In the spectrum of addiction, a person who is clean and sober is not simply abstaining from the use alcohol, drugs, food, or sex. In order to obtain an ongoing successful recovery, sobriety must encumber resolution of the addict’s emotional issues. The failure to delve into the reasons behind self-medicating results in what has been referred to as the “dry drunk”. Essentially, this is the person who goes through the motions of recovery but does not truly work a healthy, comprehensive program of change. Such people repeatedly “ fall off the wagon”, returning to bad coping mechanisms which have enormous repercussions for the addict as well as family, friends, and employers.
So, while physical abstinence is one part of the process, the other is obtaining emotional sobriety. This usually means engaging in insight therapy with a trained professional preferably experienced with addiction. As a therapist who has worked over thirty years in the field treating addiction, psychotherapy is a vital component for self-insight and awareness, obtaining tools for growth, responsibility and permanent change.
If you need Addiction Therapy in Laguna Hills, please call Dr. Heidi Berman at (949) 716-5150, ext. 1