Substance Abuse Counseling

Addiction counseling can help you moderate your substance use. Practice harm reduction or abstinence in a non-judgmental therapy setting in Los Angeles.

People often use substances to provide temporary relief from life’s challenges – until it stops working and becomes the problem. Substance abuse counseling can be the first step in tackling the problem behavior.

Maybe substance use originally helped you feel part of a group or made socializing easier. Or maybe drugs or alcohol helped numb the pain or avoid difficult situations.

Unfortunately, it often doesn’t work and BECOMES the problem because the substance use doesn’t allow you to address the underlying issues of why you started in the first place.

If you’re in that headspace and you’re ready to start taking a look at your relationship to substances, that’s the best time to make a change.

How do you know if you need help with your substance use?

Have friends and family commented on your drinking and/or drug use? Have you noticed that substances are creating new problems for you or making existing issues worse? These can be red flags around your substance use. Some other flags can include difficulty with work, school or interpersonal relationships because of your substance use, a desire to moderate use but difficulty in doing so, a feeling of being out of control with your usage, turning to substances to avoid difficult feelings and needing to use more of the substance for the same effect.

Substance abuse counseling can help you identify if there’s an issue going on for you with drugs and/or alcohol and can help you start addressing your usage.

There’s not always a one size fits all when it comes to beginning to deal with your relationship to substances. Maybe reducing your use is what you’d like to focus on using a technique called harm reduction or maybe you feel that you want to stop drinking or using by being abstinent. Addiction counseling can help you decide the best path to move forward in and lay out the next steps to get to a healthier place.

Substance abuse counseling in Los Angeles may help you take control of your future while being able to get a handle on your past.

Imagine how free you could feel by having the ability to focus on the issues that have really been bothering you and being able to start looking towards your future life. Substance abuse gets in the way of you being able to look at and process your past and smothers your hopes for the future.

Substance abuse counseling meets you where you’re at and focuses on your individual needs.

We will work collaboratively, coming up with a game plan to reduce or abstain from substance use while uncovering and focusing on the underlying issues that are driving the desire to drink/use.

Substance Abuse Counseling FAQ

What is substance abuse counseling?

It’s psychotherapy with the main goal of reducing or eliminating problematic substance use while simultaneously working on the underlying problems that are driving the substance overuse.

How does addiction counseling work?

You would meet with your therapist (me) for 50 minute sessions, usually weekly. There may also be referrals to other community or mental health based treatments, self-help or therapy groups based upon the individual circumstance.

When is substance abuse counseling needed?

When your substance use has become a problem and is interfering with the way you’d like to live your life.

How much does substance abuse counseling cost?

Each individual session is $175.

How long does the addiction counseling process take?

The length of therapy is variable, usually dictated by the challenges the client has and the client’s wishes.

How do I know if substance abuse counseling is right for me?

It’s helpful over a wide range- from someone who is just starting to explore their relationship to substances to someone who may have long term sobriety but is now dealing with an underlying issue they used to turn to substances for.

How often should I have a session for substance abuse counseling?

A typical client may start off seeing a therapist weekly and may consider coming in bi-weekly once the pain points lessen.

Reach out to start
your healing journey Today.

alanmeiermft@gmail.com

Free 15-min Consultation