bellakeller

Is it Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy? Anyone used it and how has it worked for them? How long sober? Anyone use just CBT to get sober? Thanks in advance.

CarolD

No.....I did not use CBT for my recovery from alcoholism.
I was already happily AA sober before I ever heard of it...

I think you might find this interesting

SMART Recovery® | Self Help for Alcoholism & Addiction

You might want to ask in this Forum

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...r-connections/

Hope you find something that benefits you.

oak

Yes- CBT is cognitive behavioral therapy.

I have not used it specifically for sobriety. However- I am sure that I use aspects of CBT without identifying it as CBT.

I have used CBT for depression. I really like the book 'Feeling Good' by David Burns. It does not cover sobriety- more about using CBT with depression, but I found it a simple way of learning the basics of CBT.

Hopefully, someone who has used it specifically for sobriety will answer.

yeahgr8

CBT is basically re-programming yourself...for example say that you were scared of shopping (just a silly example) you would cover all aspects of the before, during and after...then you would do it again and again using the techniques that you had learned, so CBT is very practical...

I found it an excellent way to get a head start in sobriety with regard to learning to live sober for the first time with feelings, emotions etc...

It worked extremely well with AA.

Could someone get sober with CBT in my opinion...absolutely...

Would they have the level of sobriety and freedom that AA gives you...absolutely not...

Like i said AA and CBT work great hand in hand...AA to get sober (get sponsor, work steps, get spiritual awkening) and CBT to get a huge head start on living sober:-)

fulminouscherub

For me CBT was essential to my recovery, part of learning how to deal with having a miserable attitude and outlook upon life. CBT was part of getting ready for sobriety and learning to discard unhealthy behaviors.

michelle01

In short, how thoughts influence behavior, and vice versa.

I've read studies that suggested that people who have fewer psychiatric problems with their alcohol addiction tend to do better with AA. Those who do have more severe psychiatric conditions may have a better outcome with CBT.

I was dual diagnosis (alcohol addiction plus depression/anxiety issues) and my specialist used a CBT approach. It worked for me, though I did combine my own personal spiritual beliefs with it.

I say however don't rule anything out in recovery. You really have to be prepared to give it your all and make it a first priority. Some people use AA in conjunction with CBT therapy, with good results. AA deals with the nitty gritty of addiction very well. However, it is obviously not set up or qualified to diagnose/treat clinical psychiatric conditions that people may suffer from.

Antiderivative

I know that SMART Recovery relies heavily on REBT (Rational emotive behavior therapy) which is a subset of CBT. One of the main differences between SMART and AA is the where they emphasis the locus of control.

AA relies heavily upon an external locus of control; that events, outcomes, behaviors, and thoughts are guided by forces outsides of your control, such as luck, higher powers, and powerful others.

People with an internal locus of control believe that your outcomes, events, behavior, and thoughts is guided by your personal decisions and efforts.

Either way works depending on what type of person you are. Additionally, loci of control are not an either or concept, but a sliding scale concept. For instance, AA does often time emphasis an internal locus of control, but their solution is to search for an outside force in order to make changes. People who do better with CBT, specifically REBT tend to believe in self-empowerment and that people have the capacity to overcome their addictions, irrational thoughts, fears, anxiety, etc.

At the heart of CBT is the idea that our thoughts cause our feelings and behaviors, not external things, like people, situations, and events. It works to empower you to change your thoughts, which will ultimately change your behaviors.

Here are a few links:

What is Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy?

US expert says positive thinking is the smart way to recover from alcoholism | Society | The Guardian

SMART Recovery® - 12 Step Versus SMART

Ninsuna

I had a lot of CBT before getting sober, and I have found some of the principles really help with recovery. Radical acceptance is a big one for me, it dovetails well with "serenity to accept the things I cannot change" and with learning forgiveness.

It also taught me to identify where a feeling is coming from, at the thought stage. As addicts, we tend to go thought->feeling->action without even identifying the thought. We're usually at the action, saying "what happened? Now I can hang up the process at the thought or feeling stage without acting.

NYCDoglvr

I used cognitive therapy for six months or so although I'd been sober over a decade. I wish I gone this route when I first got sober. I think it cuts through bad behavior, acting out so much quicker than therapy or the steps. In fact I've read that this is the therapy recommended for people in recovery. Instead of going through the reasons you feel anger, you look at the behavior of being angry and change it while you're going through it!!
Very, very powerful.

AmericanGirl

I've used some of the principles of CBT to work on conquering self-sabotaging thoughts/ my internal critic. Low self-worth was a huge reason I continued to drink even when I knew it was a problem ... I just couldn't care enough about myself to stop until I learned how to combat those negative thoughts and understand WHY my brain had established that pattern of thinking ( oddly enough because it was a reward system yikes!). So that aspect of CBT helped me tons; without it I could not have started recovering

Tomsson

When I started CBT for depression, not long before Christmas, I was ready to confess to my heavy drinking. My therapist said that I needed to get my drinking under control if we were to work together. Since I was already clutching at therapy like a drowning man (sick to the back teeth of cyclical depressive episodes), my willingness to tactically accept cognitive behavioural models, and the activities I'm undertaking seem to have plenty in common with the acceptance of the need for personality change and submission to a higher power propounded by AA. To this extent, I'm killing two birds with the one stone.

The therapist was honest enough to confirm my rationalist suspicions of CBT, saying 'we don't know how and why it works, but evidence shows that it does'. Tonight is one of those occasions where I'd normally put away a couple of bottles of wine, but instead I'm on here, and doing some CBT exercises. My main therapeutic goal has become 'relapse prevention'!