An alcohol use disorder can be severe and pervasive and cause a cascade of problems in your daily life. And while many people may not be able to break free from an alcohol addiction on their own, there is hope for recovery. Starting treatment at an alcohol treatment center in Greenwich can give you the tools you need to achieve sobriety and begin living a new and better life in recovery.
Understanding Alcohol Use Disorders
Living with an alcohol addiction is not a choice. Several different factors contribute to whether someone develops an alcohol use disorder — including your genetics, your family history, mental health diagnoses, and the experiences you’ve had throughout your life.
But whether you have these risk factors or not, regularly drinking alcohol can cause lasting brain changes that make it difficult for people to stop on their own. The brain changes associated with alcohol use disorders are why many researchers refer to addiction as a disease, as it can impair the brain’s ability to regulate substance use.
This results in several of the well-known symptoms of alcohol use disorders, including:
- Invasive alcohol cravings
- Drinking more than intended or for longer than intended
- Continuing to drink alcohol despite mounting consequences
- Withdrawal symptoms if alcohol use suddenly stops
The withdrawal symptoms from alcohol can be particularly severe. Alcohol works as a central nervous system depressant, slowing the body’s automatic, life-preserving functions. But when people drink frequently, their body adjusts to these depressant effects.
When someone stops drinking suddenly, their central nervous system can become dangerously overactive, leading to withdrawal symptoms such as:
- Profuse sweating
- Shakes
- Delusions
- Nausea
- Racing heartbeat
- Hallucinations
- Stroke
When they are left untreated, alcohol withdrawals can sometimes be fatal. However, some methods can help reduce the risks associated with quitting drinking and help people start on the path to a lasting recovery. Seek assistance from an alcohol treatment center in Greenwich if you are concerned about alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
How an Alcohol Treatment Center in Greenwich Can Help
By understanding the pervasive nature of alcohol use disorders, our team has developed a comprehensive approach to helping our clients overcome their addictions once and for all. Using a variety of evidence-based treatments, a holistic approach to recovery, and recognizing the need for treating co-occurring mental health conditions, anyone can recover.
Some of the treatments offered at Connecticut Center for Recovery include:
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT is a style of therapy that can be immensely helpful in the treatment of alcohol use disorders.1 CBT is founded on the principle that thoughts, behaviors, and emotions are all interconnected and that by changing how a person thinks, you can change how they feel and behave.
For people living with an alcohol addiction, this can be incredibly powerful. Working with a CBT therapist can help you:
- challenge the beliefs you have about your drinking,
- your ability to get and stay sober,
- and the way you manage the stressors of your daily life.
Motivational Interviewing
Motivational interviewing is a therapeutic technique that is inherently collaborative. A motivational interviewing therapist can help you determine what you need to achieve recovery and help you build and maintain the motivation to act on your goals.
Motivational interviewing can be incredibly powerful — particularly for people resistant to being told what to do by a therapist. Incredible change can be made by recognizing the power of bringing clients into the treatment-planning process.
Family Therapy
Alcohol use disorders rarely affect a single individual alone. Friends, family, and entire communities can be affected by a single person living with a substance use disorder, and these relationships can often be damaged in the course of addiction.
Family therapy provides a pathway to help families begin to heal these broken bonds and join together on the path to recovery. Not only does this help with repairing relationships, but it can also build a stable source of support to last for years to come.
12-Step Facilitation
The 12 Steps come from the group Alcoholics Anonymous, a recovery group that has helped people struggling with alcohol use disorders achieve recovery for over 80 years. The 12 Steps are a roadmap to recovery and have helped millions overcome their addictions once and for all.
But a 12-Step facilitation program is much more than that. It integrates the steps into sessions with a therapist, helping our clients work the steps, understand the meaning behind them, and start to implement the principles of a recovery program into their everyday lives.
Research has repeatedly proven the effectiveness of 12-Step facilitation programs. Addiction researchers have shown that 12-Step facilitation is one of the best methods for helping people overcome an alcohol use disorder,2 and it can help you, too.
What to Expect From an Alcohol Treatment Center in Greenwich
We offer these services at our comprehensive alcohol treatment center in Greenwich, with several levels of care available to fit your needs. The process begins with a simple call, during which our team can help guide you toward the treatment that can best help in your path to recovery.
Our program has three levels of care available for alcohol treatment:
- Day Treatment Program: Our most intensive level of care, the day program, sees clients most days of the week for several hours at a time
- Intensive Outpatient Program: The intensive outpatient program at Connecticut Center for Recovery is our most flexible program, offering a schedule that fits around your ongoing responsibilities
- Extended Care Program: Specifically designed for our clients who want more prolonged treatment contact, the comprehensive care program offers ongoing accountability and treatment for as long as you need
When you’re ready to begin, contact our team by calling (888) 387-5741 or filling out our confidential online contact form to help us determine your healthcare coverage. Our team is standing by to take your call and can help you start the path to recovery once and for all.
Sources:
[1] https://journals.lww.com/jonmd/abstract/2021/11000/the_effectiveness_of_cognitive_behavioral_therapy.9.aspx?context=latestarticles
[2] https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD012880.pub2/full
