Why Are Veterans Vulnerable to Substance Abuse?
Individuals who are enlisted in any branch of the military are subject to unique cultural stresses that increase the risk of substance abuse and mental health disorders. So why are veterans vulnerable to substance abuse? Deployments and military culture can be very stressful with issues like: Veterans are more vulnerable to substance abuse in large part because of trauma. Twenty percent of veterans with PTSD have substance abuse issues as well. One in three who get help for substance abuse has PTSD. Veterans Vulnerable to Substance Abuse: Facts Ten percent of all military veterans have a substance abuse disorder, higher among male veterans than females. Alcoholism Not only are veterans vulnerable to substance abuse, but they are more likely to struggle with alcoholism, something that often starts during their career at a time when things like mandatory drug screening and the belief that seeking help could have an impact on security clearances make it one of the only options for self-medication to those dealing with PTSD, stress, and other issues. Studies have found that veterans are around six percent more likely than non-veterans to use alcohol and one percent more likely to abuse alcohol. Five percent of veterans who seek treatment abuse alcohol most frequently out of all available substances. Opioids Two-thirds of veterans report extreme pain, and of those, many receive opioids sometimes illegally but mostly through a prescription. Over nine percent of veterans have severe pain compared to only six percent of the general population, which means they are one-third more likely to develop an addiction to opioids or overdose from opioids. Opioid overdose rates for veterans jumped six percent from 2010 to 2016, the majority of which were related to heroin and synthetic opioids, not prescription pain relievers. Dual Diagnosis There are several reasons why veterans vulnerable to substance abuse may be more likely to turn to drugs and alcohol for self-medication, and that can be the experiences within the military as well as the adjustment that comes from reintegrating into society with those experiences. People who experience trauma or injury during combat are at a much higher risk of developing substance abuse. Veterans who have a substance abuse disorder are up to four times more likely to get a diagnosis of depression or PTSD. In fact, upwards of fifty percent of those veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder. Getting Veteran Care for Substance Abuse Many veterans, even today, are worried about the stigma or the potential impact on benefits that might come from getting treatment. However, at The Differents, we provide confidential veterans drug rehab programs designed to meet the specific needs of the veteran community. With our luxury drug rehab, veterans vulnerable to substance abuse can get the help they need. We are centered in the Reno, Tahoe area in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Our luxury facility provides addiction treatment specifically for those who have served in the military and may be dealing with co-occurring psychological or emotional struggles. We understand that it’s far too easy to turn to drugs and alcohol as a form of self-medication for the stress of being in the military, as well as untreated or undiagnosed PTSD. Our innovative approach helps you find meaning in life beyond addiction, deal with your experiences as a veteran, and utilize tailored treatment that helps you cope with physical and emotional burdens. Moreover, we provide veterans with unique options to cover addiction treatment costs. Overall, veterans often struggle with physical and mental scars from their time in the military. Veterans vulnerable to substance abuse may worry about the impact that seeking treatment can have or the financial burden of getting the right care. However, our facility can help with specific treatment plans for veterans. Contact our team today at (844) 407-0461 to learn more about our cost options for veterans.
What Are Reasons Treatment Can Fail?
