Addiction Therapists in Pacific Palisades, CA.

Don't know if you're an "addict"? Are you SURE you are? Whether someone just accuses you of addiction or you've been around the recovery block a few times, you'll find qualified and understanding help at CCRG. But nobody REALLY understands you? Try us! You'll find real understanding and patience, skill and knowledge, motivation and support. Would all that help? Call us and let us help.

I love the 12 step programs and will want my clients to attend some of those sessions. I will work with clients to find the personal power to attend these meetings and gain more knowledge about others as well as themselves. I work here with self forgiveness, shame, and forgiveness of others. I work to strengthen their personal worth. I find that having the client take personal responsibility for their actions is the key to their going forward in grace and honesty.

I approach addiction in a non-judgmental and empathic manner. have a variety of experience working with several forms of addiction including drug and alcohol addiction and various forms of behavioral addictions. I completed my dissertation on the topic of sex addiction and thus have worked extensively in this area. I believe that the underlying dynamics associated with any addiction must be examined.

The long-term goals for working with addiction consists of improving the quality of life for clients by maintaining ongoing abstinence. Therapy assists clients in identifying the negative ways that using has impacted their lives. Treatment consists of educating client's about the disease, decreasing resistance and denial, finding ways to obtain sobriety, identifying triggers for relapse, and finding social and emotional support to overcome their addiction. My approach is to assess the type and severity of the addiction and provide my clients with referrals necessary to help them in the journey for recovery.

Often the quickest and easiest way to stuff away negative thoughts and emotions or to just shut down and go numb is to self-medicate. Whether your substance of choice is drugs, alcohol, food, prescriptions, porn, or video games, you have fallen into the habit of dealing with life by turning to your substance. Breaking this cycle takes work and dedication but it is possible! Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Seeking Safety will help you identify your triggers, create a plan to cope with those triggers in a healthy way, and begin to create a support network. Addiction is one of the struggles where support is vital to one's recovery! You're not supposed to do it alone!

Do you find yourself struggling with using relationships as a way to escape real life? You don’t have to be a relationship “addict” to have a pattern in relationships that ends badly each and every time. Maybe it is time to start to learn about who you really are and what you really need from a relationship. Only after you learn that can you start to choose and nurture a healthy, fulfilling, lasting relationship.

I have many times worked in therapy with clients who struggle with addictions, among other issues. I have studied Motivational Interviewing, which is remarkably helpful in addictions work. Clients feel supported and not judged, and are able to find their internal motivations for change. Therapy with me can complement work in separate addiction treatment as well.

Gambling? Alcohol? Drugs? Is an addiction controlling your life? Are you tired of being a yo-yo in that addictive cycle? Getting help from a professional counselor and going to a 12-step group often have the best results according to research. I provide treatment for drug/alcohol problems, sexual addictions including internet porn, shopping compulsions, and gambling problems for the individual and his/her family and friends. I am a provider for the State of California to give free, professional treatment to the gambler, gambler's family, and friends. Don't let that addiction lead you to prison, insanity, or death. Call today for a free consultation and lead a clean and healthy life.

Are you abusing, addicted, or not sure? Are you concerned about substances (alcohol, pot, cocaine, meth), behaviors (sex, porn, computers, gambling, spending, cutting), or both? Together, we can see if these issues are really a problem for you. If you’re having problems in these areas, we can sort it out and deal with it. Some people benefit from 12-step programs, and others don’t want them. I can work either way. Together, we’ll see what triggers you, how you deal with them, what works, what doesn’t, what situations affect your using and not using, and how this ties in with your earlier life. We’ll see what helps you to cope, where that works and doesn’t, and what other options might be.

An addiction can be hidden for years before a spouse or parent catches on. Addiction is not limited to street drugs and alcohol, people can become addicted to things like prescription medication, binge eating, video games, gambling, or pornography. Addiction always starts as something that seems harmless and innocent. It is common for a distressed person to turn to their addiction to escape from their problems--the drugs/action takes their minds off their problems. As time goes by, the physical dependency grows, and then the psychological dependency grows; the addiction grows and grows until it takes over the person's mind. I know what it is like and I can help the person get into recovery.

The world of addiction treatment has a tendency to skew towards the identification of the client with his/her addiction. Just as other mental health concerns, I believe that addiction is a problem that does not define the person but rather reflects a segment of experience that has the tendency to take precedence over various aspect of life. Addiction is often co-conspiring with other dominant forces such as shame and blame, thereby pressuring clients to be silent and hide under it's control. I find that an important step to dealing with addiction is to find out how it operates on a person's life, to understand it's tactics and what it is trying to take away, what it has to gain.

Addiction is a chronic, relapsing, progressive brain disease. Addiction is an attempt at self-repair. Addition comes in forms of substances, chemical dependency or process addictions such as sex, internet, gambling, eating and more. Of the most talked about is alcohol and drug abuse, or substance abusers. Substance abusers are unable to use their feelings as signals and guides in managing or protecting themselves against the instability and chaos of their internal world. All treatment of addiction is a time dependent process. Effective addiction treatment is in treatment strategy. The first stage of treatment is abstinence to the later stage of treatment which is prevention from relapse. Currently most addition treatments are in three step...(view profile to read more)

Seeking treatment for alcohol and/or drug addiction is a courageous undertaking. I have 20 years experience treating patients who suffer from alcohol and addiction from cocaine, heroine, crystal methamphetamine, marijuana and prescription medication addictions. Individuals often have an underlying symptom of depression and anxiety for which alcohol and drugs provide some relief. I integrate psychotherapy and encourage participation in AA, NA or other 12 step programs to provide additional support for sustaining sobriety. Many patients often abuse alcohol and drugs and wish not to use the 12 step programs or desire complete sobriety. Psychotherapy can be beneficial in decreasing abuse.