Cognitive addiction treatment

Cognitive addiction treatment teaches you to think before you act

Many of the actions we take throughout the day are actually bad for us, so if we learn to think about the consequences before we act, part of the cause of the abuse can be stopped. Abuse is a series of bad actions and decisions.

Bad actions also bring negative emotions as a consequence. Negative emotions are the trigger for much abuse.

Cognitive addiction treatment therefore stops the vicious circles where thoughts, feelings and actions follow each other in an endless uncontrolled sequence.

How does cognitive addiction treatment work?

Cognitive addiction treatment is a form of therapy that enables you to help yourself, a form of self-help. During a cognitive addiction treatment programme, you will learn, among other things:

• Analysis of which feelings and needs are good for us
• Self-reflection as one of the ways to get in touch with why we do what we do
• Psychoeducation about intoxicants and their possible consequences
• Relapse prevention strategies including e.g. mindfulness which prevents stress and thus hasty decisions
• Finding alternative and better ways to trade
• Implementation of the techniques in everyday life.

Why “cognitive” addiction treatment?

There are many different types of therapy, including those used in addiction treatment. Cognitive therapy has been shown to be effective for several mental health vulnerabilities, including addiction.

Many understand therapy as a way to resolve trauma and “move on” in life with knowledge of what has happened. Cognitive therapy, however, is more an education in how your own psyche works, so you can stop yourself from acting and thinking in inappropriate ways.

Cognitive therapy teaches you to use cognitive functions to gain control over yourself and your addiction.

What do cognitive functions mean?

The word cognitive means to perceive, understand or know, and the cognitive functions are therefore the brain’s capacity for recognition, perception and thinking.

A number of diseases and conditions cause or contribute to cognitive difficulties, including stress, depression and addiction.

Examples of cognitive functions:

• Attention
• Concentration
• Memory
• Planning
• Problem solving
• Learning ability
• Spatial perception.

What are cognitive difficulties?

Cognitive difficulties include the brain’s problems with using the cognitive skills of remembering, concentrating, learning and keeping track. We all know episodes when we have difficulty gathering our thoughts. An episode like this is an example of a transient cognitive difficulty.