Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for Addiction - Paper Example

The treatment centers its attention on changing by coupling positive and negative strengths, with an action that needs to be improved or limited. CBT has an outstanding record, with various studies indicating its efficiency in treating anxiety, depression, and obsession.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

A good example of behavior pattern that goes against the expectations of the user is an addiction. Looking at the situation of his family relation, Dave genuinely wishes to stop drinking alcohol and be a responsible father but finds it extremely hard to do so. According to the CBT, addiction is caused by depression and inaccurate thoughts. Clarity to this is viewing how one`s emotions and thoughts interrelate. Psychologists say that most of our thoughts rely on beliefs that are unrealistic or hard to fulfill (Carroll & Onken, 2005).

A negative, dysfunctional opinion affects one`s physical state, the reason for selfless, mood, and even behavior, The aim of CBT is to help a person learn to evaluate their validity, identify negative models of thought, and restore them with healthier thinking habits. I will employ the following components in CBT to help Dave stop alcohol.

Skill training

When a person has reached a point where they cannot cope with the problems they face without taking alcohol, they need to seek treatment from a therapist for the drug and alcohol dependence. Cognitive behavioral therapy is mainly aimed at helping the person learn or relearn better-coping skills. In the case of Dave, I will try to help him learn to develop healthier skills, habits, and unlearn old habits. Dave has a habit of quarreling with his wife whenever he gets home drunk which is very unethical in marriage. Melanie who is her wife keeps complaining that Dave does not keep up with her chores and does not admit of mistakes he does. Through cognitive therapy, Dave will be educated to alter how Dave thinks about alcohol use and be trained on better means to manage the situation and conditions that led to the situation. I will ask him to stop taking alcohol by first distancing from the friends he hangs out with at the bar. The training will impose behavioral contingency in Daves case to help him live a drug-free life. These opinions, at last act as a foundation for negative feelings that provide for depression, anxiety, and obsession. Systematically keeping records on our thoughts, feelings and possible events that triggered them, we can manage our ability to change our behaviors by taking control of the mental processes. Dave can change his patterns of thinking and feelings by only looking at them in a practical manner that will not lead to cycles of addiction. By gratifying himself for the better behaviors, the harmful actions will be replaced with time and soon become a routine (Very well - Know More Feel Better).

Functional analysis

As a therapist, in this case, I will work closely with Dave to identify his feelings, circumstances, and thoughts before and after drinking alcohol. In this way, risks can be determined that have the possibility of causing a relapse. Through functional analysis, Dave will be able to get insight into why he takes alcohol and identify the areas where he has coping difficulties. In our case, we see that Dave has difficulty in stopping taking alcohol and there are possibilities that we can devise to get a reason for that. It is the second time that he is being arrested for being drunk. Moreover, even after going through rehabilitation programs, Daves situation remains the same. He may be doing this out of depression because, in his part, he says that he had tried to cut off drinking but finds himself back into it. The result of this may be out of his feelings towards his friends. We can see that even as he prepares for his trials, he is distraught on having to abstain until trials. He wonders how he will explain to his friends the reason for not turning up for drinking. If only he can be able to understand why and how he got into drinking through this therapy, it can be a foundation to help him stop. After all, it will dawn on him that he only drinks to please his friends or drive out fear (Marlatt, 1979).

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)

The therapy emphasizes the ability to accept feelings and thoughts instead of trying to fight them. In Daves case, he gets angry and defensive most of the time with his wife. There is usually a disagreement between them concerning his heavy drinking which in my view, Dave is being driven by some awful thoughts and feelings that he finds hard to accept. Once he goes through this therapy, he will be able to discover himself and recognize that actual drinking does not add up to his life. He even admits that because of drinking, he has widened the gap between him and his family and that he will not blame his wife for anything. Fear has clouded his mind off the fact that his family is not much into him and this makes him drink even more. Through this therapy, I will ask Dave to learn how to accept his feelings instead of fighting them by over drinking in a bid to forget about everything. Helping Dave understand and accepting that it is not wrong to have been charged with such a situation in the first place with help drop his fear. In this case, his work history is excellent, as he does not miss at work. However, he has always lived with the fear that either his boss or co-workers might learn about his second arrest and his treatment. This fear could be a likely cause for his drinking, and the therapy will be beneficial (Verywell - Know More Feel Better).

Behavioral therapy

It is an action-based approach aimed at removing unwanted behavior by reinforcing desirable ones. The foundation of this therapy was developed from the principle of behaviorism, which argues that people gain knowledge from their environment. The technique employed in this form of treatment is supported by the conditioning theories of operant and classical. Similar old learning approaches that were used to development unwanted behaviors are used to fix new learning (Rimm & Masters, 1974).

