substance abuse

Becoming addicted to a substance, a behavior or a combination of the two can be a seemingly insurmountable issue in one’s life. The obsessive cravings for a behavior or substance have the ability consume your thoughts, feelings, and emotions by hijacking your livelihood (mind AND body) causing unimaginable deep pain. The damage of addictive behavior is oftentimes not limited to only the isolated life of the addict. Those close to the addicted individual can be left in a wake of desperation and fear of the future of their loved one. Loss of meaningful relationships, high levels of conflict, chronic physical pain, assumed the inability to trust, difficulty holding down work and crippling shame are just a few of the consequences of addictive behavior gone untreated. If you or a someone close to you are experiencing any of these issues, rest assured, you have found a counselor ready to guide you towards powerful transformation and healing.

My approach to the treatment of addiction is to first explore and assess the level of severity, frequency, and history of the addictive behavior. Using psychometric assessments and honest exploration of current and past behavior we will build a baseline for treatment, establishing a foundation for measured progress. I am a firm believer that one can not change without proper insight into the condition they are struggling with and for this reason, the next crucial step is educating the client (or family) about the specifics of addiction science. Addictive behavior is often rooted in a dysfunctional/maladaptive means of getting a particular need or desire met. Therefore, I find it useful to assess and define a client’s authentic needs and unique desires for life. After baseline behavior, client education and needs/desires have been assessed we begin that creative work of establishing simple, measurable and attainable goals. These goals will target emotional processing of past/current pain and trauma, raising awareness of triggers for craving and developing interpersonal skills to help the addicted individual thrive in connection to self and other. Simply put, CONNECTION is the prescription for any addiction and due to how isolated an addicted individual can become, the treatment of chronic addiction is difficult. In my clinical experience with the treatment of addiction, I have witnessed that creating a powerful CONNECTION with a compassionate and effective counselor proves the best place to start the journey towards healing. I am that counselor. Let’s get to work!