Addictions

Realizing that urges and cravings eventually pass can make the battle against addictions and eating disorders much easier to win. One of the biggest challenges in addiction counselling and eating disorders counselling is dealing with urges and cravings. These urges and cravings to engage in addiction or eating disorder behaviours can sometimes feel so strong that giving in to them may seem like the only way to reduce their intensities...[more]

Controlling your environment to reduce your exposure to urges and cravings, then practicing strategies to manage your urges and cravings is an effective approach to addressing your addictions. A primary reason it can feel very difficult to overcome an addiction is the challenge of dealing with urges and cravings. Whether the addiction involves drinking, drugs, gambling or eating disorder behaviours like binging and purging, my clients report...[more]

In this article, I discuss various ways in which specific thoughts and thinking patterns contribute to addictions. As is the case with common counselling issues like depression and anxiety, the way a person thinks is a key factor contributing to addictions of various kinds including alcohol, drugs, eating, sex and gambling. And, as is the case with other issues, identifying and changing these thoughts is often a fundamental part of the treatment for these addictions...[more]

Even behaviours with many severe consequences are performed for good reasons. Identifying those reasons is the first step in eliminating the behaviours. One of the most common issues I deal with as a Calgary psychologist and a Cochrane psychologist is helping clients who say they want to stop engaging in certain behaviours. The reasons clients typically give for wanting to stop these behaviours are...[more]