Addiction Therapists in Lafayette, CA.

Addictions are highly entrenched behavioral patterns that seem to take on a life of their own. I view addictive patterns as ways that parts of ourselves are trying to fill unmet needs, search for comfort, relieve stress/tension and sometimes to express a powerful urge to be independent or defiant. In addition to encouraging group supports such as AA/NA, I use body awareness to help us identify triggers and to allow them to act out/ express themselves in sessions. This lessens the likelihood that they will be acted in the world- and fills in the unmet needs. I also teach ways of grounding in our body, and holding a strong stance, so that we can contain the urges when they arise.

In my work with clients battling addictions I work to help them discover the root causes for their addictive behaviors and find new ways to resolve them. We work collaboratively with their support system to create healthy lifestyle habits and associations, resolve old recurrent pain, set new healthier boundaries in their work and personal relationships, and find new meaning for their lives. When there are setbacks, my clients learn to explore them in a non-judgmental environment designed to help them move forward toward the sober, healthy life and relationships they are seeking.

Addiction can be layered with loss, grief, and isolation. It might seem impossible to give up or reduce something that has felt so central to your life. I will provide a safe and nonjudgemental space for us to explore your experience and to create change and movement. My style is warm, empathic, and collaborative. By making links between your past and present experience we can develop and increase understanding and awareness and create space for something new to happen.

As an addictions counselor, I understand the importance of providing a non-judgmental, open, safe space where you feel comfortable to share about your use and explore how you'd like to address this behavior. Whether your goal is complete abstinence or a harm reduction strategy, I will work with you to identify the most effective ways to accomplish your goal. Many times in addiction work it is more about the feeling we are trying to achieve from the addictive behavior we are engaging in. This is why it is important to understand and implement alternative healthier strategies that achieve a similar feeling or result. When we do this; change is possible.

If you are an addict or in a relationship with an addict, you know what an insidious disease this is. Gambling, alcohol, drug, eating disorder, internet, sex, or shopping addiction affects not only the addict, but the addict's family and friends; the grip of addiction is crushing. The manifestation of any addiction is cunning, baffling, and powerful. It feels impossible to live without your drug or behavior of choice and impossible to live with it. If you are the loved one of an addict, you might experience monstrous resentment at them for their behavior. You have probably said or thought, "If they loved me, they would stop." If it were about love, they'd stop. Contact me for a consultation.

While most treatment approaches to addiction include 12 step programs, rehabs, and now sober living houses, Grey Matters International, Inc. provides a wildly successful alternative to traditional models of addiction treatment----that keeps the brain in mind. That is, talking to the conscious brain while the primal brain is deciding things even before you are consciously aware? Well, that is the problem to solve in addiction. We have the solution utilizing a new cutting edge neuroscience-centered brain rebalancing system. Contact kevin@kevinflemingphd.com or call 877-606-6161.

I help men when alcohol or other substance use has become a barrier in their relationships and/or career. For more then 10 years I have focused on the particular way men use substances to relate to, and cope with the world around them. At some point, the partying stops feeling like a party, and the consequences set in. Often times men go back and forth trying to answer the question, "do I really have a problem here?" You can do something about this, and you do not have to deal or cope with this alone. The majority of my clients express that they are comforted and inspired in their work with me, as they gradually develop greater self-understanding, and a feeling of empowerment in their lives.

I work with a lot of people who are in recovery, who may or may not be in an addiction support program such as 12-step programs. All addictions are attempts to regulate the nervous system. Nervous systems get dysregulated as the after-effect of unresolved trauma. Being a certified Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, I use the tools of SE to help clients learn to regulate their nervous systems so the constant unconscious drive to use in order to get relief from anxiety and depression dissipates.

If you are moving into recovery from drugs and alcohol I am here to support your path to strength and growth. From many years of experience with those in early or later recovery from addiction, I would like very much to offer you effective ways of staying present, yet getting underneath where your substance issues began and how to move back into a sober and healthier life. There are often specific career and relationship factors that need to be healed or started anew in a fresh way...often both! I am here to give you that guidance towards adjusting to substance free feelings safely. It can be a great benefit to have support in gently allowing awareness of avoided emotions again.

If you are reading this, you or a loved one is suffering and needing support. Freedom from any addiction starts with an understanding that addictive behaviors - regardless of the addiction -are not the real problem but are coping behaviors that don't really bring us any longterm or successful relief. At the core of all addictions lies a deeper and more complex picture of emotional pain that can be tied to a variety of physical or psychological factors. This is where the more authentic work of helping the Self lies. You or your loved one deserves help that really works. Please call me today at 925-520-5263 to get the seasoned support and tools for a successful recovery that you so deserve.

