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“Addiction.” To many, the word connotes deep sickness. We might imagine someone who has gone off the deep end – who is unable to function, who is, perhaps, not like the others.  When applied to ourselves, this word may generate feelings of shame and hopelessness.  What kind of a person would lose control and become hostage to a substance or habit or any kind? Do addicts ever really change?   

The truth is that, with all their negative fallout, addictions are quite common.  The disease we call addiction crosses all boundaries, including age, race, gender, religion, intelligence, attractiveness, or wealth. 

Addiction is defined in Dictionary.com as “the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming.” There are many types of addictions — substance addictions, pornography or sexual addictions, and addictions of compulsive eating, gaming, internet use, gambling, and compulsive shopping, to name just a few.  The consequences of addictions, though often subtle for years, are far-reaching, and commonly affect the spiritual, emotional, interpersonal, financial, and physiological aspects of our lives.

Fortunately, addiction need not define anyone.  Even more happily, addictions can be healed!

Both research and clinical practice have taught us that addictions are developed and maintained to create a shallow substitution for other, legitimate emotional and spiritual needs.  Maintained and fed by shame and secrecy, the addictive habit then depletes the individual further of precisely those spiritual-emotional nutrients that are so vital for health, leading the person to return again and again to the enslaving activity or substance. 

The central tasks in addiction treatment then are to help the individual come out of the darkness and secrecy, identify the addictive patterns and the underlying needs that are being starved, and then help the client successfully replace the destructive habits with those that will nourish and strengthen.  As sobriety is maintained and addictions are replaced with healthy habits which grow with time and practice, the person in recovery increasingly finds that there is something far more satisfying, and the destructive habits lose their power. 

As a therapist specializing in addiction treatment, David has successfully helped many individuals and families address and overcome the chains of addiction. You can be free and create a life worth living!   

Think this is too good to be true?  Call us today at 801.836.8679 for a free consultation and find out!