Addiction Counseling

Since 2012, I have worked in residential treatment centers, intensive outpatient treatment centers and was a manager of Kaiser Permanente's Addiction Medicine and Recovery Services clinic in Santa Clara. I have years of experience and training in many approaches to addiction treatment, including abstinence-based care, harm reduction, 12 step and non-12 step modalities, Relapse Prevention, Medication Assisted Treatment, Co-Occurring Disorders, and Family Codependency Treatment.

I have specific training around working with people struggling with addiction, specifically around alternatives to 12-step models.

Addiction counseling focuses on the 4 "C"s of addiction which are: compulsion, cravings, consequence, and control. Sessions will focus on why the addiction happened and the motivations of the person affected. The goal is that once aware of their actions the gain is a better understanding of themselves which assists in promoting recovery.

I'm in expert in this area because I completed professional training over 30 years ago and have frequently used it in my practice to help numerous people.

I am a Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor in the state of Texas. Approximately 2 decades of experience.

I have been working in the addiction field for over 10 years in inpatient and outpatient centers.

I am a Licensed Addiction Counselor with years of experience treating substance use disorders. I am passionate about recovery. Sobriety is a beautiful gift that anyone can give themselves. Together, we can work on changing your relationship with alcohol or other substances.

As an addiction counselor, I specialize in working with people who struggle with dual diagnoses, or both mental health diagnoses and addiction. I will address the root causes of your addiction and the related areas of impaired functioning, and together we’ll structure the time and content of your ongoing recovery.

Having experience in working with individuals struggling with addictions and their families for 7 years I believe this to be one of my specialities. I am able to work with individuals in resolving personal beliefs that contribute to their addictive behaviors.

I leverage a person-centric approach with motivational interviewing, as well as I leverage advanced EMDR protocols (such as DeTUR and FSAP).

To some degree, we all use behaviors to escape reality and cope with suffering. You or your loved ones may be concerned that your relationship to substances or repetitive behaviors has become a barrier to your healthy functioning. Let's explore this relationship further and gather insight into how you might learn to meet your physical, emotional, and spiritual needs in ways that do not limit your potential.

I am a licensed addictions counselor and have an extensive background in working with families with addiction. My specialty lies with the people who love the addict or one in recovery. The relationship patterns and dynamics associated with addictions can be tricky and I am skilled in helping make sense of what is going on and why you might feel the way you do. Learning how to change codependent behaviors can seem overwhelming and I offer a gentle approach to help you begin to set boundaries.

Addictions (substances or behaviors) are all defenses based in physical and/or psychological pain reduction. If we can eliminate the cause of the pain, the need for the addiction can go as well. While this may sound simple, that doesn’t mean it’s easy or painless to do. We will address the pains that lead you to your addiction and work through the obstacles to abstinence and sobriety, if that is what you want, whether you choose to do so via a 12-step program or without it.

I have 10 years of experience working with addictions of all types. The first thing to know is that there are many different paths and that we will focus on what path will be the best for you. While I cannot speak to every fellowship that exists, I know that there is a path, a place, and a people waiting to offer you hope and support. You deserve to know that you are no longer alone, so long as you can maintain honesty, open-mindedness, and willingness, along with maybe some humor too.

The path of personal growth is exciting and inspiring. Regardless of the modality used, it is my goal to help you discover and uncover your highest potential.

Working with addiction is about accepting who you are while also asking you to change. People with addictions are blamed, and yes you need to be held responsible, but you also need to find the part of yourself that knows that you didn't consciously choose this for yourself and that you want better for yourself and others...in spite of all of the evidence others have of you being selfish, uncaring, and irresponsible.

I am a licensed substance abuse counselor with experience in 12-step programs, Refuge Recovery, SMART Recovery and Motivational Interviewing.