Common Questions

How can addiction counseling help me?
A number of benefits are available from participating in addiction counseling. The counselor can provide support, problem-solving skills, and enhanced coping strategies for stopping destructive addictive behaviors. The counselor can provide a fresh perspective on a difficult problem or point you in the direction of a solution. The benefits you obtain from addiction counseling depend on how well you use the process and put into practice what you learn. Some of the benefits available from therapy include:

• Learning how to stop active addiction
• Learning how to live sober and/or free of your addiction(s)
• Learning new ways to cope with stress and anxiety without substances or destructive behaviors
• Managing anger, grief, depression, and other emotional pressures
• Improving communications and listening skills
• Changing old behavior patterns and developing new ones
• Discovering new ways to solve problems at work and at home
• Improving your self-esteem and boosting self-confidence

Do I really need counseling? I can usually handle my problems.
One of the key features of addiction is the tendency to want to manage and control everything, even when it is not working. Addiction thrives in isolation and secrecy. Recovery depends on the individual being willing to accept help through ideas and suggestions. Albert Einstein said that you can’t solve a problem with the same mind that created the problem, so asking and accepting help with your addiction is an act of humility and willingness, two key ingredients in maintaining long term recovery.

What is the addiction recovery process like?
Counselors who specialize in addiction recovery can often help people who are addicted set achievable and empowering short-term goals as they work to overcome their addiction. Once sobriety is achieved, adaptive skills can be developed as the person works to regain physical and emotional health, and the counselor can begin to explore the source or cause of the addiction with the person in treatment as the person begins to employ the new coping strategies. Together, the counselor and the person being treated can work to set long-term goals that may include rebuilding damaged relationships, accepting responsibility for actions, and releasing guilt.

With therapy, a person who has become dependent on drugs or alcohol is often more likely to overcome an addiction, and several types of therapy are helpful in this process. In particular, motivational interviewing therapy—a person-centered therapy that relies on the person’s inspiration to change—have demonstrated effectiveness in this arena. Sometimes therapy provides a supplemental form of support for someone who is attending a self-help group, such as Alcoholics Anonymous; in fact, some therapies are specifically geared toward facilitating 12-step programs, Rehab, or inpatient treatment, is also an option for some of those who may experience difficulty achieving sobriety as an outpatient.

People sometimes fear seeking help for drug addiction due to concerns of legal consequences or, when the person who is addicted is a parent, the involvement of Child Protective Services. However, privacy and confidentiality in substance abuse treatment is mandated not only by professional ethical guidelines and, usually, state law (like all mental health treatment), but also by special federal laws.

What about medication vs. psychotherapy?
It is well established that the long-term solution to mental and emotional problems and the pain they cause cannot be solved solely by medication. Instead of just treating the symptom, therapy addresses the cause of our distress and the behavior patterns that curb our progress. You can best achieve sustainable growth and a greater sense of well-being with an integrative approach to wellness. Working with your medical doctor you can determine what’s best for you, and in some cases a combination of medication and therapy is the right course of action.

Do you take insurance, and how does that work?
Hope in Boulder does not accept insurance at this time. If you have verifiable private insurance we will offer a rate of $85 per session.

Does what we talk about in therapy remain confidential?
Confidentiality is one of the most important components between a client and counselor. Successful therapy requires a high degree of trust with highly sensitive subject matter that is usually not discussed anywhere but the therapist’s office. Every therapist should provide a written copy of their confidential disclosure agreement, and you can expect that what you discuss in session will not be shared with anyone. This is called “Informed Consent”. Sometimes, however, you may want your therapist to share information or give an update to someone on your healthcare team (your Physician, Naturopath, Attorney), but by law your therapist cannot release this information without obtaining your written permission.

However, state law and professional ethics require therapists to maintain confidentiality except for the following situations:
* Suspected past or present abuse or neglect of children, adults, and elders to the authorities, including Child Protection and law enforcement, based on information provided by the client or collateral sources.
* If the therapist has reason to suspect the client is seriously in danger of harming him/herself or has threatened to harm another person.