Addiction therapy is a complex practice, and one that’s still always in process. There are new findings about addiction everyday, and because it’s always dealing with volatile individuals, there are wide ranges of practices and therapies available, and new ones all the time. Generally, a combination of individual and group therapy seems to be the most effective treatment for addicts, with the lowest occurrence of relapse. Because it is a turning point in someone’s life when they have made the decision to get on the road to recovery, it’s good to know ahead of time what to expect. What, then, is individual addiction therapy about?

Most treatment centers will offer a combination of both individual and group therapy. Group therapy is extremely effective, because it gives recovering addicts the chance to talk with others who are in, or have been in, the same situation. The depths of addiction can be a living nightmare, and anyone who’s been there understands that it feels like no one else has ever felt such pain. Group therapy, then, is a way of coming to terms with the fact that no addict is really unique.

Individual therapy in these situations can help the professionals to make determinations about the addict specifically. While the stigma of uniqueness is one that eventually has to go away for any chance of recovery, people need to be acknowledged for their own personal experiences and life journey. Individual therapy will take all of these things into consideration, looking deeply into the addict’s life history, looking at family, environment, relationships, and into their own patterns of drug use. This is helpful for identifying the specific problems, triggers, and behaviors.

It’s also the perfect opportunity for the recovering addict to talk about the things that are really troubling them. It’s often the case that family history and personal triggers won’t matter eventually, that addiction is addiction, and can be controlled, but it’s also necessary to have a space to air out the personal demons. In any kind of effective therapy, the personal demons can become the most helpful guides toward a successful recovery, and individual therapy can help identify the places where real healing can begin.