In this generation, the growth of individuals with addictions is very significant. Addictions originally were isolated to alcohol and drugs. Today’s addictions are understood to also include, food, sex, money, gambling, video, internet, internet games, internet chatrooms, internet pornography and other types of prolonged, repeated and out of control behaviors and actions. Addictions take over a person’s ability to have of self- control of the action which leads to the fogging of any will power to stop the addictive activity even when a matter of great importance comes in conflict with the addiction. Addictions ruin people and all relationships surrounding them. Addiction counseling explores underlying factors leading to the addiction and looks to find...(view profile to read more)

I see addiction from the perspective of what is called "The Hungry Ghost". That when we aren't fed the nourishment we need as children, love, support, being seen, heard, cared for and held safe, that we then feel a huge hole in our psyche's. And when we have not experienced the natural highs of intimacy and love in relationships, we will naturally find a replacement for that feeling in an addiction. The solution is not to shame the addict, but help them see that there addiction is simply Mal-adaptive, and to help guide them to get their needs met with health intimacy. In other words to show them that once they find healthy ways to meet their needs they won't need the addiction.

Addiction can be a powerful force that can quickly take over your life and can lead to many negative consequences. Trying to understand your addiction(s) and the underlying reasons that led you to this way of coping can be the beginning of more control and management of these behaviors. It can be difficult to look at behaviors that have caused harm, hurt and shame. Together we can work through this process and I will support you throughout.

Addicted to alcohol, drugs, sex, gambling, romance or food? Counseling can help! I work with clients from a holistic approach addressing the mind, body and spirit. Addiction is associated with deep emotional pain in the human psyche. In order to truly heal your pain, you will need to address the needs of all aspects of yourself. Call me for a consult!

I use Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing, I treat smoking addiction, internet addiction, and other compulsive behaviors. The therapy is focused on understanding what feeling and experience you may be chasing through the unwanted behavior - feelings of importance, belonging, relaxation - and disconnecting the link that was created between them. Contact me for more information about this new way to treat your issues.

Not only do we treat addictive disorders of all kinds, we also tackle the underlying mental illness that often accompanies substance abuse. At Barn Life Recovery our licensed clinicians and doctors help each client achieve a sober lifestyle as well as receive the finest mental health care available at this time. Our long term care modalities help clients make lasting changes in their lives.

There are so many different approaches to treating substance abuse and addiction. Without shame or judgement I work with clients to help them uncover the underlying pain that often maintains addictive behaviors. I encourage clients to take back control of their lives by exploring and understanding their unique relationship with the addictive substance or behavior. Clients can learn to make different, healthier choices and will begin to feel that they really do deserve a better way of life. This increase in self worth and new found peace can guide clients as they heal from within and work to improve the relationships in their lives.

If you have been clean and sober for at least six months, are in a 12 step program and working with a sponsor and looking to get into therapy, then spiritually oriented counseling can be a wonderful addition to the work you are already doing. Whether you are struggling with a concept of a "higher power," or feel that you have easily embraced it, spiritual counseling can be the right direction. Call Dr. Ellie for an initial consultation.

Addiction is a mental health condition and I treat addiction by a multi-pronged process predominately from a Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) model. I help my clients understand the reasons they use a substance or engage in an addictive behavior, teach them skills regulate their emotions and tolerance distress that might otherwise lead them to engage in their addiction, and address any underlying issues that contribute to their addiction. I also help clients with with concerns about their substance use or compulsive behavior to avoid developing addictions.

I am a Substance Abuse Professional, providing assessment and referral for treatment for individuals who have failed drug and or alcohol tests at work. DOT and safety sensitive work requires drug and alcohol testing to ensure the safety of the public. Once a positive test is returned, there is a procedure that must be followed for assessment, referral and follow up. Please contact me for further information on this specialization.

Addictions are very difficult to seek treatment for. Often there is guilt and shame as well as some resistance to giving up the addiction forever. As a result, it is important to help people learn what the addiction has done for them so that other strategies can be developed to fill the same or similar needs in more productive ways. Sometimes with addiction, people need to change friends and that can be challenging because isolation is very difficult for early recovery. I do believe 12-step type meetings can be helpful for some people but it is an individual decision and I do not push it. Recovery is an active and collaborative road.

I specialize in working with internet, video game, cell phone, social media, and porn addictions. These process addictions have acquired a power over you that is difficult to break. I take a multi-faceted approach to helping you experience the change you desire. I use Motivational Interviewing to help you solidify your desire to change, I utilize abstinence based strategies and methods to help you establish and sustain sobriety, I help you learn how to replace these addictions with real relationships and interests that foster real relationships and I support you in identifying or establishing a natural support network that helps you to maintain and sustain the new changes in your life!

Many of us can wonder if we are hooked on a way of acting in relationship, a particular activity, substance or type of media or food. I create a nonjudgemental and "pressure free" space to support you to look at and find clarity in relationship with your addictive pattern of behavior or substance. I have extensive experience helping clients to successfully navigate and change their relationship and use of food, sex, pornography, internet use, alcohol and drugs or ways of being in relationships such acting out with care-taking, anger, lying and more.

Addiction and substance abuse are deeply painful patterns of relating to ourselves and others that are positively intentioned, even though the outcome is devastating. In my work, together we make sense of the need to use all kinds of substances or behaviors in a compassionate and clear way, which then enables us to powerfully heal the parts of you that are propelling you toward addiction. We can then attend to the underlying wounding that brings addiction forward. Unhealed trauma, the need for relief, dissociation and numbing, and painful family and relational histories are often at the core of our addictive behaviors - I can help you untangle these and find a new way through your life!