If you or someone close to you is struggling with addiction, you may have dealt with situations in the past where treatment was tried but failed. There are several reasons treatment can fail, and it doesn’t mean that there is no hope but rather that a different type of treatment should be attempted at a different time. Top Reasons Treatment Can Fail So, what are the main reasons treatment can fail? One of the biggest is that a person simply isn’t ready. Another is that they had the wrong level of care. One of the final reasons treatment can fail is that someone wasn’t given enough support after their immediate inpatient or outpatient program. Poor Motivation One of the biggest reasons that treatment can fail is that someone doesn’t have the right motivation. This is not a personal shortcoming or indicative of failure but from time to time clients will check themselves into an inpatient or an outpatient program at the behest of a loved one. A close friend or family member may have requested or even demanded that someone seek help for addiction, but deep down, it wasn’t a personal choice, and that individual simply wasn’t ready from a motivational standpoint. Things like motivational interviewing can certainly help with this, and so can a more holistic approach to treatment. Lack of Support There are times when treatment fails because an individual doesn’t have the right type of support. For example: Wrong Level of Care Another big reason treatment can fail is that an individual client is participating in the wrong level of care. There are several levels of care for addiction, ranging from a full residential program where an individual resides at a treatment facility full-time and has supervision twenty-four hours per day to outpatient programs where individuals participate in support group meetings once per week. Sometimes a client will participate in a level of care that is inadequate for what they need. This often happens when someone looks at healthcare coverage or tries to pay for treatment out of pocket and they opt for the cheapest or most affordable option which is generally the lowest level of care. However, not all levels of care are created equally and sometimes people struggle because they are getting the wrong level of support. Inadequate Aftercare Tangentially, people can complete a program successfully but fail to have supportive aftercare, which means they leave something like a residential program without any type of peer support or assistance with things like housing. Then, they find themselves reverting to old habits with old friends and dealing with a relapse. Getting Treatment with The Differents At our facility, we know that there are several reasons treatment can fail and that is why we prefer a personalized approach that incorporates several levels of holistic treatment. Non-Verbal Communication If you are not someone who is comfortable sharing intimate information with a therapist in a traditional office space, you can participate in our equine therapy. With guided interactions, you’ll be able to focus more on self-reflection and nonverbal communication with your therapist. This opportunity can facilitate emotional insight and deeper connection without the pressure of sitting in a sterile office space. Connections to Nature At The Differents, we understand the importance of connecting to nature as part of your recovery. Sometimes the reasons treatment can fail have to do more with feeling confined in a hospital space or not being able to connect with majestic landscapes and deep reflection. To help overcome this hindrance, we provide winter adventures with snowshoeing and skiing, ice skating, and sledding escapes in the nearby Tahoe mountains. We also offer opportunities to observe wild Mustangs across vast expanses of public land, reconnecting with the world. Amenities We also know that a lack of amenities can make it difficult to find peace during your treatment and stay focused on long-term recovery. That is why we offer top-tier beauty professionals at our luxury drug rehab to give clients exclusive pampering ranging from luxurious massages, revitalizing facials, or rejuvenating manicure and pedicure sessions. All of this works in tandem with the rest of your treatment plan to support a holistic recovery approach and improve your level of self-love. Overall, there are several reasons treatment can fail, but thankfully, each failure is an opportunity to learn. If you or someone close to you has tried treatment before and struggled with failure, take time to determine whether you might do better with a different level of care, a different type of treatment, or continuing aftercare. Reach out to our team today to discuss why our amenities make recovery easier.
What Are Successful Intervention Strategies?
One of the most reliable ways to inform a friend or family member that they have an addiction and genuinely need help is to plan an intervention. Interventions offer a safe space to communicate the impact that addiction is having on friends and family and to offer aid in finding a personalized treatment plan. The most successful intervention strategies have consequences: design the attendees carefully, rehearse what will be said, and have reliable treatment centers at the ready. Establishing Consequences One of the more challenging aspects of successful intervention strategies involves laying out consequences. Family members often enable a loved one in their addiction without meaning to or realizing that they are doing so. Understanding this impact is important as it allows family members to recognize that the most compassionate thing they can do for a loved one is to establish consequences when a loved one breaks the rules or surpasses boundaries. This is an important point to express during an intervention: from now on, a loved one has to follow rules, such as not using drugs in the house or getting high at family functions. If those rules are broken, there will be direct consequences, like not being allowed to live at home or attend family functions. Interventions can be a safe place to establish those consequences moving forward while also providing your loved one with options for help so that they avoid those consequences. Picking the Attendees and Location Successful intervention strategies involve carefully selecting the attendees and the location. When staging an intervention, you want to be selective about who will be present, picking people with whom your loved one has a good relationship. Just because someone is a family member does not mean that they have to be present. In fact, if there is a negative relationship or problems with certain family members, your intervention is more likely to be successful if that person is not there. The people who attend do not have to be direct blood relatives. They can also be close family members, godparents, or friends of your loved one. The goal is to have people that your loved one trusts to whom they will listen. The location should also be neutral ground, not necessarily in the middle of the living room but sometimes in an office or other third-party space. It should be a place where your loved one feels safe, not attacked, and comfortable expressing themselves. Rehearsing What to Say Rehearsing what you plan to say