CBT for Addictions

The basics...
An Addiction is a complex illness with physical and psychological symptoms, affecting not only the patient, but their family, friends and social environment too. The way to recovery is long and painful and there's always the danger of relapsing. An estimated 2 million people in the UK have an Addiction, yet it remains a taboo subject

Dependence
Overall, we shouldn't view addiction or dependence in absolute terms. Dependence exists in many different ways and to a variety of degrees of intensity. There are some people who use substances on a fairly regular basis and over a prolonged period and experience few, if any, problems as a result. For others, however, the capacity to control how often and how much is used seems to erode quickly and a more powerful state of attachment or preoccupation with taking the substance develops

What happens next depends on the nature of the substance, how someone's using it, the problems that it may be linked with, and the various aspects of the person's psychological make-up, their personal and social relationships

Stages of Addiction

Most Addictions take time to develop and almost no one deliberately sets out to become addicted to a substance. What happens is a person's consumption progresses through several stages

Following initiation - maybe to experiment to see what the substance is like - a person may go on to use the substance again, and perhaps begin to use on an occasional then regular basis. Meanwhile, the amount that's consumed may also begin to increase. For some substances, the body rapidly becomes tolerant of a dose taken and the user will increase the amount to achieve a desired effect

Addictions and Addictive Behaviours and CBT

Popular conceptions of Addiction do not stop at drugs and alcohol. People can become overly attached to gambling, chocolate, computer games - even using the internet. These non-drug Addictive Behaviours are similar in that the person has a lack of control over their behaviour

There are popular and professional definitions of addiction. In everyday language, we think of someone who is addicted to something as having what could be called an unhealthy habit. Motivational 121’s are individual CBT therapy sessions to aid the individual to contemplate the option of stopping and then once a decision is made then a treatment pathway will be created to help you in your journey. An example of a pathway is The CBT Clinics Staying Stopped Program which is a group that meets 3 times weekly for 6 weeks

For more information regarding London CBT Clinics for Addictions and our Addictions Psychotherapists contact us

CBT London and the Home Counties

Our head office is based in Harley Street, London, while we also hold London CBT Clinics at the Healix Wellbeing Centre, Southgate and Angel Chiropractic Clinic in Islington. In the home counties we have CBT Clinics Locations in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Norwich, Hertfordshire, Kent , Surrey and Sussex. For more information, book an appointment or enrol in a Group CBT Programs you will need to contact us, register online or telephone 0207 467 1508

CBT in the City Personal "Cognitive Behaviour Therapies" structured to suit you, and your individual needs