
DBT is considered a form of CBT, however, it differs in that it focuses on accepting difficult feelings, thoughts, and behaviors as well as change. The word Dialectical itself means integrating opposites- finding a balance between accepting what is and what needs to change. A DBT session has a curriculum that includes mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, emotional regulation, and distress tolerance. It helps individuals recognize emotions, learn how to accept some of them as a part of their lives, and change the ones that lead to negative behaviors.
Eclectic Therapy: Every person is different, which means that there is no one-size-fits-all process of addiction treatment. This is why it’s so critical to implement an individualized approach to each client. Eclectic therapy is an integrative form of psychotherapy that adapts to the specific needs, goals, and issues of each specific client.
An eclectic therapist uses a range of proven treatment methods to create a custom combination of therapeutic tools for each client and their particular situation. While it may seem unstructured at first, the therapist is actually trying out different methods to see what works best for each person before creating a consistent plan. Since this type of psychotherapy draws on different types of therapy, it works best for those who are suffering from more than one type of issue.
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT): When one of both individuals in a relationship are suffering from addiction and co-occurring mental health disorders, it could cause tension and strain in the relationship. Emotionally Focused Therapy is a form of couples therapy developed to help individuals in a relationship become more conscious of their emotions and express them more openly. It also helps couples regulate their emotions and develop empathy for others.
EFT works to “reprogram” the way individuals approach and interact with their loved one. Like the name implies, Emotionally Focused Therapy helps create a deeper emotional connection and stronger attachments between loved ones. While in an EFT session, clients are provided with a safe space that facilitates open emotional expression that is essential to a healthy, loving relationship.
Existential/Humanistic Therapy: When addiction or mental health issues have plagued a person’s existence for so long, they tend to lose a sense of purpose. Existential or Humanistic Therapy aims to help clients reach their true potential while finding their sense of purpose in their life. This therapy modality is a positive approach to psychotherapy that helps individuals become more comfortable with themselves.
The basis of Existential/Humanistic Therapy is “a hopeful, constructive view of human beings and the individual’s substantial to be self-determining.” Therapists focus on the present while addressing the client’s history in a way that supports a greater understanding of how these past events contribute to who they are today. In a therapy session, the client and the therapist are seen as equals, with the therapist providing unconditional empathy and positive regard to the client. Through humanistic therapy, clients learn to see themselves and their behavior in a clear light.
Experiential Therapy: Sometimes, individuals in recovery may not be comfortable with speaking to therapists traditional sessions. Experiential Therapy provides these clients with a nontraditional treatment setting to work through repressed emotions. These types of sessions are typically hands-on, engaging activities that help clients process and cope with past negative events.
Common experiential therapies include outings to museums, hikes, and other recreational type activities. This therapy modality is designed to help individuals in treatment for addiction develop a stronger sense of self by acknowledging past traumas. During these activities, therapists will help clients face these issues without using substances for an escape.
Family / Marital Phone Sessions: Addiction is a family disease. The consequences not only affect the individual with the addiction but the entire family system. It’s likely that addiction has not only taken over the client’s life but has also placed their family members under a great deal of stress and anxiety. As a result, family members may develop unhealthy coping habits.
Because of this, we offer Family and Marital counseling phone sessions. These sessions can include anyone significant in the client’s life including a significant other, parent, sibling, etc. Through HIPAA-compliant technology, counseling is available through telephone sessions. Family and Marital counseling aids in identifying and changing the way family members interact with one another in order to establish healthy communication in a positive environment.
Family Systems: A Family System approach to therapy once again keeps in mind that addiction is a family disease. The family systems theory is about looking at the behavioral patterns that were passed down to clients from their families. Family systems therapy takes a deeper look at how a client’s family operates and how those dynamics affect the client’s daily life.
Individuals who participate in family systems therapy will come to terms with being a part of a large family unit and that the dysfunction does not start or end with them. It helps clients identify their own issues and work to resolve them. Understanding that you can love your family while starting a new course in life is critical in this type of treatment method.
Gestalt Therapy: There is not one treatment method that will work for every individual struggling with addiction. Gestalt Therapy recognizes this, and treats the individual as a whole person instead of focusing on specific events or factors. With this therapy modality, the client becomes more self-aware and recognizes the thoughts that have influenced their negative behaviors.
