Addiction Therapists in Rocky View County, AB.

Support for relationship, career, and mental health issues associated with addictions. Gerard has diverse experience as a psychologist and leader in social services, schools, universities, corporati, and his private practice. He supports addicts in recovery from all walks of life, including continuity of care for physicians, dentists, pharmacists, and others struggling with addiction. Using a theoretical foundation of social learning and cognitive-behavioural training, he is well-versed in formal and informal assessment and solution-focussed approaches. He listens carefully to understand your needs and relies on his extensive experience to help you find solutions to your dilemmas.

[I OFFER VIDEO SESSIONS THROUGHOUT ALBERTA AND ONTARIO]. I know what it is like to be an addict. I have been in recovery from my addiction for several years now. I am also an international expert in this field. My American textbook called “Addictions Counseling Today: Substances and Addictive Behaviors” was published recently. I have been a practicing psychologist since 1986. If you need a competent psychologist, book now at https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=14249112

An addiction, whether to a substance or a behaviour, is an attempt to alleviate distress, self-soothe or fill an emptiness. The substance or behavior cannot bring relief because it is not what you truly need. No matter how you have been self-medicating your stress and pain thus far, I can help you treat the underlying issues in ways that are life-sustaining rather than destructive. The earlier you get help, the better. I will compassionately help you no matter how many times you have tried to quit and will help you establish ways that will help you stay quit. I provide therapy for various addictions with a sex addiction specialty. I help those addicted as well as their families.

I will work with you to understand the underlying emotional and psychological factors contributing to your addiction. I employ a harm-reduction approach to substance abuse treatment as opposed to complete and sudden abstinence. I will work with you to build effective coping strategies, heal trauma and provide techniques which will help you navigate the stress and complexity of long-term recovery.

Having worked previously at an addictions treatment facility for over 9 years, I have seen both the damage caused by a variety of addictions and the ability of individuals to arrest addictive behaviors and re-build healthy addiction-free lives. Whether you are attempting to moderate your use of an addictive substance or behavior, or abstain completely, therapy is an important tool. Together we will explore your triggers for addiction, relapse prevention strategies, and look at the resources available to you as you recover.

Do you feel that your drinking is stopping you from living the life you've dreamed of? Are you tired waking up with a pounding headache, dragging yourself out of bed thinking, “why did I do that?" Does a couple of drinks end up being a runaway train? Do you worry that if an emergency happened, you won’t be in proper shape to help your loved ones? Are you sick and tired of having your life revolve around alcohol? If you answered yes to any of the above, counselling can help. With powerful techniques, accountability, and genuine warmth, I help clients fully understand and master their drinking habits - so they can finally have the robust health, career, and relationships they deserve.

This isn't who you are. Is it time for a change? Ready to consider doing something different in your life? My approach to addictions looks at behavioral, emotional and cognitive changes that can support your recovery, building a new you and a new life. Drawing on CBT and other approaches, the supportive, non-judging space I provide teaches you practical strategies to cope with life, alternative (aka more rewarding and fulfilling) behaviors (and to learn to like them!), and helps you heal. You'll come to know greater freedom and satisfaction with who you are, your relationships, and with your life.

I help clients with addictions using cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), a research-based form of therapy in which I am certified. Strategies include avoiding high-risk situations and activities, managing urges and emotions, thinking of the benefits of staying on track and the downsides of using, and countering permission-giving thoughts.

Do you ever wonder what it would feel like to truly be free? Not just hanging on for dear life and hiding a life of secrets, but to be truly able to look in the mirror and say, "I'll never go back again?" You don't need to wonder anymore. Let us walk with you as you discover how to be free of that hunger inside and to never feel that fear again. Our Registered Christian Addictions Counselling can help you set love in order and you can truly live again!

We can support your recovery with skills. We encourage those of our clients whom struggle with addiction, to use skills to manage their emotions and distress, while participating in individual therapy, community sobriety programs, and their community as a whole. We can support you recovery through encouragement and accountability. Our therapist are DBT informed and we offer phone coaching.

In our early environments, we absorb a lot of information about ourselves and the world. Sometimes this stuff is positive – like language or self-soothing, but sometimes it comes from a disruptor and is not. Things like criticism, alcohol used by a parent, detachment from parents, perfectionism, or whatever can cause limiting beliefs about one’s self.

Addiction is often the surface problem, it's a way of staying away from a greater pain that is below the surface. Doing addiction counselling with me is a gentle and compassionate process of tending to the real issues below the addiction, so that there is no longer a need to engage in this harmful behaviour. When you pull out the roots of a weed, the weed will not grow back, and real change has been achieved!

I do not label clients as “addicts.” I work with a person addicted to a drug or porn, pornography, sexual/sex addiction, by asking questions like: What do you see is the most pressing issue? What do you believe other’s concern of you being addicted to this thing? Do you hear what your significant partner say(s) about your concerns? One client indicated to me that: he felt heard because of the nature of the questions (I asked) did not take sides instead I asked ‘relational questions.’ I recommend to my clients to attend detoxification programs. I encourage healthy lifestyles, values and practices and inform clients about negative side effects related to drug/substance abuse also.