Asking for help with addiction is something that can be difficult.  Feeling that you should be able to deal with it alone is a common mistake that has stopped people in desperate need from reaching out. Feeling alone and isolated, you might have an idea that at some point things will change and that when your circumstances change, you will quit.  This type of thinking has a cyclic nature.  In a revolving cycle of using to relieve emotional pain, to feeling guilty and  then mustering the determination to stop, you find yourself in more pain and so use again. If you are looking for drug addiction support Hertfordshire to London and throughout the UK, Call today to begin One to One Recovery Coaching.

Asking for help 

If this sounds familiar to you, then it might be that it is time to begin to seek help. Here, asking for help with addiction can be difficult in that there might be a part of you that still wants to use, or perhaps you can’t imagine life without drugs or alcohol. These fears and false belief systems are hard to break, the evidence in terms of your health, emotional wellbeing and  social standing leave you in more emotional pain which always leads to thinking more about using than stopping.

Recovery Coaching

As a Recovery Coach, this is a dilemma I see in most of my clients and breaking that behavioural pattern is something that takes commitment and direction, the commitment is what you have to bring, direction I can help with. I work with people who have a lot of determination, as well as those who are lost and feel there is no hope. If it  has been evident that your determination, or lack of it, has not been sufficient, then perhaps it is time to try something new. Asking for help with addiction is not a weak thing to do, in fact it takes courage and facing fear with courage is true strength. Looking for Addiction Help Hertfordshire – Bedfordshire – London – UK

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Some of my clients that have completed an alcohol rehab ask me if there is an alternative to the 12 steps.

I have no doubt that the 12 step programme has been working for countless people but I also know that there are many that have successfully found addiction recovery without being engaged in AA, CA or NA.However, this does not mean that there is nothing to do other than not drink. Many have tried this and have been dismayed to find themselves drunk again and usually quite quickly.

Mind Body Spirit

When I engage with someone who doesn’t want to do the steps, I am happy to work with them to initiate change.  Looking at what needs to change requires considering the mind, body and spirit.  There often is a lot of work to be done in these areas. For example, I have a client who though very active physically, (he is a cyclist and a boxer) has not looked at how he can grow spiritually and in fact when I asked him what he is doing in this area, he looked at me with a look of pessimism. I explained that when I talk of the spirit, I am talking about the part of you that wants to belong, that needs to feel a sense of peace. He said that he felt lonely and scared and so we looked at action he could take to alter that.

Action  

Recovery is about action and willingness to change behaviours and attitudes. Being open minded as a coach allows me to help people where they are. I motivate and encourage my clients to face their fears and challenge some of their beliefs. Ultimately though, the way forward depends upon being willing to put the effort into reaching your goals.

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I have heard addiction recovery talked about as a journey. Usually within well intentioned memes or a casually thrown comment is the idea that we are on a journey of recovery. But even if we are on the same road,  are we all starting from the same place?   Do we need the same approach?

Recovery is…

So  what is recovery? Now there is a question that raises heads and eyebrows. Professionals fervently committed to total abstinence go head to head with harm reduction advocates, facts and statistics are brandished like weapons and opinions are often formed based on a fixed idea on what addiction recovery is perceived to be, the most favourable outcome being as close to this ideal as possible.

Abstinence or not?

But really the question should be ‘What is recovery to you?’. As a Recovery Coach it is one of the first questions I ask. For the man or woman who has been living in the painful existence of active addiction for years. Who has perhaps been trying desperately to control their using, the answer to my question is simple. ‘I just want to stop using and feel better, to be able to live.’

Then there is the client that has begun to feel that his drinking is a bit excessive, that he is beginning to be late for work, or have arguments with his wife. He feels uncomfortable in hearing about his excesses and recognises that he needs to make a change. Total abstinence to him might seem unnecessary, or extreme.He might want to still enjoy a few drinks with friends at the weekend but be able to avoid getting drunk.

Opposite ends of what can be described as an illness, or perhaps more accurately, a spectrum of Addiction.
If you believe that addiction is a disease then you might say that abstinence is the only solution to halting its progression. I think that supporting and encouraging a persons own version of recovery will allow them to find out what works, and what doesn’t. In the end they need to make that journey and discover where they can be successful

Whatever someone sees their recovery as, I am happy to support and motivate them to find and implement the action required. Your recovery is your own and if you would like to find out how I can help you, contact me

Finding support after addiction treatment is important to both the person leaving treatment and their families. Most addiction treatment centres advertise an aftercare service and though this can be useful, often is really not enough.

Support after Addiction     

A client leaving the safe environment of a rehab is in a very vulnerable situation and it is in these first few months that a relapse is most likely to happen. There are of course support groups such as 12 step fellowships and for those interested in attending are a valuable resource,  Unfortunately, alternatives to the 12 step fellowships or additional individual support has been hard to find.

Recovery Coaching

A  Recovery Coach supporting a person in recovery is relatively new to the UK and has bridged the gap between treatment and solid recovery. Motivating a person to find their way and giving practical, non judgmental advice, offering recovery tools from training and their own experience makes a Recovery Coach an asset to anyone looking for help.

Not everyone who needs help in finding or maintaining recovery from addiction has been to a treatment centre. I have clients who have not needed or wanted to go into a rehab, and yet have found that they needed specific direction to find their way into recovery, and support in learning how to find a successful life, substance free.

Your Recovery

As a Recovery Coach I have to be flexible and open minded in my approach. Your recovery is your own and is whatever you see it as. One of the first things I do with a new client is find out what your goals are. We then look at how I can help you achieve them.  Sometimes that can mean quitting a specific substance. It might be to become completely abstinent, or changing a behaviour. Each individual has their own ideal outcome, I try to help you achieve and exceed that.

Support after addiction  has now become a big part of my work as a Recovery Coach. To learn more about Recovery Coaching, including Sober Companion and transportation  assignments, Contact me!

John Port

In looking at the latest news headlining the ‘Opiate Crisis’, it occurred to me that perhaps the disease of addiction can be looked at in terms of being separated from that which re enforces who we are. Disconnected and bound within the worried mind, the ego strives to find a solution. Alone and desperate, peering out to an alien universe the addicted mind consumes what it finds and yet never sees the wonder of being part of this living world.

Seduction of acquisition

How then does someone become disconnected from the earth? The fact is that in this modern world we are seduced into the belief that to be happy we must strive for ownership.  To have and consume all that this planet has to offer. Wrapped in status and delivered in pride, our attention is re directed from communal wellbeing to gaining individual wealth and security. Are we then buying into the idea that to be happy we must satiate this need?  What we want is available to be taken, neatly packaged and sold to us as a dream.  Where money and status held as the highest prize is to be worked for in order to reach; not a higher consciousness, but a higher credit rating.

Where in this race toward a manufactured heaven do we find time to appreciate and nurture that which is within us?  Acquisition has precedence over compassion and there is little time for love, it is not surprising that we have become blind to our true nature as human beings. We forget that we are a part of a living universe, that all of its majesty lives within each of us and that when another suffers, so do we. The pain of separation from each other and our home lead some to the church, temple, mosque or synagogue. Others find solace in acquisition.

Blame

Is the addict who seeks relief in the pipe or spoon much different to the rest of us? We loudly blame and shame someone in the midst of addiction, we might pity or attempt to ignore them completely. But whilst levelling our collective gaze contemptuously upon them, we are avoiding the question..Who is responsible for the ‘Opiate crisis’? When all of the shouting and finger pointing is done, it has to be said..
We all are.

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John Port