ARC, West Los Angeles  California

The Purpose of Individual Therapy – The Role it plays at the Authentic Recovery Center

The purpose of offering individual therapy in the ARC addiction treatment program is to create a more comprehensive treatment setting in which the root causes and conditions of alcoholism and addiction can be identified and addressed.

It is generally understood – both by addiction treatment professionals and potential addiction treatment clients – that individualized treatment is crucial to creating successful addiction recovery. The question really becomes, “What are the actual individual services offered in the addiction treatment program?”

Most traditional drug treatment programs do offer individual sessions on a weekly basis. However, those sessions are usually with a substance abuse counselor. This is not individual therapy. The difference between individual counseling sessions and individual therapy sessions are:

Substance Abuse Counseling: is a level of certification only. Counseling certificates can be obtained online in as little as two weeks. This level of certification does not require any collegiate achievement or study. It often does not include any comprehensive scholastic or internship completions and does not focus on psychological analysis or testing in any way. Substance abuse counseling focuses more on the physical elements that arise from addiction v. the underlying elements that contribute to its inception.

*Areas of Expertise: Despite limited traditional education, most substance abuse counselors have a wealth of personal recovery experience. They have firsthand knowledge of the feelings associated with active alcoholism, addiction and substance abuse and they have personal experience with the feelings that arise in early recovery from these conditions. Due to this experience substance abuse counselors are usually particularly good at educating clients about triggers, relapse prevention, identifying pre-lapse behaviors, what the 12-steps are and what modalities exist for recovery. Substance abuse counselors ultimately serve as great role models and their personal recovery success often inspires hope in clients.

Addiction Therapy: is a modality assigned as a sub-specialty to a level of therapeutic licensure. Licensure requirements include a Masters Degree in Psychology and 2-3 years of applied internship hours (3000 hrs.) followed by a examination administered by the governing board. This level of licensure is focused on scholastics and training specific to all relevant modalities of psychology and the board examinations must be passed prior to licensure going into effect. Addiction therapy focuses more on the issues that contribute to the inception of addiction v. the physical elements that arise from the condition.

With ARC we offer each client:

• Five (5) individual therapy sessions per/week
• Two (2) individual substance abuse counseling sessions per/week

By offering five individual therapy sessions per/week the ARC addiction treatment program focuses more on the underlying clinical issues that contribute to the pathology of the addictive process. We believe that to truly address and resolve these underlying factors individual clinical therapy must be implemented by licensed professionals that are trained to address psychological issues.

The ARC addiction treatment program does also include an individual focus on addressing the symptoms of alcoholism, addiction and substance abuse by offering clients the additional benefit of addiction counseling sessions but ultimately our belief is that counseling sessions are more of an educational tool to point out the physical manifestations of these conditions.

Our treatment philosophy is that alcoholism, addiction and substance abuse are the mere physical manifestations of deeper underlying clinical issues. Our belief is that these underlying issues must be addressed so that the belief systems that contributed to the self-destructive addictive pathology can be gently altered in such a way that sustainable addiction recovery can be possible.

Types of Individual Therapies Offered at the Authentic Recovery Center with Brief Descriptions

Examples and brief descriptions of therapeutic modalities that the Authentic Recovery Center utilizes during individual sessions are.

• Grief Therapy

This type of therapy refers to the treatment of issues of grief and/or loss. Often useful as a tool to address past and/or present situations that have created a perceptual inability to cope with the emotional hills-and-valleys associated with the slow or rapid processing of a sad or disillusioning event. The therapist will establish a safe place for feelings around an occurrence can be explored so that reprocessing can begin and new coping mechanisms can be implemented.

