Informative articles about drug and alcohol treatment and co-occurring conditions.
What is EMDR? EMDR stands for “eye movement desensitization and reprocessing.” It’s an effective, low-impact form of therapy used for the treatment of conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and other mental health conditions.
The pandemic has changed our lives in many ways over the last few years, and not all of the changes have been bad. One fact we’ve learned from stay-at-home orders and quarantining is that not everything needs to be done in-person to be done well. While initially, online doctor’s appointments and therapy sessions were done out of necessity, many people have realized the benefits of having online options for healthcare.
You might be surprised to learn that virtual therapy, and even virtual addiction treatment and mental health treatment, is becoming more and more common. But is virtual therapy really as good as in-person therapy?
Therapy is helpful … except when it isn’t. While getting therapy can be a critical part of addressing mental health issues, behavioral health problems, and a variety of life challenges, bad experiences with therapists can turn many people away from what is normally a lifeline for healing. It adds insult to injury when you are already dealing with personal challenges, and you may not be willing to open up again or persist in finding a better option.
However, learning how to find a new therapist — a good therapist — is a worthwhile venture, and it can be important for your emotional health and personal growth.
Addiction treatment and recovery involve a lot of terms, definitions, and acronyms that are not always intuitive at first. But knowing these terms is important to getting the right care. Learning the difference between IOP versus PHP, versus inpatient care, can help you or a loved one start your recovery journey now and keep it going long into the future.
If you don’t need medically supervised detox services, an IOP may be able to offer all the support and resources you need for a successful recovery. An IOP can also act as a step up from regular therapy sessions if you need more resources and accountability than weekly meetings. Or an IOP is also the perfect step down from inpatient programs, offering a helping hand as you adjust from full-time treatment back into regular daily life.
According to Mental Health America (MHA), 50% of those who will develop mental health conditions start showing symptoms by age 14. As mental health symptoms among teens rise, so does the opportunity to learn healthy coping mechanisms and communication skills early in life.
Whether their symptoms dissipate or become more pronounced, adolescents can find support, discover how to have positive relationships with themselves and others, and learn to self-regulate. One way to build these skills is through adolescent outpatient treatment.