Addiction Therapists in Garden City, NY.

Addiction can take many shapes and forms. Addictions to drugs, alcohol, relationships, shopping, gambling, food or sex have become a symptom of a society looking to escape from our pain. Fear of facing these facts can be overwhelming and denying to our addictions will continue to cause pain. Finally facing our addictions is not something that we have to do alone.

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.

Drugs, alcohol, sex, gambling, love, food, netflix etc. WORK! You would not use them to survive feelings that are otherwise unbearable, if they didn't. Unfortunately, there is simply never enough, or the consequences become dangerous and/or intolerable. Eventually the feelings of neglect, isolation, alienation, paranoia and loneliness return. Treatment for addiction will allow you to accept your feelings and your past so that you can regain control over your life and choices, heal relationships, and restore your sense of esteem, dignity and agency.

You went after work to hang out with friends. You had some drinks or you got high. Everything was fine in the beginning until you noticed that just stopping was no longer easy. I believe that people can reduce or completely stop. The choice is yours to make. There are consequences to working me; you may decide you don't need to be high or drunk to enjoy yourself.

I have successfully helped clients with a variety of addictions including eating disorders, substance abuse, compulsive shopping, compulsive exercise, gambling addiction, and sex addiction. I often work in conjunction with 12-step programs or other support groups, as guided by the needs and preferences of the client. In addition to helping clients stop the addiction that is hurting them at the moment, I help you to understand the origin of your addiction so that you can attain a more permanent recovery. By helping to you see the psychological motivations, you are empowered to work your program more effectively. Instead of transferring from one addiction to another, you develop strategies to

Addictions are complicated. They arise for a number of reasons -- biological, psychological, experiential and environmental. Different types (e.g., drug, sex, and gaming addictions) pose different risks. And they are frequently accompanied by other mental health issues, such as depression, anxiety and trauma. Due to this complexity, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. I will work with you to understand the severity of your addiction; the factors that drive it; its interaction with other mental health issues; and its effects on your well-being, relationships, work, and life. This way, we can address it appropriately, along with whatever other struggles you may be experiencing.

Audrey will help you work through addiction as a symptom to a bigger problem instead of the core problem in your life. She will help you identify behavioral patterns and negative core beliefs about yourself and the world around you. Through this you will work through develop healthy coping skills outside of substance use and develop a fully developed esteemable life you can be proud of.

Addictions are a very painful form of emotional and physical suffering that can lead people into having profound feelings of shame and guilt and an unyielding sense of inadequacy and failure. The individual may have tried innumerable times on their own to stop the compulsive and driven pressures occurring in their addictions only to find discouragement and feelings of failure when addictive behaviors relentlessly continue. One often finds that relationships and jobs may deteriorate or even be lost from the preoccupation with the addiction, and legal problems may occur. If you or a loved one finds they are suffering from an addiction, please seek addiction therapy.

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.

Sexual addiction is painful for both the addict and their partner. It is a process addiction; different from substance addictions like drugs or alcohol. This addiction wreaks havoc in relationships and causes a great deal of fallout (consequences) when it is disclosed to or discovered by the addict's partner. It is painful, even when there was no intention to cause hurt. I specialize in sexual addiction treatment, working with addicts, partners, and couples who want to recover from the effects of this disease. There is great success when people commit themselves to a true and honest recovery.

I will help you find freedom from your compulsive and addictive behaviors. Leveraging a solutions-focused approach via an 8-session curriculum to help men understand and overcome sex and porn addiction, or compulsive sexual behavior disorder. We will discuss problem definition, solution creation via the miracle exercise, understanding control through understanding internal/external variable assessment, brain mapping, identity, sustainable sobriety, defense mechanisms and ultimately determining what fix your compulsive behavior is delivering.

I truly enjoy working with individuals struggling with addictions. Slowing down and moving the client into a different place and space is an area that I have had positive experiences with in my practice. Individually or in couples counseling or even at an Art and Science of Love Workshop has been a particular interest and area where I have succeeded as a therapist.

Sometimes consuming drugs, food, alcohol, sex, among other things soothe anxiety or satisfy emotional hunger. However, when the roots of the anxiety and emptiness are not addressed, consumption and use have a fleeting effect, leaving you at a loss and in need of consuming or using more, and the cycle continues. As a therapist, I will help you look at the roots of your addiction: together we will do the hard work of searching underneath layers of denial and understand the wounds and pain that lie at the core of your addition. There is no magical wand that would make addictions disappears, but there is caring understanding that will help you find new ways of dealing with wounds and pain.