Addiction is an incredibly complex disorder to face. The results can be devastating and widespread, not only for the individual suffering directly but for their family and friends, too.
A large part of the complexity is due to the individual variance in how the problem presents. People become addicts for a huge range of different reasons, making treatment very tricky.
Just because something is hard, though, doesn’t mean it’s impossible; with the right professional help and a strong support network, anyone can overcome their personal situation. In this article, you’ll learn of four key pillars of a successful treatment plan – whether you’re going through the struggle yourself or are hoping to support a loved one through theirs. This is a contributed post. 
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The Value of a Strong Support Network
Fundamentally, overcoming addiction can be just as much about having people who care about us offer their support as it is about undertaking a specific intervention. Without a strong support network of family, friends, and experts in the field, there’s a far greater chance of methods such as therapy and medical detoxing to be overwhelmed by the trappings of withdrawal.
During recovery, at times of extreme difficulty – such as at the beginning of a program when the techniques are new and just starting to take hold – it’s often the case that a close friend or family member prevents the individual from relapsing.
It’s also very common for those closest to them to offer the necessary impetus for change; without them, they may never reach the necessary point of self-reflection or the mental flip required to seek help in the first place. Family, friends, therapists, and counselors are also highly instrumental in supporting the person after a rehabilitation program has finished.
The Importance of Psychotherapy and Counseling
In many ways, psychotherapy, and to a lesser extent, counseling, represents the backbone of a successful treatment plan.
It’s most common for psychologists to employ Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which is designed to analyze a person’s thoughts and how they influence addictive behaviors. In this way, the therapy is used to get to the underlying core issues of why the addiction initially took hold, and how the presently negative mindset can be restructured into a positive one.
Counseling also offers great value. While councilors don’t offer psychotherapies like CBT, they’re trained to be a compassionate, listening ear to help determine a broader understanding of the person’s issues and to signpost out to specific interventions that may be of most help. 
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How Peer Support Can Help
Another highly effective intervention for addiction is group peer support. You may be familiar with Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), for example, in which a group of those suffering from alcoholism meet regularly at a particular location to share their story and their struggles. One of the worst aspects of addiction is how lonely it can feel, so speaking to other like-minded individuals – those going through virtually the exact same experiences – can be invaluable.
The Right Environment
Addiction requires a holistic approach, and that’s why commonly, each of the treatments discussed above are provided collectively by a mental health facility. These centers are designed to attack the problem from all angles, and their multidisciplinary approach is exactly what’s needed to cover the huge amount of variability associated with addictive disorders.
In many cases, the addiction is simply a manifestation of another mental health disorder, such as depression or anxiety, and these deeper issues must be treated concurrently.
Choosing the right facility can be hugely important to an individual’s success because each of the above support mechanisms should be combined into one united weapon against the problem. The wrong treatment plan can leave the person prone to relapse, and actually end up pushing them further into their disordered way of thinking by facilitating the formation of negative beliefs about the effectiveness of rehabilitation and therapy.
Wrapping Up
There’s a huge amount of work that goes into addiction recovery, no matter the severity or reason that a person is suffering. The above four pillars represent four of the most important aspects of any successful treatment plan, but they’re not the only elements. Indeed, given the necessity for a highly individualized approach, it’s crucial that the sufferer is given the time and support they need to explore all available options; beyond the core elements discussed, there may be other highly important methodologies that are particularly helpful for that specific person.
Whether you’re looking for help with addiction for yourself or for a loved one, know that there is always a way forward. Hopefully, this article has given you a good indication of how to get started!