Experiential therapy program
The most common experiential therapy approaches include animal or equine-assisted therapy, adventure therapy, psychodrama, and art therapy

When you go into rehab treatment for addiction and mental health disorders, you gain exposure to a wide range of addiction therapies and treatment methods. These include an Experiential Therapy program, a type of group therapy involving active pursuits, creativity, teamwork, or self-expression. Although one therapy alone cannot help you build lasting recovery, these methods help you reach your recovery goals as part of a mix of approaches.

What is an experiential therapy program?
Techniques used in experiential therapy help you build self-confidence, communication, teamwork, self-control, and interpersonal skills

An experiential therapy program is an adjunct treatment, meaning it supplements other evidence-based therapies and holistic therapy programs. In addition, techniques used in experiential therapy help you build self-confidence, communication, teamwork, self-control, and interpersonal skills. From your accomplishments, you build self-esteem while participating in activities that can become some of your favorite means of relapse prevention.

For your program, you will participate in activities that help you experience feelings like those of real-life scenarios. By confronting these momentary issues, you improve in how you cope with life stress. Also, at the same time, your therapist sees you in actual moments like those that led to your substance abuse or for which you used substances to cope. In many ways, an experiential therapy program breaks down the walls of the experience and takes your therapist as an observer in your life events.

Most experiential therapy program work involves at least one other person, animal, or group therapy setting. Your therapist sees how you interact with others, and those interactions reflect your daily experience like a mirror into your life outside of rehab. Using their observations, your therapist develops a plan of action to help you overcome the hurdles you face in your experiential therapy program in Jacksonville, FL.

Some of the most common experiential therapy approaches include animal or equine-assisted therapy, adventure therapy, psychodrama, and art therapy. Your therapist adapts methods to the event or activity employed. Each therapy session has specific goals, with the activity followed by conversations between peers and the therapist to reflect on the session events.

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Benefits of experiential therapy
Many people experience some of the benefits of this type of therapy almost immediately.

For example, some of the many benefits of experiential therapy at Lakeview Health include:

Developing an enhanced sense of self-control

Many people have found that experiential therapy gives them a stronger sense of self-control and self-awareness. Experiential therapy encourages mindfulness, which helps you to be more in control of your thoughts and actions.

Enjoying the rewards of accomplishments

One of the main benefits of experiential therapy is that you have the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of your labor. In addition, experiential therapy helps you meet and exceed your goals, so you begin to feel higher self-esteem.

Improving communication skills

Excellent communication skills allow you to more freely express your thoughts and emotions. As you build these communication skills, your individual or group therapy sessions provide more healing and comfort.

Overcoming past trauma

Past trauma is often an underlying cause for addiction. Experiential therapy encourages you to address trauma so that you can begin to heal.

Building problem-solving skills

A key component of experiential therapy is teaching you to be proactive and solve your problems. That’s why our therapists will work with you to gain problem-solving skills so that you understand the impact of the decisions you make and the outcome they present to you.

Expressing yourself

One of the main benefits of experiential therapy is that it is not talking therapy. For people who struggle to communicate with words or do not wish to talk about a traumatic experience or share challenging emotions, this can become quite beneficial.

Practicing new skills

Experiential therapy gives people the opportunity to practice new behaviors and actions in a safe therapeutic environment. When you have the chance to practice new behaviors and actions, you are more likely to use the skills.

Want to know more

We offer several types of experiential therapy

Equine therapy as experiential therapy

One of the most popular forms of experiential therapy is equine therapy. In general, animals offer emotional support. This is why therapists use animals in some types of group programs. Horses are no exception to providing emotional support and can help you work through your difficult past trauma, as well as the aftermath of your addiction.

Equine-assisted therapy incorporates horses into group sessions, proven effective over multiple decades. In these sessions, you observe how the horse responds to your emotions, thoughts, and behaviors. For example, you may engage individually with the animal in an arena to reach specific goals. Or this therapy can involve riding, animal care, and other activities around horses.

Art therapy as experiential therapy

An art therapy session is led by a licensed therapist who chooses the medium to be used. Any type of art can be used for therapeutic purposes, but the most popular options are painting and drawing. You don’t have to have any experience or special talent creating art. Instead, the main goal of art therapy is more about letting people focus on their experience as they create the piece of art. Also, art therapy allows people to better identify and explore their emotions and thoughts which may be difficult at times to put into words. Plus, many people find that this form of therapy is enjoyable and really learn a lot about themselves.

Music therapy as experiential therapy

Music therapy uses the power of music to help people heal from addiction, mental health disorders, or trauma. A typical music therapy session lasts between 30 and 60 minutes. A licensed therapist personalizes exactly what will occur during the session, so music therapy can be beneficial for people of all ages and backgrounds. It’s also versatile and offers benefits for people with a variety of musical experience levels and with different mental or physical health challenges.

Experiential therapies at Lakeview Health

At Lakeview Health in Jacksonville, FL, you can find addiction treatment with this and the other services you need for a strong recovery. These programs and services include:

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