Moral Reconation Therapy in Cape May County, NJ

Moral Reconation Therapy, or MRT, is a specific type of cognitive-behavioral therapy that is designed to help individuals suffering from drug and alcohol addictions to improve their self-awareness, moral reasoning, and decision making skills. Although these addictions are complex, Moral Reconation Therapy takes the position that most addictive behaviors occur as a result of two basic human desires: the desire to avoid pain, and the desire to experience pleasure. With the help of MRT, individuals with addiction can learn to make more socially responsible decisions by understanding how these desires drive their behaviors, and how to rise above them.

Gauging the Effectiveness of MRT

Moral Reconation Therapy was originally developed in the 1980’s as a method of treating incarcerated populations, with the goal of reducing participants’ recidivism rates. Despite being relatively young as a therapy, a large number of published studies have shown that MRT is not only effective for its intended purpose, but also as a therapeutic technique in the treatment of individuals with drug and alcohol addictions. These studies have outlined how MRT has a range of positive benefits, including helping individuals identify a sense of purpose in their life, increasing self-esteem, reducing thrill-seeking behaviors, improving critical reasoning skills, and leading to healthier expressions of negative emotional states.

Concepts of Moral Reconation

More than anything else, MRT is founded on honesty. As individuals grow their capacity to communicate honestly with themselves and with others, they begin to see how they have contributed to their current circumstances, and encounter the opportunity to identify their own unhealthy patterns of thought and behavior. They can then work on replacing these with healthy, self-supportive ones. Along the way they learn to set positive personal goals, interact compassionately with others, and incorporate empathy into their decision-making process. Participants in MRT take away many positive benefits from the program, like higher personal values, more self-awareness, and better social functioning.

MRT Methodology

Moral Reconation Therapy consists of a 16-step curriculum designed to be administered in a group setting, and by a trained facilitator. The program focuses on seven core issues:

. Confronting false beliefs, unhealthy behaviors, and self-destructive attitudes.
. Assessing current relationships with family, friends, and peers.
. Reinforcing positive habits and behaviors.
. Forming a positive self-identity.
. Developing a healthy self-concept.
. Developing a higher frustration tolerance.
. Developing a higher stage of moral reasoning.

Group sessions and activities play a big role in MRT. Often, participants find themselves at a different step in the program from the people sitting around them, and group members actively help each other by challenging one another’s contradictory beliefs and statements. While MRT is an excellent tool on its own, evidence indicates that it provides participants with even greater benefits when prescribed alongside other forms of counseling and behavioral therapy. This makes it a perfect fit within a holistic, multi-faceted, recovery program such as the ones offered via Cape May County Drug Treatment Centers. If you’d like to find out more about MRT, please contact us at (609) 756-3686 today.