Although strategies used in 3-S Therapy are not incompatible with the practices of most world religions, a Buddhist framework facilitates the convergence of spirituality and contemporary cognitive psychology and is particularly appropriate in the development of a manual-guided intervention for individuals in treatment for addiction because it contains the fundamental assertion that craving is the cause of suffering and that ending suffering requires identifying and correcting faulty cognitions, specifically erroneous self-perceptions. Buddhist principles and practices are integrated with contemporary cognitive self-schema and self-regulation theories and can be usefully applied to the treatment of addiction.
3-S can be used in conjunction with other alternative or complementary therapies and is consistent with a number of self-help programs and psychotherapeutic approaches currently in wide use in the addictions and with spirituality-based treatment approaches to addiction treatment. 3-S therapy is also consistent with a social-learning approach to addiction treatment that is exemplified in relapse prevention and coping skills training. 3-S therapy places greater emphasis on recovery as a construction of the client’s cognitions, and less emphasis on the need to identify specific environmental or emotional triggers.(AD)