Gestalt Therapy focuses on the present moment and puts them more in touch with their current feelings. It centers on treating multiple factors at one time, addressing each at the same time. In turn, the person improves their personal health and well-being by overcoming the challenges that contribute to addiction.
Gottman Method: A newer approach to addiction treatment focuses on couples in recovery. The Gottman Method in couples therapy draws together the elements that contribute to long-lasting relationships. Taking a relational approach to addiction treatment helps to heal the individual with the addictive disorder as well as their partner and relationship.
Utilizing the Gottman Method helps increase the couple’s communication and the ability to establish healthy boundaries. Creating a couple recovery plan will also allow individuals to become more understanding of one another’s feelings while healing from the impact of addiction. The Gottman Method provides clients the tools they need to enhance their relationship success.
Group Therapy: It’s not uncommon for someone suffering from drug or alcohol addiction to feel isolated or alone in their struggles. Group therapy is a form of counseling used to treat psychological disorders including addiction. Many individuals benefit from the peer support that comes with group therapy.
In comprehensive treatment programs like Novo Detox, group and individual therapy are combined to result in effective treatment plans for each client. When an individual participates in group therapy, they are able to share their experiences with others who have had to deal with similar issues. In a group setting, clients are given the opportunity to learn new coping methods, practice their communication skills, and gain strength from their peers. Not only that, but they also get the opportunity to provide support for others and build lasting relationships.
Imago Relationship Therapy: Imago Relationship Therapy draws on the idea that every individual brings emotional baggage from childhood into relationships. These childhood wounds stemming from their family environment are often the core of the couple’s conflicts. Imago Relationship Therapy helps couples uncover these underlying issues while they develop a deeper connection with one another.
In Imago Relationship Therapy, individuals learn how to relate to one another in a healthier way. It also reveals the emotional factors from childhood that resulted in their current situation. By examining these emotional factors, they are able to view the conflict as an outcome of these factors. Approaching the conflict this way allows the couple to arrive at a positive solution while healing and growing together.
Individual/ Interpersonal Therapy: Addiction treatment reaches far beyond simple detox alone. Along with group therapy, individual (or interpersonal) therapy is used as an essential tool in treatment. In individual therapy sessions, clients would work one-on-one with a mental health professional to gain self-knowledge, addiction education, and improve their inner strength.
A client’s individual therapy sessions will be structured specifically for their needs. A session can touch on many subjects, but will mostly focus on the client’s current concerns. Clients and therapists will work together to establish goals for each session in a collaborative fashion. The therapist will work with the individual through the different stages of recovery using the approaches that work best for them.
Intervention Services: Individuals struggling with addiction and self-destructive may be resistant to getting help. Intervention services provide concerned friend and family members the tools they need to make an effort to improve their loved one’s well being.
An intervention takes place at the rehabilitation center and guides individuals who are either refusing help or unable to initiate or accept help themselves. A peaceful, respectful, and structured confrontation is planned and organized by the person’s concerned friends or family members. The individuals must try and get the person’s attention and accept whatever help is being offered, in this case, treatment for addiction and other co-occurring disorders. The idea behind an intervention is that a planned, non-threatening action in a negative situation can have a positive impact on the outcome.
Jungian Therapy: Our mental health professionals use Jungian Therapy to bring together the conscious and unconscious parts of the mind to bring the client a sense of balance. Clients are asked to look deeper into their mind and look at their true self rather than the self they present to everybody else. Jungian Therapy is often used to treat depression, anxiety, grief, trauma, or other emotional issues.
In a Jungian Therapy session, clients will explore the deep-rooted issues stemming from repressed experiences in order to achieve “wholeness”. In addition to regular talk therapy, therapists may use various techniques such as journaling in order to encourage self-expression and bring together the different parts of the mind.
Life Coaching: Recovery is an ongoing, life-long process. It takes planning and dedication in order to lead a healthy life in sobriety. Life Coaching services are a form of behavioral support that focuses on providing strength to those in recovery. Professional life coaches work clients through the critical time of early recovery to overcome challenges they may face.
