You thought when you stopped your addiction that your life would turn around. Maybe it did for a while. Yet, now you feel like life is just not working the way you want it to. You feel depressed, anxious and unhappy too much of the time. Your relationships haven’t been going well and work can also be difficult. You have struggled on your own and now you see the need to get some therapy.
If you are looking for a counsellor, you are likely in recovery from an addiction such as:
You may feel overwhelmed with fear or confusion and wonder if it’s worth the struggle to remain abstinent if this is as good as life gets. Perhaps you attend support meetings and scan the room wondering why everyone else seems to be happy except for you.
You may feel misunderstood and pressured by your family or friends who expect you to be “fixed”, especially now that you’ve achieved abstinence. The fact that you think you are not managing well only increases your feelings of shame and guilt. You think you now know better therefore you “should” be doing better.
If you are experiencing any of the following, addiction recovery counselling can help:
If you are like many people who have given up an addiction, you might have been surprised - not to mention disappointed - to discover your primary problem was not the drugs, alcohol; gambling or other compulsive behavior. The substances or compulsive behaviors were a symptom of the core problems underlying their use. Therapy can help you heal these underlying issues whether they are due to physical or mental health issues; medical issues, relationship or work pressures, experiences of trauma or neglect, or a spiritual crisis.
Addiction recovery is also about looking within to discover what prevents you from living the life of your choosing.
A variety of factors influenced your addiction and compulsive behaviors; therefore it is important your recovery counselling or addiction treatment addresses all of these life areas to increase your ability for long term sustainable recovery. In counselling sessions we will examine how your beliefs and choices impact your ability to maintain physical, emotional, mental, social and spiritual balance. We will identify and explore how you can strengthen your capacity to remain abstinent and create a more fulfilling life.
Some of the benefits you could experience through recovery counselling are:
With over 25 years’ working as an Addictions Counsellor in intensive outpatient and residential addiction treatment settings, as well as in my private therapy practice I have extensive training and experience counselling issues of grief and loss, spirituality, relationship violence, assertiveness and boundaries, and trauma and abuse issues. Together we can create a plan to address the best approach to achieve your identified goals.
Personally I have over 30 years abstinence from mood altering substances and enjoy a balanced, fulfilled life of my choosing. If I was able to change my life, so can you!
I respect your privacy. Your name and email address will never be shared with third parties.