Addiction and Substance Use Disorder Treatment
What is Substance Use Disorder and how can it be treated?
Substance use disorder (sometimes referred to as “drug abuse” or “addiction” depending on the setting) is characterized by a pattern of problematic use of legal or illegal psychoactive substances, which may lead to significant distress or impairment in personal, occupational, social, emotional, or health life. It often includes withdrawal symptoms, increased or prolonged use than intended, and unsuccessful attempts to control or moderate use despite negative consequences.
This type of disorder profoundly impacts the brain’s reward circuits, such as the dopaminergic system, reinforcing a cycle that perpetuates the compulsion toward uncontrolled consumption. In addition to the physical effects, substance use disorder can also affect self-esteem, relationships, and the ability to plan a future free from the dependent relationship with the substance.
Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, combined with specialized clinical support for drug addiction, has shown encouraging results in interrupting drug use patterns and facilitating sustained recovery.
Our therapeutic approach to Substance Use Disorder
The psychedelic medication we use modulates NMDA receptors and the glutamatergic system, inducing neuroplasticity processes that allow the reorganization of brain circuits linked to compulsive use. This effect can help reduce reactivity to stimuli associated with use and open up new ways of coping.
During the sessions, the psychedelic experience facilitates awareness of the impact of consumption, helps us connect with blocked emotions, and offers the opportunity to reconnect with deeper values and motivations. Specialized psychotherapeutic support for addictions guides this process toward building a new meaning in life, also addressing the emotional and relational factors that fuel consumption behavior.
This approach is not limited to or conditioned on discontinuing substance use, but rather seeks to generate comprehensive changes beyond substance use itself, supporting the recovery of a sustainable lifestyle. This therapeutic process is tailored to each individual, supporting both the decision to completely abstain and the option to develop responsible and controlled consumption patterns, according to each patient’s individual needs.
Psychotherapists specialising in Substance Use Disorder in Barcelona
Professionals specializing in addictions and psychedelic-assisted therapy have training in drug and addiction clinical practice, psychology, and harm reduction. Their experience allows them to support complex recovery processes with a judgment-free and stigma-free approach, recognizing that substance use disorder is a multifactorial condition.
Each treatment is tailored to the individual’s characteristics and the substance(s) involved, with strategies that include identifying triggers, strengthening internal resources, and designing a life plan geared toward health and stability.
Benefits of treating Substance Use Disorder with us
Treating substance use disorder with psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy offers an opportunity for profound transformation, enabling a reduction in cravings, interruption of the cycle of incremental use, improved emotional regulation, and the potential to regain motivation for sustained change. This approach, by promoting neuroplasticity and redefining personal experience, allows not only abstinence or reduction of use to be achieved, but also rebuilding relationships, finding new sources of satisfaction, and recovering a renewed sense of purpose.
In a specialized clinical setting in Barcelona, the therapeutic team accompanies each person with respect and safety, offering a path to recovery that goes beyond simply seeking sobriety or reducing substance use, opening up the possibility of a fuller and more meaningful life, regardless of the substance.
toward your well-being
Schedule an initial visit at Clínica Synaptica and discover how our integrative approach can help you transform your mental health.