The main purpose of a life coach for our clients is to help guide them towards their goals. They establish a clear plan and set specific objectives. While counselors and therapists provide clients the tools they need to succeed in recovery, life coaches help implement these tools to make positive choices.
Life Skills Training: In order to succeed in recovery beyond sobriety, it’s vital for individuals to learn life skills in treatment. Life Skills Training prepares individuals to re-enter the world after treatment. Our program teaches clients how to make better life decisions in order to maintain long-term sobriety. After all, success in treatment is not only about becoming sober, but learning how to navigate life in sobriety.
After leaving a treatment facility, individuals will face real-life barriers in a whole new way. While in an inpatient setting, clients have been removed from the stress, distractions, and contact with the outside world. Now, as they take the next steps forward, they must prepare for the realities of recovery. Life Skills Training programs provide clients with personal, professional, and social skills to become functional members of society. This includes basic tasks such as grocery shopping, proper hygiene, and budgeting. Professional skills include job hunting, problem-solving, and computer skills. Clients will also learn social skills that build self-esteem, manage stress, and regulate emotions.
Mindfulness Therapy: When it comes to treating addiction, there are endless ways of thinking. Mindfulness is a school of thought that has great potential to heal the body and mind in recovery. When a person practices mindfulness, they are actively paying attention to the present moment, taking into account their current thoughts and feelings without criticism. It’s about acceptance, free of judgment, and taking a neutral stance on what you’re experiencing.
Mindfulness can be described as a sense of mental awareness that originated in meditation practices. Presently, it is used as an element in certain types of cognitive behavioral therapies. One of the basic ways that mindfulness aids in addiction treatment is by slowing the mind down and achieving a sense of tranquility. Calming the mind is a huge accomplishment in recovery, as people may have previously used substances to achieve this. Mindfulness also allows people to start to notice the positive sensory experiences in everyday life that are often overlooked. It also helps people achieve a better understanding of themselves, understanding why they react to things the way they do. Having these new realizations about themselves make it easier to work through the challenges of recovery.
Motivational Interviewing: When a person enters addiction treatment, they are most likely facing feelings of fear and uncertainty. Motivational Interviewing is a patient-centered therapeutic approach that helps move clients away from the sense of indecision towards finding the motivation to move forward making positive changes in their lives.
Motivational Interviewing is a collaborative goal-oriented experience between the client and the interviewer. With addiction, individuals often have a lack of motivation to quit, which is one of the greatest barriers faced in treatment. In a Motivational Interview session, clients learn how to recognize the severity of their issues and how it affects their lives through a series of open-ended questions. Patients will begin to understand the reasons that they should make a change and how it is possible.
Narrative Therapy: Every person has a story or narrative. For individuals struggling with drug or alcohol addiction, it’s possible that their story is one that includes negative elements throughout, overshadowing the positive. The goal of narrative therapy is for people to separate themselves from their problems and use their own strength to facilitate change.
When people focus on the negative situations in their lives it shapes how they think and behave. Narrative Therapy helps clients externalize these issues and understand that they do not define who they are as a person. By separating themselves from these problems, individuals are able to “rewrite” the narrative of their lives in a more positive way.
Pain Management: For many people struggling with addiction, their addiction began as a way to manage chronic pain. Chronic pain can be the result of an injury, surgery, or illness. In an effort to medicate themselves, people turn to drugs or alcohol. When an addiction develops and the individual seeks treatment, it’s important to find healthy and effective methods of pain management.
In many cases, the patient’s discomfort continues as they recover from addiction. Pain Management at our facility is a collaborative process between the client and our treatment professionals to successfully manage discomfort and prevent relapse. This includes treatment with non-addictive medications and mental wellness strategies that help the client become less fixated on their pain and move forward with other aspects of their lives.
Person-Centered Therapy: Developed in the 1940s by Carl Rogers, Person-Centered Therapy differs from the traditional model of therapy and places the client in the expert seat. The therapist is there to support and encourage the client through the recovery process without interfering in their journey towards self-discovery.
