Addiction Counseling

I serve as a preferred provider for Hazelden Betty Ford clients. Over the years I have been in practice I have dealt with numerous addictions. The common theme is often wanting to numb out significant pain. I meet my clients where they are in their sobriety journey so they experience a respectful, honest therapist as they walk the difficult road.

I am a Licensed Clinical Addiction Specialist. I have worked with addiction related issues for over ten years. I have worked with individuals in methadone and suboxone treatment programs. I ran an intensive outpatient program, outpatient therapy groups, as well as, individual therapy for those struggling with addiction.

Since 2012, I have worked in residential treatment centers, intensive outpatient treatment centers and was a manager of Kaiser Permanente's Addiction Medicine and Recovery Services clinic in Santa Clara. I have years of experience and training in many approaches to addiction treatment, including abstinence-based care, harm reduction, 12 step and non-12 step modalities, Relapse Prevention, Medication Assisted Treatment, Co-Occurring Disorders, and Family Codependency Treatment.

I have worked with adolescents when I was in the Marines back in 2001 and started working with adults in 2003. I have led groups and I have worked with clients whom were in drug court. I believe in being honest with my clients and will hold them accountable and I am open to talking with them about everything that involves their addiction from trauma to their use, to the dysfunction that they grew up in as a child.

So called “experts” on “sexual addiction” erroneously take clients with paraphilic disorders into treatment. These paraphilic disorders, such as voyeuristic, exhibitionistic, frotteuristic , masochism, pedophilic, fetishistic, and nonconsensual behavior disorders are wrongly placed in “sexual addiction” treatment under the excuse that these behaviors often include sexual obsession. The “sex addiction” “expert” is then unable to adequately treat these, by definition, deviant behaviors.

When I look at addiction, a question I find myself asking isn't why are you using? Instead I find myself asking, what is the pain? I look at addiction as a solution, and something we turn to when we don't have another way to resolve the pain in our lives. Together, I would love to help you navigate the pain and loneliness that is so often associated with addiction. I take an all paths to recovery approach, and am happy to collaborate on best techniques to help you experience freedom.

I have worked in the addictions field since 2019 and have gained an understanding on how substances can restructure an addicts brain.

The WORST thing addiction does is keep a person alone. Together we will not only face your addiction but overcome the underlying issues that are keeping you stuck in it so you can live with more freedom, fulfillment, and relational connection. Interested? Reach out via phone or email to set up a free consultation. Availability is limited.

Working with addiction is about accepting who you are while also asking you to change. People with addictions are blamed, and yes you need to be held responsible, but you also need to find the part of yourself that knows that you didn't consciously choose this for yourself and they you want better...in spite of all of the evidence others have of you being selfish, uncaring, and irresponsible.

I have specific training around working with people struggling with addiction, specifically around alternatives to 12-step models.

Addictions (substances or behaviors) are all defenses based in physical and/or psychological pain reduction. If we can eliminate the cause of the pain, the need for the addiction can go as well. While this may sound simple, that doesn’t mean it’s easy or painless to do. We will address the pains that lead you to your addiction and work through the obstacles to abstinence and sobriety, if that is what you want, whether you choose to do so via a 12-step program or without it.

I'm in expert in this area because I completed professional training over 30 years ago and have frequently used it in my practice to help numerous people.

CADC, Certified Drug and Alcohol Counselor with Mental Illness Specialty, PCGC, Problem and Compulsive Gambling Counselor Contextual Behavioral Fellowship, University of Chicago 10/2020 - 5/2021 Functional Analytic Psychotherapy, Relational Frame Theory, (ACT) Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, (DBT) Dialectical Behavioral Therapy

"Motivational interviewing is often used to address addiction and the management of physical health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and asthma. This intervention helps people become motivated to change the behaviors that are preventing them from making healthier choices. Research has shown that this intervention works well with individuals who start off unmotivated or unprepared for change," (Psychology Today, 2022).