is another key step. Successful intervention strategies hinge on not only writing down what you want to express to your loved one but also saying it out loud and practicing how you will deliver your words in as supportive and clear a manner as possible. This also extends to how you will deliver the consequences that you have set up. Having a Treatment Center Ready It is important to have a treatment center ready in the event that you have successful intervention strategies and your loved one decides they are ready to get help. Places like The Differents can offer several levels of withdrawal management as well as outpatient care with access to outdoor activities that encourage individuals to rediscover their purpose. However, it is equally important to prepare yourself for different outcomes. While it is imperative that you have a treatment center ready in the event that your loved one decides to get help, you need to be aware of the fact that they may respond with things like anger instead and deny the need for help or even that they have an addiction. Preparing yourself for all of these possible outcomes and responses can ensure that you have a more successful intervention. Getting Help at The Differents With The Differents, we believe that clients need a chance to discover fun activities with a purpose behind them. Gone are the days of traditional offices, couches, and closed-door discussions. Now is the time for a different approach to healing, where individuals can foster a bond with nature, build skills and self-esteem, and learn to find a passion for nature and purpose beyond addiction. For this, we offer activities like: Located outside Tahoe, our addiction treatment center specializes in holistic treatment for addiction and co-occurring mental health disorders that extends to things like motivational interviewing for those clients who still have trouble taking action, as well as outdoor therapy, recreational therapy, yoga, and sports medicine. If you have a loved one for whom you are seeking successful intervention strategies, presenting them with our focus on creativity and holistic care in a reimagined way can give them access to treatment that stands apart. Overall, the most successful intervention strategies incorporate boundaries and consequences, present information lovingly by rehearsing what you want to say, and do so with a strategy for who will be present and where the intervention will take place. Having a treatment center on hand should your loved one accept help is equally important. With The Differents, we can offer several levels of outpatient care that don’t require your loved one to reside full-time at a facility but still offer a personal experience in addiction treatment that’s unlike any other treatment center. Contact our team to learn about rehab reimagined.
The Importance of Finding Professional Drug Interventionists
A drug intervention is an opportunity for family members to confront a loved one about their addiction, to explain the ways in which addiction has impacted each member of the family, and to ask their loved one to get support. These can be very challenging things to plan, especially because of the emotional difficulties involved. For that reason, many families decide to work with a professional drug interventionist, someone who helps them plan the intervention and facilitate the intervention. Why You Need Professional Drug Interventionists Deciding to confront a family member is a very difficult decision, and it can be fraught with challenging emotions. Sometimes family members don’t know where to begin, they aren’t sure how to collect their thoughts and put them down on paper, or they just need someone else there to act as a mediator. Preparations It’s not uncommon for people in close relationships to predict how their loved ones might react and subconsciously become defensive or harbor annoyance or anger in response to these predictions. Many of these traits are small and subconscious, so family members don’t realize that their tone might change as soon as their loved one makes a certain face, but a professional drug interventionist can help family members be more aware of these subconscious changes and put them to the side during the intervention. In this way, finding professional drug interventionists can help you with all of the preparations. Location Professional drug interventionists might also offer alternative locations. It’s important that the location where you have your intervention be on neutral ground so that it doesn’t prompt unnecessary emotional reactions. When you find a professional drug interventionist, they can typically provide a third-party location like their office or another community location where you can hold your intervention. Mediation Another reason why finding a professional drug interventionist can be beneficial for family members is the simple mediation that they provide. Someone who is struggling with addiction might be slightly more respectful of a third-party professional who is facilitating the discussion and mediating responses to a small degree. Finding Professional Drug Interventionists Finding professional drug interventionists might seem difficult; however, there are plenty of qualified treatment centers that also offer drug interventionist services directly or can connect you to third-party services that are highly qualified and vetted. Once you have a list of potential contenders, feel free to reach out about consultations, to go over how they would offer support for your family and planning the intervention, what they might offer in terms of location, and the overall price and availability. If a particular drug interventionist works with a treatment center they will be able to answer questions about treatment in a more informative way than you or your family might be able to. They can also help guide your loved one toward their treatment if they make the decision to seek help. Having the Right Treatment Center When you plan an intervention, one of the most important and often overlooked steps is to have a luxury addiction treatment center on hand and ready to accept your loved one for treatment if they decide to move forward. You want to be able to capitalize on the momentum your loved one has if they agree to get help. The best way to do that is to have a facility where they can go immediately to start their program. With The Differents, our facility is one with flexible schedules and a wide range of effective therapies. We want your loved ones to be comfortable, which is why we provide luxury amenities throughout their stay with access to trained professionals who can not only provide insight into how addiction works but what type of life skills and coping mechanisms will be most important moving forward. Overall, finding a professional drug interventionist can take a lot of the burden off families who are trying to intervene in addiction for a loved one. The right type of interventionist will be able to offer support in planning the intervention, deciding on the location, and facilitating the discussion when the time comes. Most important, of course, is to have the right treatment center ready and available if your loved one seeks help. Contact our team today to learn more about our treatment programs.
