The coping that started as survival — and started costing more than it gave.

What it actually looks like

Addiction rarely walks in alone. It travels with grief, trauma, anxiety, identity shifts, relationship wounds, and the quiet exhaustion of holding yourself together for everyone else. By the time someone reaches out, most have already tried very hard on their own — and are tired of the version of themselves they have to be to keep it up.

Some of what people bring in:

• A relationship with alcohol or substances that's quietly outgrown its usefulness
• The "high-functioning" version — work, achievement, helping, control
• Early sobriety: the rawness, the relationships, the rebuilt identity
• Long-term recovery that's stable but no longer enough
• Family-of-origin patterns around substances, secrecy, or rescuing
• The shame loop that makes the coping harder to put down

How I work with it

We don't start with the substance. We start with the system around it — what it's been trying to manage, what it's been quietly protecting, what would need to be true for you to need it less. That curiosity is the work; shame just keeps the door closed.

From there, we look at the underneath: relational trauma, attachment patterns, unprocessed grief, the parts of you that learned coping was the only way through. We work with abstinence, harm-reduction, and everything in between — your goals, named and held with care.

What to expect

Sessions are 50 minutes, weekly, via secure telehealth. We'll spend the first few getting clear on what you actually want — not what you think you're supposed to want. We'll map the function of the coping, identify the supports already in your life, and build the rest in.

I won't pretend to be neutral about your wellbeing — I'm rooting for you. I also won't pretend recovery is a straight line. We'll keep showing up, with honesty and without shame, for as long as it's useful.