Sunday 8 June 2014

Reducing Addictive Behaviour - Psychology / Cognitive Interventions

  In Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), the client is trained in social skills and developing strategies, which involve the behaviour of both cognitive and behavioural assumptions in order to challenge the client's faulty thinking.
  According to the therapy, behaviour can be unlearnt, and correcting faulty thinking will help abstain addiction. CBT programmes often ask the addicts partner to help them improve their social skills and problems.

  In support of this intervention, Well et al researched CBT and found it to be highly effective, however no more effective than other psychological therapies. Nonetheless in 2003, CBT appeared a more preferable treatment by therapists in the addiction field. An advantage of the intervention is that it helps the individual gain control of their behaviour, even if it doesn't help them cease to perform it.
  Further research has also found that people with low levels of addiction responded in a more favourable manner towards CBT. It is also even more effective when used in conjunction with biological interventions, such as drug therapy, however, this makes it hard to measure CBT's individual effectiveness.


  Motivational Interviewing (MI) is an intervention which focuses on trying to help addicts find motivation to quite their addiction (obv). The therapist will try to encourage the addict to review their addictive habits, and weigh up the pros and cons it has on their life. The aim is to get the addict to give their own reasons for making a change to their addictive habit 

 MI assumes that issues with motivation are not due to personality, but that motivation is something that can be readily damaged. Research has shown MI to be highly effective in helping those with substance abuse issues. Moreover, Research from Burk, who conducted a meta-review on MI, found that it led 56% decrease in alcohol consumption, further confirming it to be a very effective intervention for reducing addictive behaviour.




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