Substance Use Counseling
Recovery is an opportunity for change and a new life
A Safe Non-Judgmental Environment to Start the Change Process
Harm Reduction Psychotherapy (HRP)
Harm Reduction Psychotherapy is rooted in a set of practical strategies and ideas aimed at reducing negative consequences associated with alcohol and drug use. Harm reduction incorporates a spectrum of strategies from safer use to abstinence to meet the client where they are at, addressing conditions along with the use itself. I use the six core ideas that characterize the harm reduction model. These core ideas include meeting you as an individual, starting where you are, assuming you have the strengths that can be supported, accepting small incremental changes as steps in the right direction, not holding abstinence (or any other preconceived notions) as a necessary precondition of the therapy before getting to know you, and developing a collaborative, empowering relationship with you.
The Treatment Process
I will initiate an assessment at the beginning of treatment. The assessment is both the initial focus of therapy for treatment planning and establishing a therapeutic alliance around agreed-upon initial goals and an ongoing focus geared toward deepening your self-awareness and insight about the nature of problematic substance use. I will help you identify triggers, explore the underlying reasons for usage and will help you develop relapse prevention skills to achieve abstinence or harm reduction.