Addiction and coping patterns
Counselling for addiction and coping patterns
Alcohol, substances, gambling, overworking — including if you’re not sure you want to stop. Specialist drug and alcohol experience, without a diagnosis on your record.
Most coping patterns started as solutions. The drink that made the evening bearable, the work that kept the thinking at bay, the habit nobody knows about that reliably takes the edge off. They protected you, often for years. The problem is rarely that they never worked — it’s that the cost has quietly overtaken the benefit.
I don’t require you to arrive certain that you want to change. Ambivalence isn’t an obstacle to this work; it’s usually the honest starting point, and it’s what motivational interviewing was built for. We slow down, name what’s heavy, and understand what the pattern has been protecting.
My clinical background is specialist drug and alcohol counselling with NSW Health, and I’m ASSIST trained. That means I can talk about use precisely and without flinching — and without treating you as a case.
Common questions
Do I have to want to quit before I start?
No. Plenty of people begin while genuinely unsure, or while wanting to cut back rather than stop. We start where you actually are. Pretending to be more certain than you are tends to make the work less useful, not more.
Will this go on my medical record?
No. Counselling isn’t Medicare rebated, so there’s no GP referral, no Mental Health Care Plan and no diagnosis recorded. Nothing goes back to a doctor who may also be your family’s doctor. For people who hold professional registrations or are on visas, this is often the deciding factor — though if you have a specific reporting obligation, get your own advice on it.
What kinds of patterns do you work with?
Alcohol, other drugs, gambling, internet and screen use, and overworking. Also chronic relapse and situations where substance use sits alongside anxiety, depression or trauma.
Is this abstinence-based?
Not by default. The goal is yours to set — reduction, controlled use, periods off, or stopping altogether. We’ll be honest together about whether the goal you’ve set is working.
Can you help with withdrawal or detox?
No. Withdrawal from alcohol or some other drugs can be medically dangerous and needs medical supervision. Speak to your GP, or call the NSW Alcohol and Drug Information Service on 1800 250 015. I can work alongside medical treatment, not instead of it.
What if my family doesn’t know?
That’s common and it’s your information to hold. Sessions are online, appointments are available before and after work, and there’s no paperwork trail through your GP.
Do you work with trauma underneath the pattern?
Often, yes. Where a memory is driving the behaviour, EMDR-informed work can be part of the work — once there’s enough stability to do it safely.
Continue reading
Writing on this
You do not have to have decided to change →
On ambivalence, and why you don’t need certainty before you start.
Two things can be true at the same time →
Holding a pattern that both helped and harmed, without choosing a verdict.
Ambivalence is a fine place to start
Fifteen minutes, free, no obligation. Sessions in English, Hindi or Gujarati,
weekday mornings and evenings, online across Australia.