Telehealth Treatment of Addictive Behavior – Janina Fisher, PhD

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Without support and blaming themselves for being ‘weak,’ it is not surprising that many individuals under stress rely on addictive behavior to manage their intense feelings and impulses.

Substance abuse, eating disorders, and impulsive acting out all have the effect of calming an irritable nervous system and creating distance from emotions and body sensations. Working effectively on addictions recovery is enhanced by an understanding of why it feels safer to use (or to act out sexually or to restrict, binge, and purge) than to experience one’s feelings and memories.

The challenge of helping addicted clients is magnified by the current COVID crisis and need to work virtually.

Just when stress is heightened for all human beings, access to 12-step programs and psychotherapy are now limited to telehealth contact. This recording will give you a conceptual “map” for understanding addiction as a survival strategy for regulating environmental stress and personal distress.

Using mindfulness-based and body-centered strategies drawn from Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, you can develop a toolkit for helping clients with addictive behavior virtually even in the midst of a pandemic.

1. Determine the relationship between the autonomic nervous system and addictive behavior
2. Appraise the ‘Abstinence/Relapse Cycle’
3. Implement mindfulness and somatic techniques to help clients regulate their nervous systems
4. Plan resources that support clients’ recovery from their addictions

The Autonomic Nervous System & Addictive Behavior

Working with the Abstinence/Relapse Cycle

Techniques to Implement to Regulate the Nervous System

• Mindfulness approaches
• Somatic approaches

Resources for Addictions Recovery