Addiction is a disease possessing the ability to reveal unknown mental health problems. But it’s also possible for substance abuse to result in mental illness over time. Regardless of how it happens, a dual diagnosis is when an addict has a co-occurring mental disorder and intervention becomes essential.
While these patients are in need of assistance, some treatment centers refuse to work with them. The fact of the matter is that many of these facilities don’t have the medical doctors or psychiatrists available to assist with the mental health problem associated with a dual diagnosis. And if there is a lack of improvement from either the addiction or mental illness, a relapse in both might be the result.
Each patient will differ in how this disease impacts them and more therapy is necessary to handle the mental illness. With this being the case, one-on-one treatment is essential for success in treatment. But what goes into the psychosocial approaches regarding dual diagnosis?
In this article, we’ll talk about psychosocial dual diagnosis interventions. After reading this article, you’ll know more about the comprehensive and individualized nature of these treatments. With this insight, you’ll understand the kinds of psychosocial treatments available for dual diagnosis patients and what to expect upon committing to find a better transition of yourself.
If you or a loved one are seeking help treating dual diagnosis, please contact our Miami drug rehab today by calling 1-800-626-1980.
Your call could save a life.
Interventions Helping Dual Diagnosis Patients
Evidence highlights that psychosocial approaches including adhering to medication, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, better integrating into the community, improving functioning, occupational rehabilitation, and maintaining abstinence are beneficial interventions for dual diagnosis patients. While these actions help, they’re still somewhat hard to implement. Putting these steps in motion requires teamwork including professionals working together.
Psychosocial interventions in dual diagnosis include general psychosocial interventions and specific interventions. The general psychosocial interventions include actions like motivational enhancement therapy, cognitive behavior therapy, and other strategies for treatment. Specific interventions can include integrated group therapy for bipolar disorder and substance use, early recovery adherence therapy, and others. These interventions take the co-occurrence of other problems into account as well, even during times of remission.
Specific Psychosocial Therapies For Bipolar Disorder (BPAD) & Substance Use Disorders (SUDs)
Integrated Group Therapy For Bipolar Disorder And Substance Use (IGT)
This treatment is specific to BPAD with addictive disorders. It integrates therapeutic intervention to address BPAD with counseling principles of psychosocial interventions for SUDs. IGT works to help the patient stay away from drugs, increase medication adherence, provide the patient with education regarding early symptom recognition to prevent relapse, initiate relapse prevention therapy and help with mood stability, and aid in functioning.
Early Recovery Adherence Therapy (ERAT)
This approach helps patients in their early phase of recovering from BPAD. It focuses on keeping the patient away from substances. Treatment is a combination of principles from relapse prevention, motivational interviewing, and psychoeducational approaches relating to the management of substance use and BPAD.
Interpersonal Social Rhythms Therapy (IPSRT)
This therapy focuses on stabilizing the circadian rhythms of the patients. By providing them with an understanding of the relationship between interpersonal changes and mood symptoms, the patients improve. Daily routine structuring is also part of this therapy. This includes addressing interpersonal issues and sleep cycles. Evidence shows this therapy is effective for preventing relapse, improving the patients’ satisfaction with life, and improving interpersonal functioning.
Specific Psychosocial Therapies For Psychotic Disorders & Substance Use Disorders (SUDs)
Modified CBT
This approach helps patients with their schizophrenia and SUDs. The therapy involves relapse prevention strategies as well as motivational interviewing strategies. Cognitive limitations of psychotic disorders are also accounted for with this approach. The patients must focus on improving their social skills as well. Modified CBT also uses positive reinforcement to motivate patients to stay free of drugs.
Modified MET
This strategy helps psychotic patients who lack the motivation to quit using substances. It uses the principles of Motivational interviewing (MI) in addition to a baseline assessment providing personalized feedback that motivates changes in their behavior. The treatment adapts to unique cognitive challenges and assists psychotic patients with low motivation to stop using.
This approach includes the following:
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Developing a working alliance
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Forming individualized goals
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Assisting the patient in an evaluation of the pros and cons regarding substance use
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Teaching skills to manage crises
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Encouraging a lifestyle and an environment that support abstaining from drug use
Self Help Groups
These groups are specifically created with patients with dual diagnosis in mind. The groups target the issues regarding concurrent SUD and psychiatric illness. Traditional settings tend to stigmatize patients with psychiatric illness or psychiatric symptoms. While this therapy can help, there is still no outcome data showing the benefits.
Dual Recovery Therapy (DRT)
This is an integration of Relapse Prevention therapy, Principle of 12-step program for SUD with social skills training, and motivational enhancement therapy for psychiatric disorders. The sessions are completed in both a group and an individual setting. They go over communication and problem-solving skills using a role-playing technique. DRT usually happens twice per week on an individual level and eventually progresses into one individual and one group session weekly. Discussions during group sessions are also reinforced when the patient attends individual sessions.
The Substance Abuse Management Module (SAMM)
Harm reduction, social skills training, and relapse prevention are the goals of SAMM. The patients learn a limited and specific subset of skills to ensure implementation and learning are easy. These skills focus on managing illness and avoiding substance use. The importance of rehearsing and practicing skills is essential for this therapy. With this model, group treatment sessions incorporate role-playing, allowing the therapist to identify issues and assist in addressing issues to help with recovery and abstaining from drug use.
Seeking treatment for a dual diagnosis disorder in Florida? Find the support you need from our helpful staff members at our excellent facilities. If you or someone you love are seeking assistance, please contact us today by calling 1-800-626-1980.
