Addictions

The first question you probably have if you're reading this page is:
Can Scott help me with my addiction problem?

And the answer is, likely, yes because
Scott is very good at what he does

But major caveat:
Treatment only works
If the person with the addiction is willing to surrender control
And I want any future client of mine knowing
What they're walking into
Before we get started.

(This section of my page is going to be a little more serious
Because treatment for addictions only works)

Small background:

Scott's journey with addiction treatment started
Early in his career was a rehabilitation therapist
Working with people who were on probation / parole
Where he started working with two types of people:
1) People who had hit rock bottom
And more problematically...
2) People who had NOT hit rock bottom and were
Wanting to take everyone else down with them

Scott had to quickly learn what lead people to
Lean harder into their addictions and
Why it was such a struggle for people to
Leave their addictions behind

Proudly, Scott became one of the most effective
Treatment therapists on his team

And work with addictions became a point of passion for Scott
Because it offered meaningful work as a therapist.
Us therapists get into the field of psychology because
We want to see the world be a better place.

Through my journey's, I can tell you what I've seen:

1) Most clinics and clinicians only stop what's called 'Bottle-to-Mouth'
Which is the physical action of the addiction (regardless of addiction type);
And this step is important to recovery, but it's not enough to recover in the long term.
Scott has a particular talent to dig deep to the heart of the issue.

2) Addiction is Addiction is Addiction
Ok, this is going to sound odd, but it's true:
Once you get past the specific of the behavior and it's consequences,
Lets take food addiction and weight gain, for example,
It turns out that all addictions were just an outlet,
And if we don't take care of the root issue,
Our subconscious chooses another outlet without us knowing it,
Such as going from food to masturbation.

3) The cookie can crumble for anyone
It's my personal belief that if you take ANYONE off the street and
Put them under enough pressure, they'll either turn to one of these six:
Alcohol, Drugs, Food, Sex, Spending, or Workaholism.
I make it a point to say this because it's important to me
That the client knows that no matter what they're facing in
Their addiction, that it isn't that they're brain is messed up per say...
It's more that if any of these was a normal outlet for a person
We became TOO dependent on them as an addict
And it's about cleaning up why we need to cope so hard in the first place.

4) To recover from addiction, we need help
Scott works a wide number of 'extreme' topics in psychology.
He's made a career of it.
One thing that Scott has noticed in regards to addiction specifically
Is that the psychological defenses
(Denial, Repression, Projection, Displacement, Intellectualization, etc.)
Tend to run RAMPANT in addiction.
This is why its really hard for the person with the active addiction
To be able to accurately see themselves
And this is where they need help the most.

5) Recovery takes time
Just to set realistic expectations,
Recovery from addiction typically starts at 6 months sobriety.
That's because the addiction was covering a lot of problems for us
And it usually takes us some time to see how deep the problems
Really ran.
For those of you worried about never being able to drink/use again,
Typically after the client has reached a good place in a few years,
I am open to helping the client reassessing and exploring IF
They can have a healthy relationship with the substance
In a way that supportive and affirming
For sex/food, it's not reasonable to stop these altogether,
So drawing the lines is a little more tricky, but
Is still very doable in the process.