Addiction, Its Origin and Healing
I had a client coming for alcohol-related issues. There was a great wish to stop but also a great stigma of having this behaviour.
The stigma and the behaviour( drinking too much) usually get more attention than the actual problem a client in this situation is trying to solve. Hence I always start by stating that I have no personal interest in whether they stop drinking or not. It is not about drinking.
If you buy a new pair of shoes and walk in them you may develop a blister. The blister is a result of how the show fits your foot and how long you have walked in it. Even if you take away the shoe the blister remains. Medicate the blister without changing shoes and the blister may improve but the cause of the blister is still there.
My point is that the blister is what hurts, but it is not the cause of itself.
Every behaviour has a point of no return, a point where the behaviour gets a“ green light” and“ go ahead” from the subconscious. It is usually easier to change to a new behaviour instead of the old one, before this point.
My client would tend to life perfectly for weeks, then suddenly plan to have“ just a beer or two”. To prepare this the client would buy a whole box of beer, obviously subconsciously