Exploring the Role of Medication-Assisted Treatment in Outpatient Rehab
Outpatient rehab programs provide many benefits, such as a more flexible schedule and a lesser time commitment. These programs also serve as an important source of ongoing support for those in recovery, and they can provide this care through a range of innovative therapies and treatment modalities. One of those methods is medication-assisted treatment. In this blog, we’ll explore the role of medication-assisted treatment in outpatient rehab and how it can help those in recovery maintain their sobriety. What is Medication-Assisted Treatment? Medication-assisted treatment is a federally managed program that includes medications approved by the FDA. These programs provide medication to help you manage long-term cravings and reduce the risk of relapse as you continue with outpatient treatment. A requirement for medication-assisted treatment is participation in psychotherapy during your outpatient care. The reason for this is that studies indicate medication is more successful when used in conjunction with therapy, especially for substance abuse. The Role of Medication-Assisted Treatment in Outpatient Rehab Medication-assisted treatment can take one of two forms, and many clients choose to utilize both: Detox The role of medication-assisted treatment in outpatient rehab generally starts with your detox process. For some, the detox process can come with serious risks of complications and extremely unpleasant side effects. The likelihood of getting through those can be increased with certain medications that ease discomfort. This is especially true for the withdrawal process from substances such as: This medication must be administered by a qualified facility. After completing detox, you can transition to the second stage. Cravings Drugs and alcohol have a profound impact on the way your brain functions. Substance abuse can change the size of your brain, its structure, and the way in which certain parts of your brain operate. It takes a long time to reverse these changes, and during that time frame, you can experience unpleasant side effects and particularly strong cravings unlike anything else. In order to minimize your likelihood of relapse, to help you actively participate in your treatment program, and to reduce your risk of overdose, medication-assisted treatment in an outpatient program can provide options that can: This medication must also be administered by a qualified facility while you continue to participate in your outpatient program, including the requisite therapy. What to Expect with Medication-Assisted Treatment If you participate in medication-assisted therapy, your treatment program will involve the administration of medications either orally or with injections for most medications. You’ll come to the facility for your doses as well as your ongoing therapy sessions. Therapy sessions typically involve individual and group therapy with moderate participation requirements depending on the level of care you are receiving. As you transition up or down throughout the different levels of care, your requirement for therapy might adjust accordingly. The role of medication-assisted treatment in outpatient rehab is to be a tool that you use while also learning long-term life skills and coping mechanisms that will eventually replace your reliance on any medication. Getting Professional Care with The Differents The Differents is offers outpatient rehab services and medication-assisted treatment. When you work with our team, you get personalized care with our 1:3 staff-to-client ratio. At our private, luxury addiction treatment center, you can participate in activities like: Hoping you make the most out of your time with us and beyond, we incorporate medication-assisted treatment in our outpatient rehab programs to help you to combat cravings and triggers. Overall, the role of medication-assisted treatment in outpatient rehab is to provide you with additional support as your brain’s neurobiology reverts back to what it was before substance abuse. With the help of ongoing medication, you can also manage co-occurring mental health disorders during outpatient rehab. Contact our team today to learn more about our programs.
