The Turning Point in Addictions: Can you change directions?
It’s Friday afternoon and you’re winding down after a long week. You remember what happened last weekend; the bingedrinking on Saturday night. Sleeping fitfully. Waking up Sunday afternoon; still feeling that hangover even though you tried to sleep it off. This has been going on for six months now. The pressure of too much work and being micromanaged is making work unbearable. Instead of facing your boss or coworker, you bury your anger or fear and get some relief on Saturday nights with your friends. Another problem is, you don’t have anyone to come home to, the isolation is killing you. You say, “ok, I’ve got to take control of this drinking, it’s making things worse.”
“For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” Rom 7.19
How many times have you tried to quit? You’ve tried AA, but haven’t really found the right group or a sponsor you really trust.
Maybe what’s stopping you is the belief that your only options are detox, sober living, rehab or intensive outpatient treatment. You can’t take that much time off of work; you need to to pay the bills! Let’s take a look at what the process of recovery in outpatient care can look like.
Your first phone call is a free 15 minute consultation, call 720-577-5985 to schedule.
We can start right away with a pre-screening for the severity of your use. You will be sent your intake documents through a client portal at TherapyNotes. The ROI is a document for coordinating care or sharing information with your emergency contact (could be your spouse, mom or dad, a friend) or your doctor or recent treatment center. The information shared is approved and determined by you. Complete your intake paperwork prior to the first session and come ready to ask any questions about intake and start digging in.
In a private practice, we meet once, twice or three times weekly. The sessions are 50-minutes unless you need a higher level of care.
The first session we will make a treatment plan; collaborating on setting long term goals and plan backwards. What do you want to accomplish in the next year? For example: “I will stay away from people, places, and things that trigger me to use by the end of the next year.” Next are intermediate goals for 3-6 months from now, i.e. “I will keep working to avoid financial stress and have structure in my life because I use when I am bored or afraid. I will apply to a a job every day in the next three months that is closer to the type of work I want to do or get training and experience for a different type of work.” Short term goals. “This stuff is killing me, I don’t even know who I am and I am spending way too much time and money. For today I will not have even one drink and I will let my emergency contact know that I may be calling 911 for help for withdrawals if I start getting the shakes.”
You may feel worse before you feel better. Be prepared to go beyond changing behaviors to asking yourself “what do I want out of relationships?” Addictions are about the process of replacing your relationships with your substance of choice. Recovery from addictions is getting back into relationship with God, yourself and the people close to you. It’s about grace, undeserved favor and forgiveness (Rom 7.20-25). It’s about learning what you can trust with whom. It’s about learning to love again.
Begin your journey in a different direction, call 720-577-5985.
