Treatments that work for you: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy

Therapy is one of the most important parts of a residential program at Retreat South. There are many types of therapy to help us in mental health treatment. So, finding the right therapy or combination of therapies is important to you.

A new report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare showed that between 2014 and 2019 nearly seven thousand people had more than seven episodes of treatment for alcohol and other drug (AOD) issues.

AOD treatments help people reduce harmful AOD use. In the Institute’s report counselling was cited as the most common main treatment type. Treating substance dependancy can be difficult. Sometimes, people need more intensive treatment to develop strategies to help them on their path to recovery. There are many types of therapy they might encounter. One of the most often used types of therapy is Cognitive Behaviour Therapy.

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy or CBT for short is a ‘talk therapy,’ that is used to help people to change their behaviour or their feelings. It is based on the idea that our behaviours are influenced by thoughts. Often these thoughts can be ones we are not even aware of, but they can be negative thoughts that can make us thing the worst about a situation.

CBT has been shown to be effective for many mental health issues such as anxiety and depression, issues that many people seek to overcome by using alcohol or other substances.

With the therapist a person begins to rethink negative thoughts, examining how and why they are unhelpful, and then replace these with more realistic, positive thoughts. Call us to find out more about our treatment programs and the types of therapy that help you on your path to recovery.