Heroin affects the central nervous system and the brain’s ability to produce dopamine. When you want to quit, heroin addiction withdrawal makes it tough. However, there’s help with good-quality heroin addiction treatment in California. Here’s how you can effectively overcome a heroin habit today.
Enroll at a Detox Facility
Detoxification begins the recovery process. Because heroin’s an opioid, withdrawal is painful. If you were to attempt to quit by yourself, there’s a good chance that you’ll relapse. Therefore, it’s a better idea to enroll at a detox facility.
Once there, therapists use medication-assisted treatment to help you manage pain and cravings. Besides that, you’re around peers who’re also in recovery. You encourage one another to keep going. Although there may be some discomfort, you’ll typically overcome a physical addiction in six to ten days.
Now’s the time to move over to an addiction treatment center. If you checked into a detox facility that offered rehab onsite, you simply switch from medical to clinical care. If you went to a stand-alone facility, it’s now time to move to a California drug addiction treatment center.
Behavioral Counseling is at the Forefront of Treatment
Why did you reach for heroin? Why did you want to numb yourself? You work with therapists in one-on-one talk therapy sessions to find out. Once they have a good understanding of your motivation, they’ll put together a care protocol for you.
It typically focuses heavily on coping skills development against the background of behavioral counseling. A good example is cognitive-behavioral therapy. It emphasizes the need for healthy connections between feelings, actions, and thoughts. However, sometimes there’s a dysfunction.
One or more of the connections are not working correctly. In this case, you need help with regaining equilibrium. A case in point is dialectical behavior therapy, which is another behavioral counseling modality. It focuses mainly on intense emotions.
Therapists may elect to combine the two behavioral counseling techniques for maximum effect. Of course, there are also other treatments that you might undergo besides. Examples include:
- Men or women’s rehab that allows for gender-specific care
- Dual diagnosis treatment for clients who present with underlying co-occurring conditions
- Trauma treatment as a tool for re-processing situations from the past to remove present-day heroin addiction triggers
- Motivational interviewing, which encourages you to take ownership of your recovery process
- Experiential therapies, which focus on alternative ways of expressing yourself
Working with Peers Who’re Also in Recovery
When you check into rehab or a CA drug detox center, you typically experience one-on-one and group therapy sessions. Individual talk therapy is a good option when you need to discuss sensitive issues. Besides that, it’s a good choice for setting treatment goals.
That said, group sessions also have a place in addiction recovery. That’s because working with peers who’re going through what you’re dealing with is tremendously helpful. Peer counseling provides you with the insight that a therapist might not be able to offer. Similarly, you feel like people really get you.
Group therapy may take place in process settings. This means that a therapist facilitates the discussions. They focus on a specific topic. Sometimes, group meetings are more general.
This means that you talk about how you’re feeling that day. Other groups deal with specific aspects of recovery. Cases in point are anger management and co-dependency groups. These groups hone in on a particular situation you may find yourself in.
Participating in 12 Step groups is also a part of heroin addiction treatment in California protocols. That’s because these support groups will continue to be there for you after you graduate from treatment. So, go ahead now and make the call to get the help you need.