Tools for Managing Cravings in Recovery
The addiction recovery journey is a lifelong process. As such, it requires lots of tools for managing cravings in recovery that you can use at different stages. Each tool you acquire can help you achieve and maintain your sobriety. You may continue to experience cravings immediately after treatment, as your brain chemistry and body continue to revert back to how they were before addiction. But this can be a slow process, one which requires reliable tools to help you get through it. Top Tools for Managing Cravings in Recovery So, what are the best tools for managing cravings in recovery? Therapy The best tool is therapy. Therapy can help you understand any underlying mental health disorders contributing to your addiction and give you individualized resources for managing cravings. Group therapy can also help you develop the peer support that is so important to your long-term success. Support You can find support from: Support from others is important because it gives you people you can turn to when you are triggered, stressed, overwhelmed, or just need something positive, like a quick coffee visit and a chat. Peer support also gives you access to people who understand what you have been through and respect your sobriety goals moving forward. It can be difficult to maintain friendships with people who you used to regularly do drugs or drink with, because it may be likely that the environment in which you socialize will be full of triggers. Routine A healthy routine is among the most important tools for managing cravings in recovery. When you attend treatment at The Differents, one of the first things you will notice is the use of a rigid schedule for each of your services and sessions. Why does this matter? Psychologically, having a routine takes away a lot of guesswork and decision-making throughout the day. The more structure you have, the less likely it is that you will find yourself with idle time and distractions. Moreover, the more structure you have, the less willpower you have to invest in making decisions like: Each time you have an established routine for a meal, an activity, or your schedule, you free yourself from having to use willpower and can instead use that energy for the inevitable stresses or triggers that can surprise you. Medication For many people, one of the best tools for managing cravings in recovery is medication. Medication can be a very useful tool in preventing relapse by helping you control cravings. In extreme cases, medication through FDA-approved programs can inhibit the positive and euphoric effects of drugs like opioids or cause you to get very ill if you drink alcohol. Medications like these go a long way toward helping you control any possible relapses. Exercise Exercise is an often underappreciated tool, but it can help you manage cravings nonetheless. At some treatment centers, you can learn about yoga and outdoor therapy, which can help you establish exercise routines that you can use in recovery. Yoga, for example, is particularly useful in aiding with cravings because it teaches you to accept the temporary nature of discomfort as you hold physically demanding poses. Concurrently, it teaches you to focus on your breathing, which is inside of your control, when you are at your limit. These skills can be applied to any situation where you experience extreme cravings or stress. Diet What you eat matters in recovery. Your mind and body need to heal after substance abuse, and it is during that vulnerable healing process that you will experience cravings. Giving in to foods rich in sugar and additives will only make it harder on you. But by learning which foods can help manage different emotions or which foods indicate a missing nutrient (like how a craving for chocolate might actually indicate a magnesium deficiency), you can control cravings big and small. Building Tools in Treatment When you attend outpatient rehab with The Differents, you will learn about several tools that help you manage your cravings. At our trusted drug rehab, we help you build a routine so that you are familiar with the structure when you transition back to your regular life. As part of our levels of care, we give you access to several forms of holistic tools for managing cravings like: There are many tools for managing cravings in recovery. When you work with reliable, professional treatment centers like The Differents, you can learn which tools work best for you, practicing them in real-time during your program. Contact us today to learn more about our substance abuse treatment programs and how they can help you.
What Are the 5 Principles of Trauma-Informed Care?
