January Salon : Keeping Your Peace While Dealing With A Substance Abuser

Keeping Your Peace While Dealing with A Substance Abuser

This month we’re addressing how to stay in your wellbeing amidst the storm of someone’s substance abuse cycle.

You will learn:

• Learn powerful coping strategies and healing techniques to remain detached
• Release expectations of people to change and take back your precious energy
• Develop healthy boundaries and break patterns of co-dependance
• Receive a powerful spiritual practice to no longer take on the substance abuser’s negativity

Before I created my private practice, I worked in the substance abuse (SA) and recovery world with court mandated men and young women for almost a decade.

Prior to that, I grew up in an alcoholic family, and of course went on to attract substance abusers in my romantic relationships into adulthood. After 13 years of marriage to an alcoholic, I finally worked up the courage to file for divorce and have been on an intense energetic clearing, cleaning out, and healing journey.

Addiction and Substance Abuse is a broad topic. I could teach a week-long course on the matter. For today’s purposes, I am defining SA and Addiction as “the opposite of connection.”

This can mean any chronic, repetitive use with a substance (i.e. alcohol and drugs) or engaging in compulsive behavior such as viewing porn, excessive shopping, exercising and so forth.

Instead of engaging in healthy relationship skills with themselves and/or others—accountability, clear communication, vulnerability, emotional intimacy and intelligence, chronic addicts and substance abusers use the substance or behavior to pair bond with, rather than with people. This is a “learned turning away from” strategy to manage what they do not want to be feel or deal with.

Substance abuse disorders and addictive behaviors are the best coping option someone has in that moment. However, if left untreated, the chronic substance abuse/addiction cycle can lead to legal troubles and even death.

Being on the receiving end of a dynamic with a SA’er is exhausting, stressful, can even be costly, and lead to disruptions in your day-to-day life. This is especially true if you are in direct relationship with a partner or family member who is suffering.

This event will focus on strategies you can implement to prioritize your peace, stop the cycle of emotional highs and lows, and practice healthy detachment.

Your Host: Kristen Brickl is a Licensed Professional Counselor & Intuitive Channel based in Boulder, CO. With over 20 years of experience in mental health and wellness, she helps women reconnect with their authentic selves through mindfulness, embodiment, and intuitive healing.