22 January 2014
Looking for a therapist? Are you a couple or individual who would like to “work something out”? I’m here to help and I’m happy to work with your needs. Feel free to visit my website at http://downtowntherapy.ca for more information about myself and my services. My rates are reasonable and I offer an initial consultation that is free of charge.
If you are interested in learning more about my services, about me, or perhaps booking an appointment, please call me at 416-873-7828 or email me at info@downtowntherapy.ca for more information.
filed under: general info• psychotherapy
22 January 2014
What is Addiction?
Addiction is in the news a lot these days, particularly if you live in Toronto as I do. In the last decade we have opened up the way we understand addiction – a term we used to reserve only for chemical substances – to include such non-chemical things as internet porn addiction, retail consumption, video game addiction, even an addiction to acquiring money.
Some feel that we risk watering down the idea of addiction by straying away from those things – like alcohol and drugs – which have a direct chemical affect on our bodies. However, more and more, neurobiology shows that people who are found to have addictive behaviour who don’t use alcohol or drugs experience a similar effect in their brain chemistry when coming into contact with their chosen “substance”.
One of my chief concerns is how there is also a lot of judgement involved in addiction: self judgement as well as judgement by our social environment. Much of the stigma around addiction comes from two sources: a society which sees the individual (particularly our independent control over our life and faculties) as sacrosanct, and the idea of addiction itself falling into some sort of religious disfavour (in other words a corruption of self, an analogy for which the Ring in the Lord of the Rings trilogy represents). (more…)
If you are interested in learning more about my services, about me, or perhaps booking an appointment, please call me at 416-873-7828 or email me at info@downtowntherapy.ca for more information.
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