Mindfulness-Based Addiction Treatment in NJ for Cravings, Stress, and Recovery

The symptoms and cravings associated with both addiction and mental illness can make the mind seem louder.

Negative thinking, anxiety, guilt and shame, stress, and fears of relapse can cause people to become detached from the present moment and fall back into unhealthy patterns.

But mindfulness provides a way to slow down that process.

At SOBA New Jersey, mindfulness-based addiction treatment helps clients create the opportunity to gain greater self-acceptance and less judgment about themselves, their choices, and their actions. Mindfulness is not just about stopping your thoughts and clearing your head; it is about giving yourself the space to respond to a situation rather than to simply react.

What Is Mindfulness-Based Addiction Treatment?

Mindfulness-based addiction treatment is a therapeutic approach that uses mindfulness meditation, breathing exercises, body awareness, and present-moment focus to help people recover from various types of substance use disorder.[1] It can be used in individual therapy sessions, group therapy sessions, relapse prevention strategies, and aftercare programming.

Mindfulness is the practice of paying attention to the present moment while maintaining an open perspective and non-judgmental awareness of one’s experience. In many ways, this applies well to the nature of cravings and emotional responses experienced by people suffering from addiction. When cravings arise, they feel urgent, as if one must react to them immediately. These urges leave a person feeling anxious, filled with regretful shame and anger, feeling isolated, or experiencing intense physical discomfort, leading them to engage in substance use quickly before understanding the full extent of what is happening.

Mindfulness-based therapies provide clients with the opportunity to observe these thoughts, sensations, and urges without responding to them immediately. Mindfulness has been shown to promote self-awareness, emotional regulation, coping skills development, and ultimately long-term recovery. Mindfulness-based treatments have also been found effective when combined with other forms of therapy such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and others.[2]

How and Why Mindfulness Works

Mindfulness allows people to change their relationship with their thoughts, cravings, and emotions. One of the major struggles of addiction isn’t just that cravings exist; it’s that they feel like commands. But through mindfulness practices, clients can see their cravings as temporary sensations that will rise, reach a peak, and then subside.

This can be very useful during high levels of stress, which is common for people in recovery. Someone may notice the signs such as a tight chest, racing thoughts, and feeling overwhelmed, and think, “I can’t handle this.” Without mindfulness, this overwhelm can lead to avoidance, substance use, or some other negative automatic reaction. But by pausing before reacting, they can learn to take some deep breaths, use a specific coping skill or technique, and avoid escalating the situation.

Mindfulness can help improve mental health. Many people who enter addiction treatment are also struggling with co-occurring mental health conditions like depression, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and mood disorders. Mindfulness itself is not a replacement for psychotherapy or prescription medications when indicated; however, it can help people recognize when negative thoughts are happening, reduce their reactivity, and remain more grounded in difficult times.

Mindfulness Techniques Used in Recovery

Mindfulness techniques can be very different for each client. While some find that the best technique for them is simply finding a comfortable place to sit and meditate, others need to move their bodies, breathe deeply, or perform quick grounding activities. Ultimately, the key is to identify mindfulness practices that are realistic to use in your daily routine.

Some common mindfulness-based therapies used in substance use treatment programs include:

• Mindful breathing: Slowing down and paying close attention to your breathing, which will help you focus on the present moment.
• Body scan meditation: Similar to mindful breathing except it requires you to pay close attention to your body to notice tension, discomfort, or physical sensations without judgment.
• Urge surfing: When a client is experiencing an urge to use, this activity requires them to observe the urge, much like they would watch a wave rise up and then fall back down. As long as the client doesn’t give in to the urge, they have successfully “surfed” the urge.
• Mindful walking: Walking is a great way for clients to experience mindfulness outside of a typical therapy session. Clients can walk slowly and intentionally while using their senses, such as smelling flowers and hearing birds chirping.
• Mindful listening: A form of mindfulness that allows the listener to remain focused on the speaker and not think about their response before the other person finishes speaking.
• Grounding exercises: These types of activities allow clients to focus on one of their five senses (touch, sight, taste, smell, or hearing) to ground themselves in the present moment. For example, if a client is feeling anxious or having a flashback, they could take deep breaths and listen to the sounds in their environment. Grounding exercises are particularly useful for people who experience dissociation, which happens when a client disconnects from reality. Grounding can help a person who experiences dissociation quickly recognize when they are in that state and regain control over their actions.
• Mindful eating: Mindful eating is when a person eats a meal slowly, savoring each bite. They focus on their hunger and fullness levels and pay close attention to their body’s signals. Many times, people in recovery struggle with disordered eating patterns. Mindful eating can be helpful for these clients since it encourages them to develop healthy relationships with food and their bodies.

While many of the above examples may seem basic, they can be extremely powerful when practiced regularly. Like most things in recovery, developing mindfulness takes practice and patience. The sooner a client develops these habits, the easier it may become for them to apply them when they are dealing with cravings, conflicts, or potential triggers for relapse.

Mindfulness and Substance Use

Many people use mind-altering substances as a means of escape, and as a distraction from anger, sadness, anxiety, painful memories, boredom, or stress. While this may work to temporarily ease negative emotions, relying on mind-altering substances can lead to chronic discomfort when they are not available. Mindfulness-based approaches encourage people in recovery to stay engaged with uncomfortable emotions (and physical states) in a safe way.

It is worth stating that remaining engaged with emotional pain does not require a person to endure excessive distress with no support. Rather, it enables the person to recognize earlier warning signs like loneliness and frustration, so they can use additional support mechanisms like breathwork, exercise, or coping statements to prevent relapse behaviors, and potentially create a greater sense of control and safety.

For example, a person in recovery may crave alcohol. However, rather than immediately acting on this desire, they can practice mindfulness by asking themselves questions: “What am I really feeling right now?” 

Once they identify underlying causes of their craving, they can choose alternative ways to deal with it, such as contacting friends or family members. By recognizing the first signs of cravings before acting on them, they have created an opportunity for increased relapse prevention.