Experiential Therapy Explained
Experiential therapy is one of the modes of therapy used in addiction treatment. This kind of therapy helps people struggling with addiction by uncovering their past and uprooting the psychological burdens that may have contributed to their addiction.
Addiction has many layers and can differ from one person to another. And while detox, for example, is a great way to combat physical dependence in substance use disorder, it should be accompanied by therapy in order to uncover the root cause.
Read on to learn more about this specific kind of therapy and how it can be beneficial as one of the holistic treatment methods for addiction.
Understanding Experiential Therapy in Addiction Treatment
Experiential therapy is a mode of treatment that uses different tools to recreate events from a patient’s past. In this therapy, the therapist and patient collaborate to recreate the moments of great psychological importance. After the recreation, the therapist helps the individual create a mental toolbox where they change their thinking and behaviour.
This can differ from one person to another, and experiential therapy helps them deal with the experience and create new responses. The goal is to either ease or completely remove the potential triggers associated with the past experience.
Why Choose Experiential Therapy?
Experiential therapy allows patients to have greater self-awareness and offers new ways of thinking to help them deal with their internal triggers. Most people opt for experiential therapy as it is more beneficial to them than other therapy modes. With this model, patients are equipped with the tools to help them become proactive when facing challenging experiences from their past that can turn up as triggers.
Ultimately, experiential therapy arms patients in order to avoid temptations to relapse once they are confronted with similar situations once they go out of rehab. Remember, addiction treatment does not start and end inside the walls of a treatment facility. Once they are exposed to the outside world, where multiple factors can test them, that’s where the real challenge appears.
What lies behind us and what lies before us are
tiny matters compared to what lies within us
What Happens During Experiential Therapy?
During an experiential therapy session, the patient will be exposed to different setups that recreate scenarios they have discussed with their therapist. This includes using props, guided imagery, music, puppetry, and other supporting materials to make the scenario more believable for the patient.
In this session, the therapist will interview them on what thoughts and feelings come up for them. The goal is to uncover how these scenarios bring up thinking patterns that lead to their unhealthy coping mechanism, which is substance abuse. Afterwards, both therapist and patient will examine why such feelings come up and create new ways of thinking to combat the problematic behaviour brought by the trigger. This way, they will know how to practically face their “fears” slowly but surely through experiential therapy.
The benefits of experiential therapy
Here are just some of the benefits of experiential therapy, especially for people struggling with substance abuse:
- Develop robust stress management techniques
- Increase sense of control in the face of triggers
- Foster better communication skills
- Develop a sense of agency
- Boost self-esteem and self-confidence
- Better interpersonal relationships
- Develop more empathy and compassion for oneself
Likewise, through experiential therapy, therapists can get to know their patients better and have a clearer picture of their internal triggers. This way, they can help the patient develop more accurate coping skills to give them greater control over their lives.
What to Expect from Experiential Therapy
Experiential therapy is not the only treatment for substance abuse. However, it is highly effective in conjunction with other addiction treatments like detox, counselling, and other alternative practices. The realisations the patient gleaned from the experiential therapy sessions will contribute significantly to their overall recovery as it also supports their psychological foundation.
With experiential therapy, patients gain the ability to no longer depend on self-sabotage behaviours and are equipped with the tools they need. Experiential therapy is not necessarily the centre of addiction treatment, but it is one of the crucial modes of treatment that have been found to benefit people struggling with addiction.
The Role of Counselling in Experiential Therapy
The role of the counsellor in experiential therapy is to guide and be present with the patient in exploring their difficult experiences. The key here is that it should be done at a safe distance and ensure that the patient feels comfortable enough to recount it.
As these experiences can be painful for them, it’s crucial that the therapist encourages, reassures, and listens to the patient with utmost care. Trust, care, confidentiality, and nonjudgmental space are at the root of it, which are essential in this kind of therapy.
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Facts about experiential therapy
Experiential therapy is a well accepted practice by many experts in the field of psychotherapy. Below are just some of the facts about this form of therapy as part of the process of recovery treatment:
- Experiential therapy is also used in grief counselling, treating eating disorders, and other mental health disorders
- Experiential therapy is often done in conjunction with therapies such as cognitive behavioural therapy, which is another mode of treatment for addiction
- This kind of therapy also falls in the same alternative category as art therapy, music therapy, and the like
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