Abuse and Addiction


Abuse and Addiction

What starts out as harmless fun … a way to cope during a stressful time, a way to nurture yourself or even as a way to improve your life … somehow gets out of control.

When do fun, coping, distraction and self-improvement become a problem?

Even the most successful people can have problems. For many years, I have worked with highly intelligent and creative people who discovered that their lives had become lessened or unmanageable due to their own or others’ abuse or addiction.

Alcohol, food and snacks, sex, computer usage, exercise and dieting, prescription medication and street drugs, spending, recreation and even helping behaviors can be abused. If the abuse continues, it can become addictive. And, before you know it, your world becomes smaller and your goals more difficult to attain.

How I Can Help

Letting go of unhelpful patterns and behaviors is definitely possible. As an experienced psychologist, I can provide you with the tools and support that you need. In a safe, confidential and non-judgmental environment, we will assess the problem and develop a plan to put you back in charge of your life.

In our psychotherapy sessions, you will:

  • Learn effective tools to increase your success with letting go of addictive behaviors and patterns
  • Learn tools to diminish anxiety, stress, anger, fear, grief or depression
  • Develop techniques to increase your relaxation and well-being
  • Develop an effective Relapse Prevention Plan
  • Discover and strengthen healthy coping skills
  • Understand underlying issues that contribute to addictive behavior and relapse
  • Get support for participation in a 12-step program
  • Better understand abuse, dependency, addiction and addictive family systems
  • Get support to regain your health
  • Benefit from my coordination with physicians and alternative health-care professionals

Some Signs That you Might Have a Problem:

  • Isolation
  • Guilt
  • Excessive dedication of time, energy and/or money
  • Obsessing on one issue or person
  • Loss of interest in other things
  • Loss of sleep
  • Debt
  • Increased medical problems
  • Poor work performance
  • Relationship difficulty
  • Poor self-image
  • Unsuccessful attempts to decrease or stop
  • Lying, hiding, minimizing
  • Falling behind