• Trauma Therapy 

This type of therapy refers to the treatment of issues of trauma. Trauma, dependent on its nature and onset can sometimes affect the cognitive processing of the person who experiences the trauma. In other words, the subconscious can create a “blank-spot” where the traumatic event is hidden from immediate view of the individual’s memory. This event, however, will still manifest itself in complex adverse belief systems that can motivate the afflicted to attempt to recreate the general nature of the event(s); often so that a different outcome might take place. The therapist will attempt to establish a safe place for the nature of the initial event(s) to be re-explored and so that appropriate sadness, fear or feelings of powerlessness can be reprocessed as a point in time v. a perpetual emotional experience or sub current and present-time adverse belief system. Coping mechanisms to address the pathology specific to trauma survivors are implemented so that the cycle of abuse, self-neglect or self-destructive behaviors can be altered to a more positive way of being.

• Somatic Therapy

This type of therapy refers to a modality of individual therapy more than a specific need for therapy. In other words, somatic therapy can be used in many situations where individual therapy is indicated. (Trauma, grief, anxiety, panic, anger, stress, etc.) Somatic therapy is very holistically oriented and helps to integrate aspects of the mind, body and spirit in one therapeutic session. Somatic therapy is a process that focuses on the nature of an emotional occurrences’ capacity to manifest itself physically. In essence somatic therapy in its simplest form shows what happens to an individual who is experiencing stress by allowing them to notice how they’re carrying the stress in their shoulders or back. Somatic therapy works by pointing out areas where individuals are “holding” their emotions. Once this is accomplished the therapist will provide the client with methods to discharging these emotional acuities by taking them through physical exercises to locate and alter the way in which they are “storing” their emotions. 

• Reflective Therapy

This type of therapy refers to a more cerebral method of treating the conditions of alcoholism, addiction and substance abuse. In its simplest form, reflective therapy is the process by which a therapist will explore these conditions with an informationally-based approach that includes education about the nature of the brains response to the presence and/or absence of alcohol and other drugs. It also is a therapy that can be modified to address the nature of an individual’s response to their own alcohol or drug induced actions and behaviors. It is a helpful tool with A-Type personalities where analytical thinking in the fundamental basis for most thought processes. This is because the therapist will take a more reality-based approach to treating addictive pathology. The purpose is to raise the awareness of the individual undergoing therapy to the biochemical and emotional responses and reactions to the consumption of alcohol and other drugs. Once awareness is created the therapist will typically begin to provide a more cognitive-behavioral based approach to the process of staying abstinent. In other words, reflective therapy is designed to answer the question of “why” addiction/abuse is occurring so that coping mechanisms pertaining to abstinence can be imparted in a cognitive way.

• Analytical Therapy

This type of therapy refers to the methodology of treating each past, present and projected future event by analyzing how a person has responded to it or projects they will respond to it. In the analysis of these responses the therapist will further analyze early environmental issues to provide the client insight as to why these are the systems of responses that are presently in place. It allows the individual undergoing treatment to re-educate themselves about how to implement healthier responses to stress, relational discord and/or situations that promote the behavioral pathology of addictive responses.

• Insight-Based Therapy

This type of therapy is often the most effective modality of individualized treatment for the person who is showing signs of drug abuse v. drug addiction or alcoholism. In essence, people who are abusing alcohol and/or other drugs often don’t have the history and severity of negative consequences that are so recognizable in most cases of chronic alcoholism and/or chronic addiction. The therapist will work with the individual to encourage the development of insight into the nature of the more subtle negative effects the abuse patterns have on their life. Once these insights are created, this new awareness about the progressive nature of abuse pathology can create the platform from which positive behavioral shifts can be made. These shifts are offered through suggestions made by the therapist which differentiates insight-based therapy from some other therapeutic modalities in that in this process the therapist plays a much more active role during sessions.

• Reason-Based Therapy

This type of therapy is very similar to the insight-based approach in that the therapist also plays a more active role in this modality. However, reason-based therapy is useful for both an abusing and/or addictive pathology. This is because reason-based therapy is only utilized when an understanding of powerlessness is present in the individual undergoing treatment. When individuals are aware of the fact that they behave differently when under the influence but find they are unable to break away from this pathology, reason-based therapy coupled with the physical abstinence that accompanies the decision to enroll in treatment combine to create the foundation from which abstinence can be maintained. Individuals undergoing reason-based therapy are assisted in correlating the fact that their intentions are often not fulfilled when they use alcohol and/or other drugs because of these substances effect on their ability to follow through and achieve their desired goals. It stands to reason then, that if the individual wants to complete their intentions they should stay away from alcohol and drugs. The therapist will further this insight by offering suggestions about how to most successfully accomplish this goal. These suggestions will include empirically-based information about what behaviors and situations most often lead to relapse and how an individual can implement lifestyle changes to prevent these situations from occurring.

