I try to help people with drug or alcohol issues.

There are all kinds of reasons why people find themselves using substances; I'm focused on helping find out what happened to them and why the use of alcohol or drugs is a symptom.

I try to understand how the things that have happened to people might have changed the way they think about themselves, other people, the world, and what might happen next.

If some very bad things have happened, you will probably think that bad things will happen again. If someone has hurt you in the past, you will probably be scared that it might happen again. This is trauma. Some people are so traumatised that it changes the way their brains work. When people are anxious, they sometimes ask doctors to help them. But this doesn't work well and can cause as many problems as it helps. They usually result in dependencies on prescriptive, non-prescribed, illegal drugs and alcohol to at least temporarily remove the pain.

I try to help people by understanding why bad things happen to make us sad, scared, and anxious. I then talk to people to try to help them understand that only they can help themselves and that by taking back control can find better ways to help themselves. Usually, that happens when they come to understand that they can think about the world differently, and talking to other people is the best way to learn how to think in new and different ways.