Trauma can have a lasting and harmful effect on your mind and body. It can hurt your emotional development, neurological health, and social well-being. Past experiences can continue to influence the efficacy of treatment later in life. With trauma-informed care, you can walk into care with a different relationship to the sessions and the therapists. By following the five principles of trauma-informed care, your care team can help you find a path toward healing for a happier, healthier life. The Differents can help you with this. Our trusted drug rehab in Reno offers a range of levels of care that can help you work through your trauma in a safe and effective way. Contact us to learn more about our addiction treatment center in Nevada. How is Trauma-Informed Care Different? Trauma-informed care is an approach to treatment that aims to avoid re-traumatization. Re-traumatization is when the care you seek triggers you or causes additional trauma, hurting your progress instead of helping. If you have trauma in your background, getting treatment can be a challenge when you are constantly worried about additional risks or triggers. That is why The Differents incorporates the five principles of trauma-informed care. What are the 5 Principles of Trauma-Informed Care? The five principles of trauma-informed care help ensure that you can stay emotionally and physically safe during your treatment. 1st Principle: Safety First is safety. Trauma-informed care aims to keep you safe while receiving care. Recovery is best achieved when you are able to curate a healthy relationship with your therapist and treatment center. 2nd Principle: Trustworthiness Building relationships with your therapist is important. If you do not trust your therapist, it will be hard to take anything they suggest seriously or believe that their suggestions or help can be useful. With trauma-informed care, your therapist will ensure you feel safe enough to truthfully discuss your past experiences, knowing that your vulnerability will be respected. But you get to ensure consistent boundaries are set with your therapist, too, letting them know what things you might not like or might like, such as: The more your therapist honors these requests, the stronger your trust can be. 3rd Principle: Choice You have many choices and control over your care plan. Often in traumatic experiences, it can feel like your power, choice, or control was taken from you. Getting help if you have a history of trauma can be more difficult when you worry about lack of choice or control. That is why the third principle of trauma-informed care is that you have control over choices related to your treatment plan. If you are able to provide information about your treatment or what you need to feel safe, you are more likely to be invested in the outcome and more likely to experience greater healing. You can choose things like: 4th Principle: Collaboration You work with your therapy team as you work through your recovery. Under normal circumstances, the therapist with whom you work is more of an authority figure, and they provide specific rules that you follow. With trauma-informed care, that is not the case. Instead, you work together with your care team toward your recovery. You collaborate, and you provide input and insight into how your recovery is going. This gives you greater control and improves the safety you experience during your healing. 5th Principle: Empowerment The fifth and final principle is empowerment. When your power is taken from you through trauma, it can have a lifelong impact. Trauma-informed care helps you regain that power and rediscover it within yourself through healthy coping skills, self-care, and a safe exploration of your personal experiences. By doing this, you can better understand your current thoughts and emotions and change them for the best. Getting Trauma-Informed Care with The Differents With The Differents, you can get access to trauma-informed care at several levels, including in our partial hospitalization program (PHP) and intensive outpatient program (IOP). You can learn how to understand the impact of trauma within a safe environment and navigate the behaviors and beliefs you have curated as a result. We can help you see how your trauma affects the way you see the world and how you respond to it. We specialize in several therapies that support those who are overcoming trauma, including: Our facility has a 1:3 staff-to-client ratio, and all of our staff focus on a holistic viewpoint, unlike other treatment centers. We also ensure that our group and individual therapy is carried out with a trauma-focused approach. We focus on ensuring you feel safe, that you build trust with our team, and that you have control and collaboration in the care you receive. Reach out to our team today to learn more about our outpatient rehab in Reno.
The Benefits of Laughter Therapy in Healing
If you are moving through mental health treatment or treatment for substance abuse, the healing process can at times seem slow, isolating, and challenging. With the right type of treatment program and the right type of therapy, you can add a modern twist to your healing process. How? By capitalizing on the science of laughter. What is Laughter Therapy? Laughter therapy is a form of treatment where participants intentionally laugh in order to promote improved mental and physical well-being. While it’s all too common to seek out a depressing movie or television show full of conflict and violence if you’re feeling depressed or angry, doing so only further fuels those emotions. When you are feeling depressed or anxious, laughter is actually the best medicine. Watching something funny or doing something silly can help promote the physical and physiological benefits of laughter, even if your laughter is fake. What to Expect with Laughter Therapy In laughter therapy sessions, you might participate in exercises like relaxation techniques, deep breathing, and intentional laughter, even if that laughter is fake. These techniques help to promote natural healing, improve your physical and mental well-being, and relieve stress. Practiced in a group session, laughter therapy can also provide social benefits. Scientific Benefits of Laughter Therapy in Healing There are several benefits of laughter therapy in healing, no matter what it is you are trying to heal from. Psychological Benefits When you laugh, it has a positive impact on your mood. Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, which can improve your mood, reduce depression, and even relieve pain temporarily. Laughter reduces the level of stress hormones in your body, which can reduce the following: Moreover, the benefits of laughter therapy in healing extend beyond just the levels of stress hormones. Too often, people who are struggling with recovery or healing are consumed with doubt, fear, anxiety, or worry. But laughter can transport you somewhere else, giving you better perspectives and letting you recognize that problems that may have seemed all-consuming before are not as bad. Perhaps one of the biggest benefits of laughter therapy and healing is its ability to increase resilience. Your level of resilience represents how quickly you are able to bounce back from challenges. Resiliency comes from having gratitude, an optimistic outlook, and a growth mindset. Laughter gives you the ability to see the funnier side of things and to build your resilience in such a way that when you are next facing a challenge, stressful situation, or even a setback in your long-term goals, it won’t bring you down as far. Physiological Benefits Physiologically, studies have found when you laugh, it increases your blood pressure and heart rate. These increases help deliver essential nutrients to your muscles and your immune system while also increasing oxygenation in your blood. Laughing can increase your breathing rate, which helps improve lung function. When you laugh, it causes muscles to contract and relax, which can release tension that you didn’t realize you were holding on to. In fact, studies have found that deep laughter can leave your muscles relaxed for up to forty-five minutes after the fact. Social Benefits The benefits of laughter therapy extend to social aspects. Group therapy sessions centered on laughter therapy or any type of comedic environment can help you create a sense of connection with other people. Laughter helps you build relationships that can prove vital in your long-term healing and recovery and also strengthen existing bonds with friends and family. Reaping the Benefits of Laughter Therapy with The Differents The Differents is a luxury addiction treatment center in Nevada. With each of our inpatient or outpatient rehab programs in Reno, we help clients foster improved resiliency, learn essential coping skills to manage stress and triggers, and build self-esteem. All of these skill sets come through evidence-based therapies and holistic treatments, including laughter therapy. The social benefits of improving connection with others are among the biggest benefits of laughter therapy for those who come to our facility. It’s not uncommon for new clients at The Differents to struggle when they don’t know anyone, especially in a group setting. Shared laughter can strengthen bonds and reinforce connections. These social benefits can extend to other programs like family therapy sessions where you can share a laugh with friends and family to help diffuse any tension or resolve conflicts that might exist in your relationship.If you are ready to learn more about laughter therapy at our trusted drug rehab in Reno, call our team at 844-290-1362.
Exploring Expressive Arts Therapy in Addiction Recovery
Scientific research has recently pivoted to the many benefits of holistic programs like expressive arts therapy in addiction recovery. But what is art therapy for addiction? Is it only something for artistic people, and what are its benefits? What is Expressive Arts Therapy in Addiction Recovery? Addiction recovery art doesn’t need any type of skill or artistic knowledge to be useful. Art therapy and addiction recovery incorporate several expressive therapies, such as: In essence, art therapy for addiction incorporates one or more of these expressive therapies as well as imagination and playfulness in integrative ways through psychotherapy and counseling. Benefits of Art Therapy and Addiction Recovery Art therapy has proven very useful in the healing process of substance abuse. For some clients, art therapy provides a better medium for emotional expression, especially for male clients who might feel uncomfortable sitting in a room and talking about their feelings. For other clients, art therapy provides an easier way to connect with emotions that may not have been recognized and to tell a story of trauma or previous experiences that contributed to substance abuse. How Does Art Therapy for Addiction Work? Integration is key. Symptoms, behaviors, pain, or suffering can be tackled with several forms of art, such as play, sound, dramatic enactments, and other expressive art forms, blended in different ways to make an expression of emotions a lot more helpful. Art therapy for substance abuse can help restore self-compassion and positive feelings. Art therapy is something used in conjunction with other psychotherapy, like talk therapy. While therapy is useful, and it allows clients to talk about issues, pain, struggle, or trauma, psychologists, psychiatrists, and counselors can’t talk someone into improved self-compassion. People need to experience those feelings for themselves, and that is achieved through expressive arts therapy in addiction recovery. Making gestures, moving the body, and other simple ways of expressing yourself physically can encourage social engagement, curiosity, playtime, self-regulation, and imagination, all of which serve as important components in addressing trauma, restoring components of yourself, and helping with the healing process. Do I Have to Be Creative or Artistic? One of the many things that people worry about, especially before their first session, is whether they have to be creative or artistic for this type of therapy to