Clients who participate in person-centered therapy get the opportunity to boost their self-esteem, increase their self-awareness, and gain clarity as they focus on their goals. Although it is a collaborative process, the client ultimately determines what course of action to take. The therapist provides feedback to guide the client and provide a clearer picture
Psychodynamic Therapy: Recovery from addiction is about uncovering the underlying issues that lead to addiction in the first place. The goal of Psychodynamic Therapy is to help clients understand the deep feelings that they may not even realize they had. These feelings could manifest into behaviors such as projection and denial, which only mask the symptoms.
Individuals can address the deep-rooted reasons why they use substances and gain insight on ways to manage their impulses. The relationship between patient and therapist is important in psychodynamic therapy, as a trusted bond should be developed in order to address these emotions.
Self-Reflection & Relaxation Training: A major component of addiction treatment is removing clients from the stressors of daily life and providing a fresh, new environment for healing. Self-Reflection is the willingness to learn more about one’s nature and purpose. When a person has been struggling with addiction for so long, they tend to lose their sense of self. The journey to addiction recovery is one full of self-reflection and rediscovery.
Relaxation is a powerful tool used in addiction treatment for individuals to learn how to manage stress in order to prevent relapse. In a relaxed state, individuals are able to think critically and examine their own thoughts, opinions, and motivations in order to remove harmful behaviors. Clients will learn multiple ways to relax and self-reflect, including meditation and physical exercise techniques.
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT): Unlike other forms of talk therapy that analyze past life events, Solution-Focused Brief Therapy focuses on finding solutions in the present time and exploring the possibilities of the future. It places a focus on the person’s strengths and a clear understanding of their goals.
The foundation of SFBT is setting goals. The therapist will work with clients to identify them and clarify how they would change the client’s life. It is a short-term approach to therapy that enhances positive feelings and provides hope. The belief that the solutions for most of the client’s issues lie within themselves is a core premise of SFBT. In this type of therapy, patients do not focus on the client’s weaknesses but instead, the client is regarded as a capable human being that possesses the solutions that they need to make a positive change.
Somatic Therapy: Somatic Therapy combines traditional talk therapy methods with alternative therapies for a holistic approach to healing. Mind-body exercises are used to help clients release the built-up tension that is negatively impacting their physical and mental wellbeing. Along with addiction, Somatic Therapy is used to treat depression, anxiety, grief, and other issues related to trauma.
The idea behind Somatic Therapy is that the mind, body, spirit, and emotions are all connected to one another. Because of this, past negative or traumatic events affect the central nervous system resulting in changes in the facial expressions and posture along with physical pain. The goal of this therapeutic modality is for clients to release the tension, anger, and frustration to prevent stress and pain from interrupting their lives.
Strengthening Support Systems: Having a strong network of support is vital to success in addiction recovery. Having a support system helps individuals navigate through their new life in sobriety and lessen the risk of relapse. Recovery is a long road, but being surrounded by a healthy group of individuals who uplift you makes it more manageable.
In treatment, clients will get the opportunity to build and strengthen their support system through various support group meetings. They will also gain a clearer understanding of who they are and what they need from others in terms of support. With a healthy support system, facing challenges is much less difficult. Family and friends in recovery also empower you and allow your confidence and self-esteem to grow.
Stress Management: The road to recovery presents its fair share of challenges. After treatment, individuals will face cravings, triggers, and stress. In order to succeed and achieve long-term recovery, clients must learn how to properly handle the stress that could lead to relapse. Finding healthy ways to manage stress is critical in leading a healthy, successful life in sobriety.
Clients will undergo Stress Management Therapy to learn how to recognize and address stress appropriately. They will also learn techniques to prevent unnecessary stress, such as taking mental breaks and eating a healthy diet. Managing stress is a skill that needs to be worked on continuously by recognizing the physical and psychological symptoms.
Visualization/Guided Imagery: Clients who do not know how to properly manage the stress they face in life are at a higher risk of relapse. Visualization, or Guided Imagery, is another method used to reduce stress, increase positive thoughts, and improve coping skills. Although visualization is a major component of this method, it is much more than simply imagining something in your mind.
Considered a form of hypnosis, Guided Imagery Therapy puts clients in a highly relaxed state to awaken the subconscious mind. It uses the connection between the central nervous system and visual cortex to impact the physical and emotional state to bring about healthy changes. There are several different cognitive imagery techniques used in guided imagery, including positive and negative imagery, associated imagery, and coping imagery.
