Addiction, Rehabilitation - Back in November I was asked to present a talk about helping people prepare and work through the rehabilitation process from an addiction. It had been a while since I did any teaching for more than an hour or so, and I was immersing myself in teaching for a few days, this was going to be an interesting time. So as always I returned to my books to refresh my memory, on the process of addiction and rehabilitation.
Addiction is not just about alcohol, drugs or tabacco, it is about any behaviour that interferes with life, whether stoping, eating, internet surfing, pornography, gambling, sex, exercise, work etc. It's about spending more time doing or thinking about the activity then meeting to her needs within your life.
What is the process of ceasing a behaviour?
When I work with someone who wishes to rehabilitate or cease a behaviour, I look at the why, why did they begin it in the first place, there is always a reason, does it cause or give oblivian such as a drug or alcohol, or did it give a good time and a thrill, did it replace the feelings of love and feeling good that were missing for some reason? There are many other reasons why people become addicted these are just a few.
The next step of the process is to look at where the person is, are they at the pre-contemplation stage or the contemplation stage, and how do I support them to get to the preparation stage. The next stage is the action stage, the changing of that behaviour to cease it. I personally don't use giving up, because that creates a loss, but if it is replaced by a new more healthy behaviour or feeling then it is about a celebration of a new thing. There is always a cost to ceasing a behaviour and that must be weighed up and the reason to change behaviour must be more than the desire to maintain.
From here there must a process of relapse prevention and long term support for the individual to help with maintenance. The reality is that relapse happens, but it is about being prepared, the individual accepting it and moving forward and continuing on the path to success. With the right kind of support and desire to change and maintain the change it can happen.
So in November 2019 l became immersed in addictive behaviour (well the teaching about it anyway) and how to rehabilitate through counselling and hypnotherapy for a few days. What an enjoyable time it was and reminder of how sharing information and skills is great for everyone. Also that the newest person to a subject can spark new thoughts and ideas and I love this.