When you prepare to recover from your addiction, you benefit from understanding the stages of recovery. When you can identify your progress, you’ll better understand what you need to maintain sobriety in moments of struggle. At In Balance Counseling, our counseling service in Tucson help people overcome their addictions and live healthier lives. 

Below, we outline the five stages of recovery from addiction. Remember that the recovery process is not linear. Call us at (520) 722-9631 for substance abuse counseling options.

Stage 1: Acknowledgement

When you first begin moving away from addictive substances, you acknowledge that you have an addiction. This step is crucial in dispelling common misconceptions on addiction, such as the belief that one can control their substance abuse without help. Before this acknowledgment, you may have dodged the problem by rationalizing your addiction.

Eventually, you realize that the substances control you. You need the substances to function. At least a few parts of your routine revolve around acquiring and using the substances. 

Stage 2: Action

Stage two includes making conscious decisions to move away from your addiction. During this stage, you might express desires in private or to others about wanting to let go of substances. You may also begin cutting back on the substances you use. 

However, acting alone can have dangerous consequences. Use caution when cutting substances out of your life. You may need help from a treatment center to go through withdrawal safely. 

Stage 3: Recuperation

Recuperation occurs immediately after withdrawal. Out of all the stages of recovery from addiction, many recovering addicts identify this stage as the most difficult. It involves learning how to live day to day without the assistance of addictive substances. 

You will experience psychological and physiological changes during this period. Addiction counseling can help you manage daily stress, past trauma, and other factors contributing to your desire to use. In addition, you can learn skills and coping mechanisms to push past substance cravings. 

Stage 4: Recovery

Once your body and mind adapt to a life free from substances, you begin the recovery state. Recovery involves three phases:

• Early recovery changes your thought patterns
• Middle recovery improves your lifestyle
• Late recovery identifies bad habits that lead to addiction

Each of these phases could last years. You could find yourself repeating different stages or phases, especially if you relapse. However, everyone’s recovery looks different. 

Stage 5: Preservation

Also called the maintenance stage, preservation occurs when you find comfort and stability in your newfound life. It takes time to get here. You may make mistakes during the other stages of recovery from addiction. 

However, persistence and belief in yourself can help you find substance-free life. During this last stage, you will flourish. 

Find Your New Balance with In Balance Counseling

If you struggle with addiction, you can find hope for a full and continued recovery. The compassion and empathy we provide at In Balance Counseling provide the gentle guidance you need.

Call us to enter the ‘action’ stage today at (520) 722-9631 and learn more ways to recover, like exercise for addiction recovery. 

Recovery From Addiction

People often talk about “fighting” addiction, but you can’t win a fight without preparing your mind and body. You also need a team you can trust at your back. 

In Balance Counseling, the top choice for counseling in Tucson, believes in a holistic approach to recovery that includes a commitment to an intensive program. We use physical fitness and exercise for recovery from addiction.

Overcoming addiction is also about transitioning to a new lifestyle that gives addiction less power and control. Exercise can enrich and reinforce that new lifestyle so patients can surmount obstacles on the path to recovery.

Here are just a few roles a regimen of physical exercise can play in an effective active recovery plan.

Restore Your Normal Sleep Pattern

Addiction can lead people to sacrifice their basic biological needs. Altered sleep patterns is one consequence of addiction. People in recovery from addiction can suffer from insomnia that depletes their energy stores during the day. An intensive workout during the day tires out the body in a healthy way, preparing the body for restful sleep.

Better Cardiovascular Health

Drugs of abuse and other addictive substances and activities can take their toll on the heart, lungs, and blood vessels. The body of a person recovering from addiction bears the aftereffects of psychological and physical stress. 

Physical activity gets the heart pumping, improves blood flow to vital organs, and increases energy levels. Using intense exercise for recovery helps patients build the stamina they need for the other elements of an intensive treatment program.

