ABSTRACT
People addicted to substances may experience withdrawal symptoms once they abruptly stop using; the withdrawal may be particularly serous if the substance is heroin or a central nervous system depressant such as alcohol rather than stimulants. The goal of a detoxification program is twofold: to provide treatment to help the patient go through withdrawal safely and humanely; to link the patient to aftercare and long-term recovery. Treatment programs can adopt to reinforce patients' recovery and make their recovery more rewarding include: strengthening patients' abilities to pursue healthy and pleasurable recreational activities; encouraging and linking patients to employment and helping them to sustain it; and teaching patients mindful savoring. Many established treatment approaches have also been developed to address the issue of a rewarding recovery, such as the Community Reinforcement Approach, Reinforcement-based Treatment, Contingency Management methods, and Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is one of the most researched, evaluated, and adopted evidence-based addiction relapse prevention treatment approaches.
