What Can I Expect from Substance Abuse Counseling?

So, you have made the decision to get counseling to address your drinking or drug use, but don't know what to expect. Check out my blog on what to expect from online counseling for substance abuse.

Whole Mind Therapy and Counseling provides counseling for people who are looking to deepen their understanding AND make a change in relation to alcohol and substance use. Oftentimes, people come to see me knowing that they're drinking too much or using other drugs too much, and it's having a negative impact on their life. Sometimes, people have a lot of fear and doubt about stopping completely, or perhaps they think their "problem" is not bad enough to necessitate that they stop all together and they would rather cut down on their use. Most of the people I work with fall into the heavy drinker category, maybe even crossing into alcohol abuse, alcohol dependence, and alcoholism territory.

Alternatively, maybe you're abusing marijuana or other substances and things are getting out of control. Marijuana addiction is a real thing, despite many thinking that because it's now legal in Massachusetts and a "natural" substance, it has very few harmful effects. I have news for you, you don't need your drinking or drug use to get to the point where you hit the famous “rock bottom.” You can stop before things get worse and you can live life sober, substance free, and feel more fulfilled.

What can I expect from substance abuse counseling?

Comprehensive Assessment:

Whole Mind provides a comprehensive biopsychosocial assessment which includes an assessment of an individual's developmental history, history of past and present relationships, connections to current social supports, assessment of work and education history, past and current traumatic experiences, current use of alcohol and/or other substances, assessment of mental health symptoms including generalized anxiety disorder and clinical depression, and a thorough assessment of the presenting issue that brings you to substance abuse counseling. The assessment generally takes anywhere from two to four appointments, with a focus on understanding your relationship with alcohol and/or other substances, as we will learn together that this is often a very complicated relationship.

 Psychoeducation:

Initial treatment will focus on psychoeducation regarding alcohol and any other substance abuse, and its impact on relationships, social connections, and the effects that alcohol/substance abuse have on your mind and body. Habituated behaviors can be characterized by obsessions (thoughts) and compulsions (behaviors). For the heavy drinker and alcoholic, this is also the case. This knowledge is the foundation of gaining a better understanding of your drinking in terms of how it manifests from a mind-body perspective.

 Working Through Ambivalence:

It's common for people to feel conflicted about changing their use of alcohol or other substances. Commonly, people say they want to cut back or “drink socially.” We'll work through any ambivalence and see if you can in fact return to social drinking. Alcoholism is a progressive illness, one that gets worse over time, not better, and generally the people I meet with realize that they cannot return to social drinking. This leads to new insight, and this is when the real work begins.

 Supportive Therapy:

Another major component of drug and alcohol counseling is providing supportive therapy as you walk through the conflict and experiences that arise on your path to recovery. The path to recovery is not linear, and different experiences, both positive and negative, may occur. Therapy helps you process these experiences to come to new truths, awareness, and insight.

 12-Step Focused Therapy:

Drawing on concepts and work from the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and integrating these concepts into therapy will be a major component of treatment, as well as therapeutic direction to uncover what might have been suppressed by your isolation, disconnection, and habituated use of substances.

 Resource Coordination and Referrals:

Therapy is a great start, but the path to recovery will require new social connections both inside and outside of the recovery community. Referral to AA meetings and other recovery connections is another major component of treatment.

 If at any point, you require more than what therapy can provide you, a referral can be made to a more comprehensive treatment program.

Therapy for alcohol abuse and drug abuse, including marijuana addiction, is a big step and can lead to new insights, improved mental health, and the start of your path to recovery.

Are you ready to take the next step? Want to learn more about substance abuse counseling? Contact me to schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation to see if we would be a good fit in working together.