All over the country and all around the world, one can find alcohol treatment facilities that can help any alcoholic begin to recover from the effects of their alcoholism and learn how to live a life that is free of the need for alcohol. There are several different options when choosing an alcohol treatment facility. There are also many different treatment methods available at the different alcohol treatment facilities to help any alcoholic stop drinking. Some alcohol treatment facilities offer a holistic approach and seek to look at the alcoholic as a whole person and not treat just part of the disease. Holistic approaches that are offered in alcohol treatment facilities often offer medical, mental and even spiritual support to help heal the effects of alcoholism on the alcoholic’s body, mind and spirit. This can be an important treatment option for many alcoholics as alcoholism is really a disease that affects every aspect and part of an alcoholic’s life. As part of a holistic approach, one of the newer treatments to help alcoholics stop drinking is called Moral Reconation Therapy. Due to the heavy denial component in the lives of many alcoholics, many who are addicted to alcohol have spent years in denial and used justifications and manipulations to continue to somewhat function while continuing to drink. Over time, the alcoholic’s entire existence may start to revolve around obtaining and using alcohol, either out in the open or in secret. Being in denial and using justifications and manipulations alters the way an alcoholic perceives and processes information and alters their judgment and thought processes. To be successful in breaking free from the temptations and cravings to use alcohol that may follow them for the rest of their lives, it is necessary to basically reprogram an alcoholic’s brain and changing his thinking patterns. Moral Reconation Therapy is a treatment strategy that seeks to increase the moral reasoning capability of both drug users and alcoholics. Moral Reconation Therapy can occur in both group and individual counseling sessions and generally uses structured group exercises and homework assignments that forces alcoholics to participate in their own treatment and helps the alcoholic to focus on seven basic treatment issues. These seven areas are groups of typical thought processes or tasks which alcoholics must learn to successfully handle in order to better cope with temptations to relapse. These issues are generally considered to be a confrontation of beliefs, attitudes and behaviors; assessment of current relationships; reinforcement of positive behavior and habits; positive identity formation; enhancement of self-concept; decrease in hedonism and development of frustration tolerance; and development of higher stages of moral reasoning. It is thought that by changing an alcoholic’s unhealthy thought processes in these seven core treatment areas that alcoholics can learn how to better cope with their life’s challenges and social interactions and learn behavior that is both more responsible to oneself and others as well as less harmful to oneself and others. Not all alcohol treatment facilities offer moral reconation therapy, and there are many alcohol treatment facilities that have successfully helped countless alcoholics stop drinking without this sort of treatment, but it should be considered an additional tool that may help an alcoholic to stop drinking and this and other treatment options offered by a particular center should be taken into consideration when choosing among alcohol treatment facilities.