• Psychodynamic Therapy

This type of therapy is an expansive methodology and includes many modalities of therapy that are of an analytic nature. Most psychodynamic therapy techniques generally adhere to the work of Freud but often include roots based on ideas of others such as Jung and Adler. In this type of therapy the therapist keeps his/her personality completely removed from the process. In other words, the therapist plays a much more passive role. The purpose of this is to allow a safe, supportive setting where the individual undergoing therapy can transfer and project deep feelings about themselves and others onto the therapist. This allows the therapist to assist the individual in gaining a better understanding of what their disturbances are and how their mind works.

• Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

This type of therapy is somewhat of an umbrella-term for therapeutic modalities that focus on cognitions, interpretations, beliefs and responses. The purpose of this focus is to influence problematic emotions and behaviors and to develop new responses and coping mechanisms. Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is one of the more effective treatment methods for individuals experiencing alcoholism, addiction and substance abuse because the technique is typically used to help individuals identify and monitor thoughts, assumptions, beliefs and behaviors that are related to negative emotions and actions. The perspective created in CBT often becomes a vital tool in recovery because of its subsequent ability to create awareness around potential relapse behaviors. Additionally, CBT is empirically-based and is a proven therapy for the treatment of many disorders and psychological problems. This allows the entire psychological system to be reshaped and helps to address other psychological challenges that contribute to abuse and addicted pathology.

• Dialectical Behavioral Therapy

This type of therapy is typically utilized to treat individuals with borderline personality disorder although is also effective in treating individuals with behaviors associated with spectrum mood disorders and/or self-injury. The therapeutic process focuses on several of the aforementioned treatment modalities but centers on the principle of teaching mindfulness.  The general concept of DBT is to slowly create strong rapport and trust between the therapist and the individual undergoing treatment so that ideas of mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, emotion regulation and distress tolerance can be taught and imparted. DBT is usually a long-term therapeutic process with many manifestations of behavioral events along the way. The purpose of the process is to ultimately expand the distance between these events and the acuity of the events themselves.

ARC Treats Dual-Diagnosis Effectively

ARC is licensed by the State of California Alcohol and Drug Programs to provide treatment for dual-diagnosis. Although many traditional drug treatment centers attest to their ability to treat co-occurring conditions this is often not actually the case. Many traditional drug treatment centers are certainly versed in the importance of providing dual-diagnosis treatment, but not actually licensed to provide it.With ARC our credentials are in the State of California Licenses and Certifications which are extended to us based on the fact our clinical team consists of: psychiatrists, psychologists, and licensed professionals. We do provide additional services that include: physicians, experiential therapists, chiropractors, holistic practitioners and substance abuse counselors but these services speak to the programs comprehensive nature, not to our clinical ability to work effectively with clients with co-occurring conditions.

When dual-diagnosis treatment is necessary it is important to verify that the drug treatment center of your choosing does in fact possess the clinical ability to meet these individual needs.

ARC is just one of the many drug treatment centers with true dual-diagnosis capability. By no means is this definition meant to detract from the many ethical centers that provide clinical excellence for treatment of co-occurring conditions. We simply find it important to impart information about how to query a drug treatment center about their ability to treat individuals with dual-diagnosis as the clinical consequences resulting from improper treatment can bring unnecessary complications to a treatment process which is often already difficult for clients to undergo.

ARC does not treat all psychiatric conditions; we only treat that which we are clinically capable of treating. (Most of the psychiatric issues and co-occurring issues we treat are outlined within our website.) For more information about treatment for co-occurring conditions call 877 415 HOPE today. Our credentialed staff will answer any further question you might have.