Substance Abuse Counseling
in El Cerrito, CA
Is Alcohol or Another Substance Quietly Running Your Days?
Maybe it's a nightly glass of wine that quietly became a bottle. Maybe it's a substance you swore you'd only use occasionally that now organizes your days. Maybe you've tried to cut back, made promises to yourself or people you love, and found yourself back at the same place anyway, hating yourself a little more each time. Maybe the people around you have started to worry out loud, and some part of you knows they're not wrong, even as another part of you bristles at the idea that you have a problem.
Substance use rarely starts as a crisis. It usually starts as a solution -- a way to soften unbearable feelings, quiet an anxious mind, numb old pain, or simply get through a day that feels like too much. Substance abuse counseling isn't about shaming you for finding a way to cope. It's about understanding what the substance has been doing for you, so you can find other ways to get those needs met. You don’t have to wait until you hit the proverbial “rock bottom” to ask for help. If substance use has begun to impact important areas of your life or you are feeling a little out of control, even a little afraid, a substance use counselor can help you regain control and stop the slide.
When Substance Use Becomes the Whole Focus
Often, by the time someone seeks addiction counseling, substance use has become the loudest, most urgent issue in their life -- the thing everyone, including themselves, wants fixed first. That focus is understandable, and it can also obscure the deeper wounds the substance has been managing. If the issues underneath the substance use aren’t acknowledged as factors driving the substance abuse and incorporated into the treatment, changing one’s relationship to a substance becomes a battle of wills. In my experience, those battles are hard to win and the gains are even harder to sustain.
The Shame Spiral
Few things compound suffering like the shame of feeling unable to stop something you know is hurting you. This shame often becomes its own fuel for continued use, since substances are so effective, in the moment, at numbing exactly that kind of pain.
With the right substance abuse treatment, you can address both the behavior and what's underneath it -- and start to interrupt that cycle for good.
Reach Out with any Questions About Addiction Counseling
Substance Use Struggles Are Common, and There Is A Logic To Them
Looked at over a lifetime, substance use disorders touch far more American adults than most people assume. According to the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC-III), an estimated 29.1% of U.S. adults -- roughly 68.5 million people -- will meet criteria for an alcohol use disorder at some point in their lives [1]. Another 9.9%, or approximately 23.3 million adults, will experience a drug use disorder involving a substance other than alcohol [2]. Combined, a substantial portion of American adults will struggle with some form of problematic substance use before their life is through. If you're struggling with this, you are one of millions, not an outlier and not a moral failure.
Substance use disorders rarely emerge in isolation. They're commonly tangled up with trauma, anxiety, depression, chronic pain, or the accumulated stress of navigating difficult systems and relationships. Addiction thrives in isolation and shame, and retreats in the presence of connection and understanding -- which is part of why addiction recovery so often requires more than willpower alone.
The good news is that with compassionate, comprehensive addiction therapy, it's possible to address not just the substance use itself, but the pain underneath it -- reducing both the behavior and its grip on your life.
[1] Grant et al., "Epidemiology of DSM-5 Alcohol Use Disorder," NESARC-III, JAMA Psychiatry, 2015.
[2] Grant et al., "Epidemiology of DSM-5 Drug Use Disorder," NESARC-III, JAMA Psychiatry, 2016.
Substance Abuse Counseling That Looks at the Whole Picture
Understanding the Function of the Substance
As a substance abuse counselor working from an Internal Family Systems and somatic lens, I approach addiction not as a single bad habit to eliminate through sheer discipline, but as a protective strategy -- often one your system built a long time ago, for good reason. In IFS terms, the part of you that turns to a substance is often what's called a "firefighter" -- a part whose whole job is to put out unbearable emotional pain as fast as possible, by whatever means available. Fighting that part directly rarely works, because it's terrified of what will happen if it stops protecting you. Getting curious about it instead often opens a different path forward.
Building New Ways to Cope
In our work together, we'll look honestly at what the substance has been doing for you -- numbing which feelings, managing which memories, making which moments survivable -- and build other resources to meet those same needs. This often includes somatic tools for managing overwhelming feelings in the body, since urges and cravings are as much a nervous system experience as a psychological one. For clients whose substance use is connected to earlier trauma, we'll address that underlying material directly, always at a pace your system can tolerate, since substance use disorder therapy that ignores the trauma underneath tends to leave the door open for relapse.
As your substance abuse therapist, I also collaborate with prescribers, sponsors, or other providers as needed, since substance use disorder counseling and addiction recovery are rarely a solo endeavor, and having a coordinated team can make a meaningful difference. Whether you're newly questioning your relationship with a substance or have been in and out of treatment for years, there is a path forward that doesn't rely on shame as the primary motivator for change.
Questions You May Have
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You don't need to have this figured out before starting substance abuse counseling. We can work with wherever you are -- including ambivalence -- and build understanding and skills that support whatever direction you choose to move in. Your goals are exactly that, yours. Whether you want to learn how to moderate your use, with a regained sense of control, or you are seeking sobriety, I am here to help you either way.
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Relapse is common and does not mean addiction treatment doesn't work or that you're incapable of change. It often means we need to address more of what's underneath the substance use, not just the behavior itself.
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I don't see substance use as a moral failing, and you won't be judged here. My role as your addiction counselor is to understand what's happening with genuine curiosity and empathy to help you build a different relationship with the pain the substance has been managing.
You Can Build a Different Relationship With Coping
If substance use has become bigger than you want it to be, I offer a free 20-minute consultation to talk about what support could look like for you. I provide substance abuse counseling in person in El Cerrito and the East Bay, and virtually throughout California.
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