Domestic Violence Rehabilitation
Psychoeducation occurs when a person with a mental health or substance use disorder is educated about their condition. Through various methods, people with these disorders, become more educated about their symptoms and other variables regarding their specific diagnoses.
Psychoeducation means much more than handing out informational booklets and telling people to read them. Each person learns in different ways, and psychoeducation for substance use disorder can make the difference between relapse and recovery. No program is considered complete without providing people with the tools to continue outside treatment.
Psychoeducation and other forms of therapy have been shown to help improve outcomes for people with substance use disorders. People must take the tools they learned in treatment and apply them in their daily lives. Psychoeducation acts as the bridge to connect the skills people built during treatment with their newfound life in recovery.
What Is Psychoeducation?
Psychoeducation means providing people with more information about their psychological, mental health, or substance use disorders. This information should help them understand their diagnosis better and reinforce the skills they have learned in treatment.
Psychoeducation for people with substance use disorders often focuses on topics people can use in their daily lives to control their emotions, interact better with others, and live a healthier life. They might include:
This includes learning about the physical hazards of substance abuse. Clients learn that just because they do not feel bad now does not mean they can view their use as harmless. They may also learn about the diseases they can contract through substance abuse like HIV and hepatitis.
People may also learn about the types of family conflicts and problems that can lead to substance abuse. Clients learn about patterns they may have seen in their own families growing up and how to prevent those patterns from repeating in their own families.
In this type of psychoeducation, clients learn how to handle social situations related to their substance use disorder, repair damage to relationships, and how a relapse could jeopardize their employment or reputation in their workplace.
This includes learning about the treatments a facility uses during their therapy sessions and how they apply to the outside world. Clients also learn what to expect in recovery, how to access services they may need after treatment, and resources to help them stay sober.
Inevitably, people in recovery encounter cravings. How they handle these determines the success of their recovery. People learn about triggers for cravings, what to do when a craving hits, and what to do if they relapse.
Many people with substance use disorders have learned to associate substance use with having a good time or relaxing. In this type of psychotherapy, clients learn new ways to use their free time and how to separate having fun from using substances.
This includes clients learning to handle their new identity as people in recovery or people who do not use substances. They may face many challenges, including people who do not trust this new lifestyle, so psychoeducation teaches them how to handle these situations.
How Do We Teach Psychoeducation?
Psychoeducation is a broad term, and all people learn in different ways. The best psychoeducation reaches the person it needs to reach. Therapists can use it during almost any type of therapy, individual or group. Research shows that psychoeducational groups could give people with substance use disorders strong motivation to change their behavior.
Psychoeducation might look different depending upon the setting, such as:
- A person in a group setting sharing an experience
- A trained clinician discussing the side effects of a new medication
- An alumnus in recovery giving a talk about their experience
- A class on a specific topic such as budgeting or cooking
- A family therapy session to educate them on the person’s diagnosis
- An individual therapy session to teach a person about their disorder
- A self-help group for people to share their day-to-day experiences
- An art therapy session where people visualize and draw life in recovery
Some of these activities teach a specific skill. Others teach broader ideas, like focusing on a future in recovery instead of dwelling on past mistakes or how to celebrate new small victories.
Psychoeducation at Everlast
Psychoeducation finds its way into all of our activities and therapy at Everlast Recovery Centers. To provide people with the best chance at successful recovery, we provide them with as many tools as possible for them to take out into the world once they leave our care. These lessons can occur during any of our programs, including:
- Early Recovery
- Life Skills
- Trigger Management
- 12-Step Classes
- Healthy Boundaries
- Feelings Management
- Self-Esteem Building
- Coping Skills
- Relapse Prevention
- Drug Education
Everyone in our program at Everlast has a right to education about their substance use or mental health disorder they might have. They also deserve all the tools we can give them to help them in their recovery.
Everlast is committed to teaching our clients the skills and tools necessary to thrive in their recovery after treatment. Each of the specific skills we teach helps to build a whole, healthy life and a client ready to face the world.