Healing Addiction With Counseling
Struggling with addiction or substance abuse/misuse is a common reason people reach out for therapy. Addiction is a disease that affects a person's brain and behavior and typically leads to an inability to control the use of a substance or behavior which always has consequences. When you are addicted, you may continue using the drug, device or behavior despite the harm it causes to your work, relationships and emotional and physical health.
What is addiction and substance abuse? Substance abuse disorder is a complex brain disease that causes you to compulsively seek out and use alcohol, drugs and addictive behaviors despite dangerous and harmful consequences. Substance abuse disorder and addiction causes distorted thoughts, behaviors, and body function. There is a genetic component that means you may be more likely than someone else without the genetic component to develop an addiction.
It’s important to understand that many with addictive behaviors are attempting to self-medicate for other mental health conditions, such as trauma and PTSD, anxiety, depression, ADHD, personality disorders, bipolar disorder, as examples. Effective addiction therapy should always diagnose and treat these co-occuring problems if treatment is to be successful.
Substance abuse and addiction causes symptoms and behaviors including:
Feeling a need or urge to use the substance or engage in the behavior regularly
Needing more and more of the substance or behavior to feel the effects
Time spent ensuring that you have a steady supply of the substance or spending money you don’t have on the substance or behavior
Failing to meet your personal and professional obligations and responsibilities
Experiencing withdrawal symptoms
You feel a worsening of your cognition, with impaired decision-making and memory
You may do things you would not normally do or later regret acquiring the substance
Continued misuse of a substance changes your brain chemistry, making your cravings more intense and difficult to control. Substance abuse also changes the parts of your brain responsible for memory, decision making and impulsivity.
How do people become addicted to drugs? A variety of factors contribute to your risk of developing a substance abuse disorder. Your genetics and family history can give you genetic traits as well as learned behaviors that increase your chances of a substance abuse disorder. Drug addiction can begin with the experimental use of a recreational drug in social situations, and for some people, the drug use will become more frequent. For others, particularly with opioids, drug addiction begins with exposure to prescribed medications after a surgery or illness, or from a friend or relative.
There are many factors that contribute to becoming addicted to a substance or behavior, and how quickly you become addicted. Some drugs, such as opioid painkillers, have a higher risk and cause addiction faster than others. Unfortunately, with time, you typically need larger doses of the drug to get and maintain the high. Eventually, may need the drug just to feel good and to function. As your drug use increases, you will find that it becomes difficult to function without it.
There are many different forms of addiction. Computer or phone addiction describes a preoccupation with a device that interferes with relationships, work and sleep. It may even take the place of other activities that you once enjoyed. Similar to drug and alcohol addiction, one turns to the device when experiencing anxiety, depression or any feeling or emotion that causes discomfort.
Sexual addiction is another common reason people reach out for therapy. It is described as a lack of control over sexual thoughts, urges ad impulses. The sexual behaviors tend to be excessive, interfering with work, home and relationships. Sexual addiction, when left untreated, leads to significant negative consequences. Pornography addiction is also a common sexual addiction with both men and women, and may cause sexual dysfunction especially when real life sexual activity becomes less fulfilling. Individuals struggling with sexual addictions may be addicted to a particular sexual act, sexual fantasy, masturbation, voyeurism, exhibitionism and prostitution.
Addictions and the way in which individuals become addicted is far more complex that what is in this article, and involves the brain as well as the way in which a substance or behavior becomes wired in the nervous system. Addictions can be affectively addressed. Addiction has a genetic component and may be used to relieve traumatic experiences, feelings of anxiety and depression. It can be situational and a reaction to stress, it can also become a long-term issue.
How does NYC addiction counseling help resolve addictions. Treatment can often be addressed with counseling and in the context of a good therapeutic relationship. Many therapists use a “harm reduction” approach which is efforts to reduce the substance or behavior to an amount that causes less harm. When harm reduction fails, and we learn this early on, psychotherapy in addition to meetings/support groups and even medication are next steps. If the above methods are ineffective, increasing care to inpatient or intensive outpatient programs are next steps. Many therapists find IFS and EMDR therapy very effective healing resources for patients seeking help for addictive behaviors.
Does relapse mean treatment has failed? No, relapse is a normal occurrence. While it can be common to relapse after an attempt to stop using a substance, the goal of treatment is to prevent relapse. Relapse is likely when people stray away from their treatment plan.
Addiction therapy in NYC can help you improve your life…
Identify feelings, emotions, painful states that lead to and maintain addictive behaviors
Develop healthier coping strategies when life becomes stressful and you experience challenges
Repair important relationships that may have suffered due to your addiction and substance abuse
Take yourself out of the vicious cycle of addiction with the support of a highly-skilled, non-judgmental mental health professional.
This practice takes a comprehensive, compassionate and holistic approach to addiction diagnosis and treatment. Together, we will compassionately explore your early life, as well as your present experience, carefully understanding any factors that have contributed to your addiction. This practice uses a blend of modalities to address your needs, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), motivational interviewing, EMDR Therapy, Somatic Experiencing and Internal Family Systems Therapy. We also make recommendations that include adopting a healthier lifestyle.
About Holistic Psychotherapy & Wellness Manhattan
Kimberly Seelbrede, LCSW is a New York State licensed Psychotherapist, EMDR Practitioner and Couple Therapist with a private practice in New York City, Montana and virtually. As a wellness psychotherapist and holistic consultant, she has receive advanced, extensive training in Trauma Therapy, Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, Internal Family Systems (IFS), Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Somatic Experiencing (SE), and Nutrition & Integrative Medicine For Mental Health. She is passionate about honoring the exquisite interplay of the mind-body connection. Kimberly Seelbrede specializes in anxiety & mood disorders, trauma and women’s mental health. She brings over 20 years of counseling, coaching, and healing experience to her holistic practice and transformational work.
In addition to online therapy for anxiety, depression, trauma and relationship struggles, Holistic Psychotherapy & Wellness offers a wide variety of online services to fit the needs of busy professionals. New Yorkers often lead fast-paced and complex lives, which makes work-life balance and managing career, family and social obligations a challenge. Psychotherapy and wellness practices provides the support to help clients cultivate resources, resilience and enhanced emotional health, as well as uncover conflicts and obstacles that may interfere with having the life they desire.