Changing Scenery

Even if you aren’t up for a tough workout, simply going to the gym regularly is a great way to break the patterns of addiction. Establishing a new routine in new surroundings opens your mind to new ways of thinking. 

As addiction progresses, the brain associates certain places (bars, casinos, old hangouts) with cravings and highs. If you don’t usually go to the gym, it can be a healthy place to find a fresh start.

Stress Reduction

Many people with addictions turn to them to escape stress, only to find their troubles growing and multiplying. Exercise is a productive and sustainable way to reduce stress. During the recovery process, it offers a better way to cope and regroup when life seems overwhelming.

Rediscover the Natural Joys of Life

A healthy, well-balanced life offers many pathways to pleasure, satisfaction, and a sense of purpose. A person in the grip of addiction sees those other sources of pleasure fade as their addiction takes over. Physical exercise provides a sense of accomplishment, provides measurable goals, and gives you a natural sense of euphoria. 

Find Balance and Strength with Intensive Counseling Services from In Balance Counseling

Do you struggle with addiction? In Balance Counseling has information and guidance for people in every stage of the recovery process. For help with addiction in Tucson, AZ, and advice on how to use exercise for recovery, call In Balance Counseling at 520-722-9631. For more information, read our tips on avoiding addiction relapse.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is one of the most widely used forms of therapy worldwide. Therapists rely on it to treat different disorders, which has proven very effective over the years.

CBT is a considerable part of the intensive outpatient program in Tucson by In Balance Counseling. Read on for the answer to “why is cognitive behavioral therapy effective?”

What Is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a type of therapy that explores the connections between our thoughts and behavior. It helps people understand and challenge negative thoughts. It takes place over a fixed number of sessions.  

The goal of CBT includes the following:

• Teach the patient how to recover from a despondency caused by mental health disorders and stress 
• Help the patient to learn strategies to help themselves without the need for a therapist
• Encourage patients to challenge negative beliefs and recognize positive ways to tackle life situations and achieve positive outcomes
• Help patients live active, fulfilling lives

Why CBT is Highly Effective

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy is effective because it relies on the cognitive model of emotional response. The model states that our behaviors and feelings come from our thoughts instead of external stimuli.

CBT embraces a problem-focused and goal-oriented approach and doesn’t rely on psychoanalysis. It is highly engaging, and the patient is accountable for the therapy results.

The therapy approach focuses on the present instead of analyzing the patient’s historical development. Most CBT treatments require five to twenty sessions to show results. Other therapies will require months or years of multiple sessions to generate similar results.

One of the answers to “why is cognitive behavioral therapy effective?” is that CBT is an excellent form of therapy for helping patients understand how they can change their lives by changing their thoughts. It doesn’t try to change past fears or actions.

It also gives patients hope about their condition. It achieves this by highlighting how our thoughts are not always an accurate depiction of reality.

Most mental health conditions thrive off negative thoughts. CBT breaks the pattern and brings clarity.

What Conditions Can CBT Help Treat?

CBT can help with the following mental health conditions:

• Anxiety. CBT is an effective therapy for different types of anxiety disorders, including social anxiety, panic disorder, and phobias.
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). CBT treats OCD by trying to understand the causes of unwanted intrusive thoughts.
• Eating disorders. CBT effectively treats various eating disorders, including binge eating and bulimia nervosa.
• Bipolar disorder. CBT addresses the feeling of guilt and other thoughts and beliefs that accompany manic episodes.

Get Outpatient Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Tucson, AZ

We hope we’ve answered the question “why is cognitive behavioral therapy effective?” in this post. Do you have any questions? Don’t hesitate to reach out.

At In Balance Counseling, we provide high-quality intensive outpatient services in a group setting for people dealing with drug and alcohol abuse and those dealing with co-occurring mental health issues.

Learn more about our intensive outpatient program.

Call In Balance Counseling at 520-722-9631 for quality CBT treatment in Tucson, AZ.