Online Addictions therapists in United Kingdom

I work to help you accept, understand why and how the additions works. I am non-judgemental  

I have extensive experience working with addictions, in both private practice and residential rehab. I am able to offer deep understanding and support for those with substance misuse or addictive relationship issues.  

My work with addiction is grounded in the understanding that substance use is often an adaptive response to distress. Through a trauma-informed lens and a focus on trauma endurance, we explore the patterns that have developed to manage overwhelm, disconnection, or pain. This allows for a shift from self-criticism to understanding, creating the foundation for meaningful and lasting change.  

Addictive substances or behaviours change the way we feel. People can experience addiction in different ways whether it is a physical or psychological dependence, a compulsive disorder, a physiological, cultural or social issue. I take a broad view of all these and invite you to bring yourself where we can look at the addictive behaviour and its possible sources. Addiction can be when something becomes compulsive and you feel like you have no choice, that even with serious negative consequences you may continue with the behaviour and it begins to dominate your world. Counselling can help you explore and identify behaviours, patterns and feelings; working to understand, acknowledge and to accept the way you live life in a healthier way.  

Transcend the cycle of numbing and rediscover the inner source that substances often mask. We look beyond the behaviour to the unmet needs and deep disconnection driving the urge, integrating your tender parts to find a more profound, sovereign 'high' in your own essence.  

My approach to working with addiction and substance abuse is to support clients in exploring and understanding the root causes of their addiction. Developing this compassionate understanding enables clients, in the supportive therapeutic relationship we create, to start to process and heal the underlying trauma that is driving the addiction and substance abuse.  

It can often feel shaming or overwhelming to seek help for any problems with substance use. Though there are many services out there for people wishing to seek help they are often a one-size-fits-all offering and not for everyone. You should not suffer alone though, and talking about things can improve your mental state and perhaps even the reasons behind excessive usage if we go a little deeper. Seeking counselling does not mean you have to do anything other than turn up and engage-it does not mean scrutiny into your lifestyle will take place but that someone will be alongside you with any struggles that you are going through.  

Addiction is never just about the substance—it’s about pain, protection, and survival. Whether you're navigating recovery, in active addiction, or somewhere in between, I offer a nonjudgmental space to explore the deeper roots beneath the behavior. With a background in front-line work in addiction and trauma treatment centers, I understand how complex and layered this journey can be. I use Internal Family Systems (IFS) to help you build compassionate relationships with the parts of you that turn to substances for relief, connection, or escape. Together, we’ll work to heal the wounds underneath and reconnect you with the strength, clarity, and Self-energy already within you.  

We are all addicts of anything from sugar to sex for example as we manage our feelings differently. Learn to understand the different ways of coping.  

I am member an advanced member of Addiction Professionals registration body. I am an addictions and eating disorder specialist. I offer a range of services from 1:1 and group counselling/coaching sessions. I trained at Richmond College and am strongly informed by 12 step philosophy. I work as a consultant therapist at Start 2 Stop a secondary residential addictions treatment centre as well as for Orchestrate Health and I help clients find recovery from addiction so they can thrive in life.  

`Addiction is soothing something in your life, why stop it? If you must, let's help you walk through recovery and healing  

Covid and the ensuing lockdown has produced a stark increase in the number of those seeking help for various addictions. It is not surprising perhaps that alcohol tops the list. It is the easiest to come by of course, and suddenly it was possible to drink during a work day with colleagues being none the wiser. It is the ability to indulge in any addictive behaviour, free of the constraints associated with normal day to day life, that has emerged as the most common factor for those attending our clinics in the last year or so. Illegal substance abuse also continues to be on the rise, and at Weybridge Hypnotherapy & Mindfulness we continue to provide a comprehensive program of therapy to finally overcome any and all addictions.  

Addiction often develops as a coping mechanism for dealing with unresolved trauma. Substances can provide temporary relief from emotional pain, anxiety and depression. However, reliance on these substances can lead to a dependency and exacerbate a person's challenges. By providing psycho education to my client's about trauma and addiction we can help demystify your experience and this provides a framework for understanding your challenges. Psychoeducation can cover topics like how trauma affects the brain, the cycle of addiction and coping mechanisms. Knowledge empowers my clients to engage actively in your recovery. Mindfulness and grounding exercises can help you stay present and manage any overwhelming emotions, reducing anxiety and enhancing self-awareness. These techniques can help you cope with triggers and stressors. I encourage you to build a support network as this can provide emotional backing and practical assistance, reinforcing the therapeutic process. Working with addiction in a trauma informed way is a compassionate and effective approach that addresses the root cause of your addiction.  

Examine the antecedents and triggers of anger, trauma, addictions, and/or substance abuse.  

Counselling provides a space for you to explore your experiences and feelings in a respectful and confidential space. The focus of the conversation is to understand your experience and provide support to explore the ways in which you can introduce change into your life.  

