Overview
When treating codependency, medicating and addiction, often the person coming in can be overly reliant on many things: managing their partner, managing their expectations, perfectionism, work, their children’s lives, alcohol, exercise, “healthy” living, food, chaos, money, busyness, religion, prescribed medication, nicotine, sex and pornography, and of course any other drug. While these all affect us physically in different ways, the outcome is the same- a lack of true connection and intimacy with self and others. People often come to us “looking good on the outside but feeling bad on the inside”, lonely, tired, and questioning how they got here. We help people define and create their recovery. Recovery is living a full, connected, and joyful life without using medicators to numb out. Recovery is possible when there is balance in the physical, mental, emotional, financial, relational, and spiritual. For the purposes of this blog, I will mostly use the term “medicators” rather than addiction.
One of the most helpful quotes regarding codependency, medicating and addiction is “the absence of substances and medicating behaviors is not the same thing as recovery.” Meaning, it takes a lot more to treat the problem than just helping someone to stop their behavior.
Our Therapeutic Approach
From a relational perspective, medicating wreaks havoc on relationships. Medicating impacts the lives of loved ones and the relationship with yourself. When loved ones have better support for themselves, it increases the likelihood they will be more supportive, in more conducive and healthier ways, to the person using. We help to heal strained relationships by teaching new ways to relate and communicate to loved ones while also taking better care of yourself. We provide couple and family therapy (provide link) as well as group therapy (provide link.) Group therapy is a proven way to safely work on relationship skills that translate to healthier relationships outside the therapy office.
From an attachment perspective, one way of defining addiction is “developing an unhealthy attachment to something that alleviates emotional and physical pain.” When we heal your attachment wounds (a term we use to describe anyone who experienced less than nurturing relationships, especially in childhood), there is a greater likelihood of remission. We help you heal these (detachments- need a diff word) while helping you repair old relationships and create new ones. This is done through individual therapy, intensives (link), workshops (link) group therapy (link), and help with finding support groups in the community.
From a trauma perspective, anyone with an attachment wound would fall under the category of having trauma. However, there are many types of trauma: childhood, religious, betrayal, divorce, narcissistic abuse, medical, just to name a few. Trauma keeps the body in a state of hypoarousal (not feeling) or hyperarousal (feeling way too much.) In order to cope with this, many people turn to medicators to feel relief. Everyone’s story and body is different and therefore, one type of therapy isn’t a fix all for everyone. We offer many types of trauma therapy including Somatic Experiencing (link), EMDR (link), IFS, Transforming Touch (link), and Psychodrama and Experiential therapy. All of these modalities work best when the medicating is arrested.
From a medical perspective, stress, loneliness, and using substances wreaks havoc on the body. We educate on how the body is affected by high stress or use of substances and how it will feel during and after detox. It can be maddening to still feel unwell even months after one stops using substances. We teach new ways of managing stress by teaching about connection. Most people who have been medicating in codependency or substances have practically earned a PhD in isolation. What we teach at Relationship Enrichment Center is how to do life in connection, rather than doing it alone.
From a spiritual perspective, one definition of spirituality is being connected to a greater whole that is around us. By the time people reach adulthood, they are often burdened with unhelpful beliefs about themselves and others, and have lost touch with things that make them feel alive. Reconnecting to nature, hobbies, their bodies, fun, pleasure, joy, laughter, and peace is essential for living a full life. Spirituality is not the same thing as religion, and we often help those that have experienced religious trauma and banished all spiritual connection from their lives.
Contact Us
Click on the button below or fill out the form if you have any questions about working with us!
