Addiction Therapists in La Puente, CA.

I specialize in working with partners of addicts. Sometimes it feels like your partner is "cheating" on you with drugs, alcohol, pornography. Sometimes a partner is actually cheating. It feels as if you're not good enough, and it's easy to feel sad, worthless, ignored, or just angry. It's important to be seeking help during this time to learn to set boundaries, to engage with your partner in an honest way, and to have expectations that your partner is seeking treatment. I'm here for you, to listen to you, to support you as you walk down this very lonely and fearful road.

Are you addicted to pornography, visiting massage parlors, paying for sex? Have you tried to stop and failed? Are you leading a double life, afraid of being found out? Has your partner discovered your secret life? There is hope if you're ready to change your life. I provide a confidential, non-judgmental place for addicts and their partners to share the shame of a double life and the pain of betrayal. I will help stop the out-of-control behavior and re-engineer your life to develop healthy intimate connections. There is hope and you will not be alone in the journey. Go to www.sexhelp.com for an online assessment.

Dr. Clark offers serves for some of the most common addictions: alcohol, gambling, theft, and sexual addictions (including internet addiction, infedelity, seeking prostitutes, and other sexual compulsions such as public exhibitionism and voyeurism). Unfortunately, most people avoid seeking help until they run into trouble with the law and risk loosing their marriage and/or employment. Don't wait that long to ask for help.

We become addicted to certain behaviors when painful feelings about ourself cannot be recognized or expressed, and therefore unprocessed. Caught in these unrecognized feelings that never get understood, behaviors of accommodation take hold and keep us trapped. Therapy is a process of recognizing these emotional patterns leading to a personal empowerment to speak what one really desires and needs. This process breaks the addictive patterns.

I do not work with severe drug and alcohol addiction. I work with clients who are able to function, yet finding it becoming more difficult and needing to stop their behavior before they hit bottom. We use cognitive behaviorial techniques to protect them from acting out and build up a support network. We also begin to explore soothing and coping techniques which are needed and missing.

Addiction can ruin lives. Whether it is a substance (like alcohol of drugs) or a behavior (like eating or gambling) it stimulates that part of or brain that is the reward center and makes us feel pleasure. Humans, not surprisingly, like all animals, seek pleasure and avoid pain. We can get addicted to such a degree that we lose sight of the important things in our lives; our family, friend, job etc. Anything and everything can get side-lined by our addiction. Breaking free can be hard, it can involve many attempts and yet the rewards are enormous. I don't have the magic bullet but I can walk alongside you and help you on the path to recovery and sobriety.

I work with women struggling with sexual and "love" addiction, to help you discover the roots of these compulsions, find healthy ways to fulfill real needs, and help you to once again feel in control of your life while rebuilding the groundwork for healthy, fulfilling relationships that are consistent with your own values. If you are or might be ready to make a change, I hope you will contact me.

I am a CalGETS outpatient provider with specialized training in the treatment of problem gamblers and their families use specific diagnostic tools to determine the extent and severity of the problem. The licensed therapist creates a therapeutic relationship to help each client succeed using proven strategies that motivate the client to change, identify distortions and feelings about gambling, identify gambling triggers, and prevent relapsing into destructive behaviors. The specific types of treatment provided to problem and pathological gamblers will be a combination of state-provided treatment materials, knowledge and skills acquired from the trainings, and techniques from the th

Addiction is complex and encompasses many entities. One of them is the participation in an AA program, another one the therapist. I can help on the therapeutic side, as addiction is often connect to underlying trauma. We will work through the trauma and the tools needed, while AA provides the tools required for sobriety. It's an ongoing process, providing growth and stability over time.

For many people, addictions can be a private pain that they keep hidden away from others. Often times, people feel powerless to overcome these temptations that may eventually impact their relationships and life functioning. In the safety of therapy, we will work towards identifying triggers or times when you feel most vulnerable to your addiction. We'll process through underlying issues and develop feasible steps for you to resist temptations and replace them with constructive and healthy ways of coping. Whether it's internet addiction, pornography, substance abuse, binge eating- you do not have to let your addiction consume you any longer.

We are talking about craving for substances or behavior that gets in the way of relationships, work, and general health. First, treat yourself to sharing with a professional what is going on because you are unlikely to be able to solve this all by yourself if you are still suffering. Talking is obviously not enough and you will learn to take the steps to change these destructive habits.

Struggles with addiction and substance abuse can often be accompanied by guilt and shame, and this guilt and shame are typically triggers for continued use/relapse. Use of a strengths-based approach to treating substance abuse can tap an individual's own strengths to gain insight and to increase coping skills. Motivational Interviewing, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Interpersonal Therapy can also prove useful to address unmet needs, feeling "stuck" and challenging irrational thoughts that lead to continued use.

I've worked in inpatient chemical dependency, researched the use of videotaped feedback in alcoholism treatment, & taught a university graduate course in Substance Disorders & Treatment. While active addiction is generally best treated inpatient, outpatient counseling can be an indispensable support both preparing for and after initial recovery, preferably in conjunction with a strong 12-step program, for relapse prevention and for learning a new concept of self and building the skills and tools needed for sober daily living, such as boredom-avoidance, assertiveness, and relationship building and maintenance.