Substance Abuse and Addiction Disorders Counseling

Substance abuse and addiction disorders are among the toughest illnesses to treat. Substance abuse counselors, sometimes referred to as addiction counselors, provide the mental, emotional, and behavioral health services individuals need to recover from drug and alcohol abuse, gambling addictions and other behavioral issues. They create a supportive, judgment-free environment that provides patients with the resources they need on their recovery journey.

Dysfunctional core beliefs about yourself can fuel unhealthy relationships and behaviors, such as drug and alcohol abuse. An example of a common core belief that addicted people have is, “I am bad.” This is a heavy burden to carry. When you attribute every difficulty that happens to you as something you brought on yourself, it can lead to depression, feelings of helplessness, low self-esteem, and self-hate.

People sometimes turn to substance abuse, eating disorders, and other unhealthy coping practices to quiet negative self-talk and numb their feelings. Addiction can further fuel the negative core beliefs that “I am bad” or, “I am unworthy.” Society at large doesn’t accept that addiction is a disease, and there’s still a great stigma around it. Having that message mirrored back to you and feeling like you can’t stop abusing drugs or alcohol on your own can just keep your negative core beliefs going.