Learn how to navigate your own life and learn what you are escaping from. You have to learn self-forgiveness  

Do you have addictive tendencies? Is your behaviour around certain substances - or habits - exaggerated and unhelpful? Are you worried or scared that you are harming yourself and/or others? Is there addiction in your family or your ancestry? What has brought you to read this page on addiction right now? Let´s explore these questions, and more, together.  

I have worked with both young people & adults with substance misuse/abuse issues & those with diagnosed addictive behaviour. Using motivational interviewing & elements of CBT, I work with a person-centred & strengths based approach to tailor treatment to the personal needs of the individual & their significant others. I understand that recovery can be difficult & how important it is to move at the pace of the indiviudal seeking support. I work on the basis that relapse is part of the process & as discouraging as this can be, it is important to use these set backs as a learning opportunity to better enable the individual to make recovery stick the next time around.  

You may choose to call it a craving, a fancy, a bit of a dependence but the truth is that anyone who becomes overly drawn to or obsessed by any activity – whether drinking alcohol, taking drugs, over- or under-eating, shopping, gambling, sex or even doing good deeds – is trying to fill a void or block out something that is missing in their lives. (Even smoking may start for that reason.) That’s why the human givens approach, which focuses on helping people in distress find healthy ways to meet their emotional needs, is such a successful method for overcoming addictions. We know, from research, that people who feel fulfilled in their lives do not need (or stop needing) to indulge in addictive activities. In one famous experiment, rats were offered either morphine-laced water or ordinary water. When rats were kept alone in small cages, they tended to opt for the morphine, but when they were kept in groups in areas similar to their natural habitats, they preferred to drink the water. When the rats in the natural habitat were then put singly into cages, they started choosing the morphine-laced water, while the rats originally in the cages stopped choosing the morphine when put into natural-style habitats. This showed clearly that, when needs were met, rats did not want drugs. The same effect is found in humans. Most young people give up drug experimentation when they start careers and families. People are much more likely to get caught up in addiction when important needs cease to be met, perhaps because of loss, caused by the death of someone close, a relationship ending, redundancy or illness, or by dissatisfaction arising from boredom or feeling trapped. Sometimes such circumstances lead first to depression and then to addiction. It is now known that all addictive behaviours work through the same common pathway in the brain – the expectation pathway. So, when human givens practitioners help someone to overcome an addictive activity, they focus first on helping people knock out the expectations of pleasure that addiction falsely feeds us. If you have ever tried to stop an activity you are rather over-partial to, you may recall that, when you first decide not to have that drink or that cigarette or switch on the shopping channel, you don’t feel any great discomfort. It is as time goes on that the craving grows, often until it is irresistible. What happens in the brain is this: when we first decide not to indulge in the activity, we feel calm; however, there is a structure in the emotional brain, called the amygdala, whose job it is to notice when anything out of the ordinary is happening and raise the alarm if it could mean danger. On this occasion, it notices that we haven’t had our usual cigarette, drink, shopping-channel fix. A sequence of chemical events takes place in the brain, which results in our being flooded with arousing emotional memories of how wonderful it was to smoke, drink, order goods when watching the shopping channel – and so we succumb. Once strong desire is experienced, we recall only expectations of pleasure associated with the addictive activity. This makes our craving powerful, even overwhelming, instead of the very mild physiological discomfort we experienced at the start. But the memories are usually false because, as we know, when we feel we are being deprived of something we want, we exaggerate the joys of it. So we remember being the life and soul of the party and not being sick and having a hangover; we remember the thrill of buying new clothing and not the self-loathing while stuffing it, still in its glossy packaging, at the back of the wardrobe. In other words, the satisfaction is all in our heads. Human givens practitioners help people change their expectations by relaxing them and then guiding them to visualise the downsides of the addictive activity – such as disabling illness, loss of loved ones, financial hardship, etc, instead of the false memories of fulfilment. When only these more realistic associations come to mind on experiencing a craving, withdrawal symptoms remain mild physiological ones, such as the sensation of gentle butterflies in the stomach or a furry tongue. After a while, if all false memories are rejected and only the fearsome ones are accessed from our emotional memory stores, craving ceases altogether. People then need to be helped to find ways to meet their needs more healthily again, such as by starting or resuming social activities (most people with addictive behaviours gradually give less and less time to what they previously valued); facing whatever may have led to the addiction in the first place, such as a troubled marriage or work difficulties, and finding solutions; and learning ways to deal with future stress – or temptation – without relapsing. This will usually involve changing attitudes towards problems or setbacks, learning to see them as challenges that can be coped with; learning to calm aroused emotions down instantly; and being ready to take ‘emergency action’ to distract oneself from temptation, such as going for a walk or calling a friend. When people genuinely realise that they have been hoodwinked into false expectations of pleasure and fulfilment from an addictive activity, they find that they can stop, and not miss it, however long they have been in its thrall.  

Since I started my career in psychotherapy, I have successfully dedicated considerable productive efforts to client issues. In my private practice, I create a safe and supportive therapy environment in which clients interact with me in terms of the point to where they wish to advance. To these circumstances, I bring my experience with the nature of illness, drug therapies, professional ethics and more.