I have 22 years’ experience treating people with a wide range of substances abuse and several types of substance abusers in challenging situations:

• * Tweens and adolescents’ first peer-pressured marijuana or alcohol experimentation
• * First-time offenders’ DUIs in Alcohol Highway Safety classes
• * Assisting with Driver’s License Restoration Process
• * Conducting Substance Abuse Assessments for in-patient substance abuse treatment
• * Providing After-care treatment with individual therapy and Relapse Prevention Group Therapy
• * Experience with probation and parole officers, Juvenile Courts, Probate, and Circuit Courts
• * Familiarity in treating various substances: Marijuana, Cocaine/Crack, Prescription drugs, Opioids including Heroin

Whether you’ve come to this website seeking help for yourself or for someone else, you probably know that despite all the fun and glamor the advertising world and Hollywood promise to bring through alcohol and other substances, it can negatively impact many areas of one’s life:

• * Family – when the legal system is involved
• * Friends – who may no longer be so friendly when Probation Officer says no more partying
• * Occupation is often affected when people have to serve time in jail or miss work for court appearances and court-mandated appointments. Employers sometimes decide to say, “Good-bye.”
• * With finances cut from employment, and transportation often removed due to DUI consequences, life becomes more and more challenging – especially in rural areas without public transportation.

But the good news is that counseling is very effective in helping people learn there is so much more than the false sense of hope and happiness that chemically induced highs offer. After the often rather difficult adjustment process, my clients have made comments like, “I Can’t believe I kept living like that – I wasn’t really living, just existing,” and “It’s so good to be able to feel alive again!” In case, you are wondering, I’ve included some warning signs of substance abuse:

• * Failure to meet social, work, and the academic obligations
• * Alcohol- or drug-related legal problems, such as arrest for driving while intoxicated or high
• * Relationship problems with intimate partners, friends, and family
• * Impulsivity, such as spending money excessively
• * Diminished interest in other activities
• * Short-term memory loss or blackouts

Signs that Substance Abuse Has Become Substance Addiction Substance abuse can lead to substance dependence or addiction when both quantity and rate of use increase. People who experience drug or alcohol addiction feel unable to control the impulse to use, and they often experience withdrawal symptoms in the sudden absence of the substance. Some people are unaware or deny that they have a problem with addiction, and sometimes a person’s struggle with drug and alcohol abuse remains hidden from loved ones. Signs of chemical dependence include:

• * Increasing tolerance, or the need to consume more of the substance to reach the desired altered state
• * Requiring the substance throughout the day
• * Seeking the company of other users and cutting off social ties with non-users
• * Dismissing or resenting expressions of concern from loved ones
• * Avoiding other activities and failing to meet obligations
• * Experiencing withdrawal symptoms in the absence of the substance
• * Hiding use from family and friends
• * Bingeing—using heavily—for many hours or several days
• * Feeling unable to quit

Please call 616-690-0652 or use our Contact form to get started on a healthier happier you.