Behavioral therapies for Drug Addiction
Behavioral therapies can help motivate people to participate in drug treatment; offer strategies for coping with drug cravings; teach ways to avoid drugs and prevent relapse; and help individuals deal with relapse if it occurs. Behavioral therapies can also help people improve communication, relationship, and parenting skills, as well as family dynamics.
Many treatment programs employ both individual and group therapies. Group therapy can provide social reinforcement and help enforce behavioral contingencies that promote abstinence and a non-drug-using lifestyle. Some of the more established behavioral treatments, such as contingency management and cognitive-behavioral therapy, are also being adapted for group settings to improve efficiency and cost-effectiveness. However, particularly in adolescents, there can also be a danger of iatrogenic, or inadvertent, effects of group treatment; thus, trained counselors should be aware and monitor for such effects.
Because they work on different aspects of addiction, combinations of behavioral therapies and medications (when available) generally appear to be more effective than either approach used alone.
Treatment for drug abuse and addiction is delivered in many different settings using a variety of behavioral and pharmacological approaches.
Source: www.nida.nih
Other links:
Drug Abuse and Addiction
Causes and Physical Signs of Drug Abuse and Addiction
Mental and emotional signs of abuse and addiction
Effects of drug abuse and addiction
Drug abuse and the family
Why do drug-addicted persons keep using drugs?
What Are The Risk Factors?
Addiction and Health
How Drugs Work
What are some effects of specific abused substances?
What is drug addiction treatment?