Rewire the connection between your thoughts, behaviors, and outcomes. Our CARF-accredited clinical team uses LST across every program at Valley Spring Recovery Center to build lasting change.
Switch between tabs to explore what LST is, how it works in practice, and the science that supports it.
Life Skills Training is a structured, evidence-based approach that addresses the powerful connection between how you think, how you behave, and the outcomes you experience. At Valley Spring Recovery Center, every therapist on our clinical team—led by Clinical Director Henry Iwuala—is trained in LST and integrates it into both individual and group sessions.
Unlike traditional talk therapy that may focus primarily on the past, LST equips you with practical tools to identify and reframe distorted thinking patterns right now. You learn to recognize automatic negative thoughts, challenge their accuracy, and replace them with healthier cognitive patterns that support your recovery.
LST is a core component of our Mental Health Program curriculum, introduced in Week 1 (LST Intro) and deepened in Week 3 (Cognitive Flexibility), giving clients a progressive foundation for lasting change.
Work with your therapist to uncover the reflexive thoughts that arise in triggering situations—thoughts you may not even realize you are having.
Challenge distorted thinking by evaluating whether your automatic thoughts are supported by facts or driven by cognitive distortions like catastrophizing or black-and-white thinking.
Learn to generate balanced, realistic thoughts that replace unhelpful patterns. Practice cognitive restructuring techniques during individual and group sessions.
Test new beliefs through real-world action. Your therapist assigns targeted exercises that build confidence and reinforce healthier thinking and behavior patterns.
Develop a personalized toolkit of LST strategies you can use independently—coping cards, thought records, behavioral activation plans—so recovery continues after treatment ends.
LST at Valley Spring is not a one-size-fits-all protocol. Under the clinical guidance of Medical Director Dr. Michael Olla and Clinical Director Henry Iwuala, each client receives a personalized LST treatment plan tailored to their specific conditions, triggers, and recovery goals.
Sessions happen in both individual therapy (one-on-one with your assigned therapist) and structured group settings where you practice skills alongside peers. Our 8:1 staff-to-client ratio means you get far more personalized attention than at typical facilities.
Located at 830 Broadway in Norwood, NJ, our Bergen County facility provides a comfortable, focused environment where you can fully engage with the LST process without the distractions of daily life.
Life Skills Training is one of the most extensively researched psychotherapeutic approaches in existence. Hundreds of clinical trials and meta-analyses have demonstrated its effectiveness across a wide range of mental health conditions and substance use disorders. Here is what the research shows:
At Valley Spring, we combine this evidence base with compassionate, individualized care. Our CARF accreditation reflects our commitment to maintaining the highest standards of treatment quality and clinical outcomes.
Click each phase to see what you can expect during a typical LST session at Valley Spring.
Every session begins with a structured check-in. Your therapist asks about your mood, any significant events since the last session, and whether you completed your between-session assignments. This sets the agenda and helps prioritize what to work on.
Using guided questioning techniques, your therapist helps you identify the automatic thoughts that occurred during a difficult situation. You will use a thought record—a structured worksheet—to capture the situation, your emotional response, and the specific thoughts that fueled it.
This is the core therapeutic work. Your therapist uses Socratic questioning to help you examine the evidence for and against your automatic thoughts. Together, you develop more balanced, realistic alternative thoughts that better reflect reality.
LST is not just about thinking differently—it is about acting differently. In this phase, you and your therapist plan specific behavioral experiments or coping strategies to practice between sessions. This might include exposure exercises, activity scheduling, or relaxation techniques.
Sessions close with a collaborative summary of key takeaways and specific assignments for practice between sessions. This homework is essential—LST works because you practice new skills in real life, not just in the therapy room.
Every program at Valley Spring integrates LST. Filter by care level to find the right fit.
Our highest level of outpatient care. Structured daily programming with intensive LST sessions 5 days per week. Individual and group LST is a cornerstone of this program.
Learn more →Intensive outpatient treatment meeting 5 days a week. LST techniques are woven into every group session and individual check-in throughout the week.
Learn more →A flexible intensive option meeting 3 days a week, ideal for clients stepping down from 5-day IOP. LST remains a central therapeutic modality in all sessions.
Learn more →Access the same CBT-based clinical programming from home via secure telehealth. Full group and individual LST sessions delivered by our licensed therapists remotely.
