SUBSTANCE USE THERAPY
Many people struggling with substance use carry a tremendous amount of shame, secrecy, ambivalence, and self-judgment around it, especially if they’ve previously encountered approaches that felt rigid, moralizing, simplistic, or disconnected from the realities of their lives.
I don’t approach substance use from a one-size-fits-all framework.
For many people, substance use develops in the context of pain, trauma, loneliness, masking, overwhelm, nervous system dysregulation, self-protection, or the need for relief from unbearable emotional states.
Substance use can of course become harmful, frightening, self-destructive, or deeply painful. But shame alone rarely creates meaningful change.
Some clients are pursuing abstinence. Others are exploring harm reduction, moderation, or simply trying to understand their relationship to substances more honestly for the first time.
I don’t believe meaningful therapeutic work happens through coercion, judgment, or forcing people into externally imposed narratives about what recovery “should” look like.
My perspective on substance use has been deeply shaped by years of work in methadone clinics, inpatient substance use treatment, supportive housing, crisis work, and community mental health settings.
