Top addiction therapists in 94565: Pittsburg, CA.

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 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.

The hardest part of addiction is often the cycle: the relief, the regret, the promise to stop, and then the return — each loop chipping away at your confidence that anything can change. That cycle isn't a sign of weakness; it's a sign that the real need underneath hasn't yet been met another way. Our work goes after that underlying need. Together we'll explore what draws you back — the feelings you're managing, the emptiness or anxiety the substance fills, the parts of your story that haven't been spoken — so the behavior loses its hold from the inside out. Insight on its own isn't magic, but understanding why you reach for it, paired with real support, is what makes lasting change possible.

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.