work. The answer is absolutely not. There is no artistic requirement behind participating in addiction recovery art. Even creative people have days when they don’t feel creative, but everyone can draw a line or make a mark on a piece of paper, wave their hand, or move their body in some gesture or another. These small things are all ways of being expressive. Expression is a human behavior. Curiosity has always existed, and it helps us let go of fear and trauma. What Should I Expect During a Session? While you might be apprehensive at first, realizing that there is no pressure to be artistic or creative and that there are several ways to be expressive can help alleviate some of that fear and boost your curiosity. At The Differents, our team works hard to ensure clients get holistic care on their schedules with several inpatient and outpatient programs. Our trusted drug rehab in Reno offers an idyllic location where nature inspires relaxation and artistic expression. Curiosity and fear are opposite feelings. Once you become curious about arts therapy, what to expect next, what other forms of creativity or expression you might use, and how they might make you feel, you are opening yourself up to curiosity and doing away with fear. The fear you might experience will only serve to hold you back from achieving true healing in your sessions. Discover Arts Therapy at The Differents Expressive arts therapy is a form of treatment that incorporates different art forms to help boost emotional expression, play, imagination, and healing. There are several forms, and participants don’t need to be creative or artistic to reap the benefits. Don’t worry about being pressured. Your therapist will work with you to find the right combination of integrative arts for your circumstances, and they will guide you through simple starting points like drawing, writing, moving figures around on a computer screen, painting something, or acting something out.If you are ready to learn more about our addiction treatment center in Nevada, our approach to substance abuse treatment in Reno, and how we incorporate art into recovery, call our team today.
How to Do a Drug Intervention
If someone close to you is struggling with addiction, one of the ways you can offer support is to learn how to hold a drug intervention. A drug intervention is an opportunity for loved ones to come together and express the ways in which addiction has affected them and the reasons why they love and support their friend or family member and want the best for them, including professional treatment. There are several steps to take to hold a successful drug intervention. Decide on Participants One of the most important steps when figuring out how to hold a drug intervention is deciding on who will be there. Not every family member or close friend has to be in attendance. In fact, you need to pay particular attention to the relationship between the person for whom the intervention is being held and the people who are participating. For example: It is important to decide on the participants based on their positive relationship with the person for whom the intervention is planned. Don’t plan to bring people who don’t have a good relationship or people your loved one doesn’t trust, even if they are direct relatives. Write What to Say The next step is figuring out what you want to say. An intervention should not be a spontaneous event. Rather, everyone who has been invited to participate should write down what it is they want to say to their loved one. Don’t be afraid to share the things you write with someone else who will attend the intervention as well, giving one another a chance to review or edit where necessary. Practice Additionally, you’ll want to practice with everyone. Figuring out how to do a drug intervention takes practice and rehearsal, especially when it comes to reading important and intimate information that might elicit an emotional response. Find a Location and Time Find a good location and a time for the actual intervention. This step should come after everyone has been invited and written what they want to say. You want to be as prepared as possible for the intervention. The location you choose might work more effectively if it’s someplace neutral, a location that your loved one may or may not be familiar with but wouldn’t be apprehensive about visiting. The time you choose should work for everyone, including the person for whom you are staging the intervention. If possible, you want them to be sober during the intervention, and it might take a while to find a time frame that works for everyone. In many cases, going to a third-party location like a doctor’s office or a professional interventionist can be useful in encouraging openness and attendance for everyone. Work with a Professional The Differents is a trusted drug rehab in Reno and can help you learn how to hold a drug intervention. We can even offer locations that are neutral and more suitable to your intervention needs. One of the most important parts of an intervention is having a location for treatment available in case your loved one decides to move forward. At The Differents, we offer clients several outpatient programs for Reno substance abuse treatment at a stunning location nestled in the Sierra Nevada mountains. With our programs, you can present your loved one with several viable options if they decide to pursue treatment at the end of an intervention. Calling our team gives you a chance to ask questions about our programs and how to do a drug intervention properly. We work with you to verify insurance so that you know, if your loved one agrees to get help at the end of your intervention, you have a place set up and ready for them right away. Overall, figuring out how to hold a drug intervention might seem overwhelming at first, but there are several resources that make it easier, such as working with a professional and practicing ahead of time what you want to say. If you are ready to learn more about interventions and our outpatient programs, call the team at our luxury drug rehab in Nevada today.