Learn more →A specialized track where LST is featured prominently in the curriculum. Week 1 introduces LST fundamentals, and Week 3 focuses on Cognitive Flexibility training.
Learn more →Continued CBT-focused treatment for clients transitioning from intensive care. Individual sessions help reinforce and deepen skills learned during IOP.
Learn more →Select a condition to see how LST is specifically applied to treat it at Valley Spring.
Anxiety disorders are among the most effectively treated conditions using LST. At Valley Spring, our therapists help you identify the catastrophic thinking patterns and avoidance behaviors that maintain your anxiety cycle. Through structured exposure exercises and cognitive restructuring, you learn to face feared situations gradually while developing more realistic appraisals of threat. Our 8:1 staff ratio ensures you receive the personalized support needed during the often-challenging exposure process.
Depression traps people in cycles of negative thinking and withdrawal. LST at Valley Spring breaks this cycle by targeting both the cognitive distortions (hopelessness, self-criticism, all-or-nothing thinking) and the behavioral withdrawal that maintains depressive episodes. Our therapists use behavioral activation to gradually rebuild engagement with rewarding activities alongside cognitive techniques that address the underlying thought patterns fueling your depression.
Trauma fundamentally changes how you perceive safety and threat. LST for PTSD at Valley Spring incorporates trauma-focused techniques including cognitive processing therapy, which helps you examine and restructure the stuck points—the distorted beliefs about the trauma and yourself—that keep you trapped in the trauma response. Under Dr. Michael Olla's medical oversight, we ensure that trauma processing is paced appropriately and supported by your full care team.
Managing bipolar disorder requires understanding the relationship between thoughts, mood states, and behavior across both depressive and manic episodes. LST at Valley Spring helps clients recognize early warning signs of mood shifts, develop structured daily routines that promote stability, and challenge the grandiose or hopeless thinking that accompanies mood episodes. Combined with medical management under Dr. Olla, LST becomes a powerful stabilizing force.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder responds exceptionally well to a specialized form of LST that includes Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP). At Valley Spring, our therapists guide you through gradual exposure to obsession triggers while helping you resist performing compulsive rituals. Over time, your brain learns that the feared outcomes do not occur, and the compulsive urge diminishes significantly.
Addiction is maintained by deeply ingrained patterns of thought and behavior. LST at Valley Spring helps you identify the triggers, cravings, and permission-giving thoughts that lead to substance use. You learn to develop alternative coping strategies, challenge beliefs that support continued use (such as "I can't cope without it"), and build a relapse prevention plan grounded in concrete LST skills. This approach is integrated across all our care levels.
When mental health conditions and substance use disorders co-occur, they reinforce each other in a destructive cycle. Valley Spring's dual diagnosis approach uses LST to address both simultaneously rather than treating them in isolation. Our Mental Health Program curriculum (featuring LST in Week 1 and Cognitive Flexibility in Week 3) is specifically designed for clients managing co-occurring conditions, providing integrated care that treats the whole person.
Click each stage to see how LST evolves as you progress through your recovery at Valley Spring.
The most intensive level of LST engagement. During Partial Care, you attend structured programming 5 days per week with multiple LST sessions. The focus is on stabilization—building foundational LST skills like thought identification, mood monitoring, and basic cognitive restructuring. Our team helps you understand the connection between your thinking patterns and the behaviors that brought you to treatment.
As you stabilize, LST deepens. In our IOP tracks (5-day and 3-day), you move from basic thought identification to more advanced cognitive restructuring and behavioral experiments. You begin applying LST skills to real-world situations outside of treatment, building the bridge between the therapeutic environment and your daily life. The Mental Health Program's Week 3 Cognitive Flexibility module happens at this stage.
LST becomes increasingly self-directed in this stage. Through Virtual IOP and standard Outpatient sessions, you practice applying LST skills independently while maintaining therapeutic support. Sessions focus on troubleshooting real-life challenges, refining relapse prevention plans, and deepening your ability to catch and correct distorted thinking without as much therapist guidance.
Recovery does not end when formal treatment does. Our Alumni Program provides ongoing access to CBT-informed support groups, periodic individual check-ins, and community events. The LST skills you built through Stages 1-3 become your lifelong toolkit for managing stress, preventing relapse, and continuing to grow. You transition from patient to community member with the confidence that you have the tools to handle whatever comes next.
Most major insurance plans cover LST at our CARF-accredited facility. Verify your coverage in minutes and take the first step toward lasting change.
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