Parent-Partner Support
It's difficult to watch our loved ones deteriorate, lose interest in life around them, push people away and self destruct. We lose ourselves in trying to help them see what they're doing to themselves. Living with addiction can be confusing, emotionally draining and can leave you feeling disempowered and overwhelmed. I am often asked by parents, spouses, and relatives how to navigate relationships with their loved ones who are actively using drugs and alcohol.
I am here to help you and your family through ongoing support and guidance.
MY APPROACH
While I do work with people directly facing addiction themselves, I have learned through experience that the people behind the addict are also suffering. They are at a true loss on how to move forward both for the addict and for themselves. For you, it is imperative to learn the ways in which you can offer solid support and love that is effective, versus offering support that can limit the addict, and in turn, cause damage to yourself and your own life.
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I am here to illuminate ways for you to shore yourself up to be more effective in supporting this person without losing yourself in the process. Every family is unique and faces not only their unique challenges but their own patterns of coping that have been developed over time. The people I work with are abusing alcohol and drugs directly. While there are specific evidence-based practices that are effective, it's not a one size fits all approach. Each and every relationship is different. Together we can examine not only what has been effective for you but develop new and more results-oriented strategies to preserve your own self-identity and life.
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I have worked as an Intensive Outpatient Program Facilitator, Outpatient Clinician, Anger Management Groups for Men and Women, CBT 12 for Relapse Prevention as well as Dual Diagnosis Groups. I have also worked with clients with a criminal background to assist in both rehabilitative/reintegration following incarceration, as well as helping clients with addiction to prepare for incarceration.
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I believe that our past life choices influences our behavior, but they do not define who we are. I help clients find meaning in their experiences and help you learn to develop a sense of peace that comes from making sense of our experiences.
EXISTENTIAL APPROACH
From an existential approach, I believe the power of change lies within us. I foster an accepting environment that allows a sense of calm allowing you to begin to gain the tools to access your own resources to facilitate change and healing. By utilizing the FAP approach, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and other evidenced-based approaches to guide clients through their journey of self-discovery, growth, and change. My certification as a QPR clinician helps greatly to assess for suicide.
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Existential therapy focuses on free will, self-determination, and the search for meaning. The approach emphasizes your capacity to make rational choices and to develop to your maximum potential. In a nutshell, the main focus of this approach is finding meaning and purpose in your life.
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The existential approach stresses that:
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All people have the capacity for self-awareness.
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Each person has a unique identity that can be known only through relationships with others.
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People must continually re-create themselves because life’s meaning constantly changes.
Anxiety is part of the human condition; my role as an existential therapist is to help you learn how to accept a level of discomfort without resorting to substances to numb.
THERAPY OPTIONS
Through my experience of working with parents and partners of an addicted loved one, I have developed an effective approach that fosters support that allows our work together to be consistent and eventually sustainable enabling you to move forward with the tools you need to manage this relationship with your own strengths. Contact me for details so we can customize a program based on your specific concerns and challenges.
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Part of my process is to not only provide weekly sessions, I will be available to you for text and phone calls during agreed upon hours. So if your son, daughter, spouse or partner comes home impaired, I am available to discuss strategies for you to manage the situation in real time in the moment.
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I offer a complimentary phone or in person phone consultation to determine if I would be a good fit for you based on my ability to meet your needs. I look forward to working with you.