Therapeutic Excellence

When people think of the term "addiction" they often think about this only in terms of drug addictions. There are however a whole range of different types of behavioral addictions, ranging from addictive patterns of thinking, to substance dependences which can range from alcohol addictions and other drug based addictions such as cannabis and cocaine. In all instances there are usually two elements contained in the behavior, the physical addiction and the habitual addiction associated with the behavior.

The habitual addiction manifests in the way in which the individual thinks, feels and responds in exactly the same manner, usually in an entirely predictable pattern. In 2007 I gave a talk to the staff members of the Leeds Community Drug Treatment Services and asked the 26 counselors present how many of their clients would respond in exactly the same way during each weekly session, sitting the same way, asking the same questions with the exact same use of language and same tonality. Many clients were convinced that they have few if any choices in life and of course for many of them their world revolved totally around their drug of choice.