The behavior therapy techniques that I will use to help Dave address his problem of alcoholism include:

Chaining

The ultimate goal of this technique is to enable Dave to stop his drinking behavior, but he cannot just stop it once. The reason being he is already an addict. Chaining is a technique, which involves breaking down tasks into smaller ones for Dave. Once he has learned the first task, I will go to the next gradually until the whole sequence is put together. This behavioral technique relies on the principles of operant conditioning. It utilizes training in shaping related techniques to modify behavior.

I would help model desirable qualities in Dave by first identifying the cause of his drinking before I get to his triggers. Finding out the possible origin of his drinking and behavior is easy because he says that his father used to drink and beat her mother. It is not genetic, but we can say that he must have learned this from his parent. After knowing this, I would help him change that mentality and view alcohol as something that can cause hatred and destroy families making children acquire bad behavior from their parents. I would then ask him to find an alternative leisure activity after playing football instead of walking straight to the bar. It will help him avoid getting tempted to drink. I will recommend that he go home immediately, refresh with a cold shower, and stay close with his family if there is nothing else he can do. If only he can avoid passing through the bar, he will not be in a position to buy beer that he sometimes carries home. This process will be gradual since it will require him to adapt what he is not fond. After learning this behavior, he should try to change friends or hang around people who do not drink. It will help cut the pressure drinkers experience from their friends.

Self-motivation technique

I would encourage Dave to embrace self-management as a program that will help him control his drinking. The primary purpose here is t help him aware of why, when and where he is drinking. He will also be able to record his progress and develop strategies for coping by setting rules for himself especially now that he is an addict. I ould ensure that he makes precise rules and decisions that are realistic and which he will live up to fulfill. These limits, however, should be set at a point that lowers the risk of social problems or ill health that alcohol consumption might produce. The therapy requires that a client is confident with the limitations. I will use guidelines for drinking sensitively to come up with better daily maximum limits he should achieve. After work, it means Dave will have to take different tasks like participating in volunteer work and initiate them. I will take a closer monitoring to ensure that he is leaving to the rules and ones he shows signs of adaptation, I can now let him manage himself without my supervision. This therapy is essential in many ways. However, it compels one to avoid some of his friends and minimizes freedom to achieve its goals. Commitment is the key.

Classical conditioning using aversion therapy

This treatment means that a particular motivation elicits an accurate response. Cues trigger an automated reflex response. It is necessary to help Dave reduce the power of these signals such as exposure to bar locations and even friends. Aversion therapy aims at eliminating unwanted behavior such as alcohol addiction. I would intentionally form a joint association of an unpleasant experience and unwanted behavior. I would prescribe a nauseous drug that will make him vomit whenever he takes in any amount of alcohol, however, small. In this way, I will have formed a corresponding union between vomiting and liquor. Before the aversion therapy, Dave would typically correlate positive feelings with alcohol. However, after the therapy, he will associate alcohol with vomiting and nausea. Several patients under this treatment at the thought of alcohol express feelings of nausea so will Dave. However, this procedure takes some time to wear off, and it will be wise for Dave to find a new method or manner of living to cope the situation. These new approaches should help him adapt living without taking alcohol. It should be noted that drinking is voluntary a behavior while desires and cravings are voluntary. Therefore, this therapy works by diminishing the longing for liquor by lowering its longing (A. Tom Horvath et al. (n.d).

Reference

A. Tom Horvath, Ph.D., ABPP, Kaushik Misra, Ph.D., Amy K. Epner, Ph.D., and Galen Morgan Cooper, Ph. (n.d ). Classical Conditioning and Addiction. http://www.centersite.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=48409

Carroll, K.M.; and Onken, L.S. (2005). Behavioral therapies for drug abuse. The American Journal of Psychiatry 168(8):14521460,

Marlatt, G. A. (1979). Alcohol Use and Problem Drinking: A Cognitive-Behavioral Analysis. Cognitive-Behavioral Interventions, 319-355. doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-404480-7.50016-2

Rimm, D. C., & Masters, J.C. (1974). Behavior Therapy: Techniques and Empirical Findings. New York: Academic.

Verywell - Know More. Feel Better. (n.d.). Retrieved March 17, 2017, from https://www.bing.com/cr?IG=14B55B03636F4085B02AA9374A1C2B48&CID=256069D6EDB860701518639EEC896116&rd=1&h=fUCMCN3K9-pU-A6ONkKeQVtf1a-3zrtLLwcWZ7ELgcs&v=1&r=https%3a%2f%2fwww.verywell.com%2f&p=DevEx,5063.1