Addiction Therapists in Old Tappan, NJ.

I focus on providing support for individuals in recovery from addiction, helping them maintain sobriety and build a healthy, balanced lifestyle. My approach involves equipping clients with effective coping strategies, fostering personal growth, and reinforcing the skills they gained during treatment. While I do not work with individuals actively battling addiction, I offer guidance to those in recovery, emphasizing relapse prevention, personal accountability, and long-term emotional well-being to ensure sustained progress and a fulfilling life post-addiction.

Addiction can be a powerful driver of actions and thoughts that can disrupt your life and those of your loved ones. As a therapist that specializes in work with couples but also works with individuals, my goal is to help you understand the roots and triggers of your addiction so that I can give you the tools to adjust and modify your behavior. When you're ready to become the best possible version of yourself, let's talk.

There are all kinds of addictions, from substance abuse to internet pornography. In each case, the bottom line is that a person is dealing with feelings of depression, anger or anxiety in a destructive way. They drink, gamble or look at pornography whenever they feel stress, but do not face the feelings that are causing the stress and work through them. I encourage addicts to make use of 12-step programs in combination with psychotherapy. When they stop denying and commit themselves to both, they quickly make progress.

Overall, I treat addiction much like I would treat any other crisis. I would do addiction assessment to make sure I'm the right person to treat you. I'd identify triggers, what makes you more likely to repeat the addictive behavior. I can work with substance use and sex addiction. My general belief is that addiction is a way that people avoid dealing with other people and their problems. It can be a learned behavior. In order to stop doing the offensive behavior, it is important to focus on what you do want to do. This is the process of recovery, and I will do my best to facilitate this.

The cycle of addiction is dizzying to the addict and it creates what I calling "doing" some forward movement in growth. And undoing. The old (by now probably moldy) undoing). The trapdoor for the addict is you know the drug offers relief. And since you live only in the hear and now (emotional and physical pain can cause that feeling) you want the instant relief that it seems only the drug gives you. My job is to gently and sometimes not so gently dispel you of this massive myth. What you really need is to learn to slow down by substitution of behaviors. It will be clearer when we meet.

I show people who are misusing substances that overcoming an addiction is quite possible. I emphasize work and practice at coping skills. I first help the individual to judge only their self-defeating behavior but never to put themselves down as a person for being addicted. This helps reduce guilt, shame, anxiety and denial. We focus on developing coping skills to handle problems and change behavior. I show the individual how to develop emotional and behavioral control even when life is difficult and stressful. I teach how to increase frustration tolerance. I lay out a specific plan for coping with temptation. I build and maintain motivation for staying with the recovery process.

Addiction: Alcohol, Drugs, Porn, Sexual, Gambling, & Over Spending Do you really believe that your addiction is ruining your life then you are ready for us to work together. However, having said that, if you are addicted, you need more than will power. To “beat your addiction” you need new strategies and tools, and you also have to develop a practical plan to be able to combat your addiction that would involve additional techniques. To learn about 7 different therapies that can be used to treat addiction go to: http://drmartytashman.com/a-note-to-the-person-struggling-with-addiction

What do you do if 12-step based treatment and AA or NA aren’t a good fit for you? You may want to explore cutting back on your drinking. You may not be ready to stop using marijuana but need support to look at how using is impacting your life. You may know you need to stop, and are abstinent, but need help to develop a long-term recovery plan with alternatives to AA or NA. A good life without drugs or alcohol is possible with or without 12-step meeting attendance.