Addiction & Recovery

Drug and alcohol use, cigarette smoking, the Internet and habits such as gambling or shopping (“the behavioral addictions”) can interfere in people’s lives and cause problems in relationships, work and school. They can also affect one’s sense of self and self esteem. In my practice, I see people interested in making changes in their lives, whether that means moderating use or abstaining. When working with people with substance abuse or behavioral addictions, setting goals is a collaborative effort.

I work with my patients to come to understand how the substance or behavior affects their lives, what function it serves – whether a source of comfort or reward, a coping strategy, or a means of avoidance – and what life might be like without it. Giving something up that has become so familiar and relied on can be difficult and anxiety producing.

Overcoming addiction requires adopting new habits, learning new coping skills and finding new means of support. We will work together to identify both your strengths and vulnerabilities and then develop strategies for achieving and maintaining your goals.

Trauma

People in all stages of life, from infancy to adolescence to adulthood to advanced age, can experience trauma. Trauma can take many forms, including physical, emotional and sexual abuse, as well as natural disasters, violence and combat, whether directly experienced or witnessed. Neglect by parents in childhood, by partners, family, friends and caregivers in adulthood can also be traumatic. Persons who have been affected by trauma and/or neglect often feel distressed, anxious, distrustful, ashamed, guilty; they may blame themselves; they often feel isolated in their suffering. Lack of validation, whether of the person or the traumatic experience, can interfere with establishing a sense of identity, can cause people to question the truth of their experience and can make relationships, especially intimate ones, feel difficult and sometimes impossible.

What some refer to as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or complex trauma can manifest with feeling always on guard, easily startled, with re-experiencing the trauma through flashbacks and nightmares. Persons affected by trauma may avoid people, social events, or situations so that they do not risk feeling undone by something unexpected. It can come to feel as if one is not living life. In order to be able to recover, persons who have been traumatized first have to be able to feel safe. I work with my patients to establish a sense of safety. This often includes addressing physical danger, self-harming behaviors and creating more choices for dealing with overwhelming emotions and unhealthy relationships. We will work collaboratively to begin to understand the traumatic event(s) and the effects – both on you and on the way you experience the world and others. Together we will question whether your sense of self, experience of others, and view of the world are valid or useful. By coming to understand both yourself and the traumatic event(s) in different ways, we can begin to create a more accurate narrative that honors your experience. Developing new skills to manage difficult emotions will help to foster and sustain healthy relationships and allow you to function more effectively in the world and to live in a more satisfying way.

Relationships

How we understand each other and ourselves is, in large part, dependent on the relationships we have and have had with others. Problems in relationships, whether with a partner, family member, friend or colleague, can create an inordinate amount of stress and emotional pain.

These problems can impede our moving forward in both the personal and professional arenas. In an empathic and nonjudgmental fashion, we examine your early experiences, relationship patterns over time and your emotional responses.

Assumptions about the words and intentions of others are analyzed and alternative ways of perceiving them are discussed. Learning to take a more objective stance, manage your emotional responses and communicate more effectively is part of the work; we build on the skills already in your repertoire. The goal is for you to be able to engage with others in more effective ways resulting in healthy, satisfying and lasting relationships.

Life Transitions

Any life transition, such as the death of a family member or birth of a child, marriage or divorce, job loss or promotion, move from college to work, return to school after an established career or a change in health or lifestyle, inevitably affects one’s life in both positive and negative ways.

The demands of a new role may feel overwhelming, unexpected emotional responses may be confusing and make adjusting difficult, and, depending on the life change, one’s sense of self and relationship to others may be unsettled.

We will work together to understand the significance of the transition, its relation to past life changes, and the ways in which your reaction to the change is similar to or different from that of changes you have experienced in the past – with the goal of being best able to live with your new circumstances.