Drugs and addictions

When people think of the term "addiction" they often think about this only in terms of drug addictions. There are however a whole range of different types of behavioural addictions, ranging from addictive patterns of thinking, to substance dependences which can range from alcohol addictions and other drug based addictions such as cannabis and cocaine. In all instances there are usually two elements contained in the behavior, the physical addiction and the habitual addiction associated with the behavior.

The habitual addiction manifests in the way in which the individual thinks, feels and responds in exactly the same manner, usually in an entirely predictable pattern. In 2007 I gave a talk to the staff members of the Leeds Community Drug Treatment Services and asked the 26 counselors present how many of their clients would respond in exactly the same way during each weekly session, sitting the same way, asking the same questions with the exact same use of language and same tonality.

Many clients were convinced that they have few if any choices in life and of course for many of them their world revolved totally around their drug of choice.
Interestingly many of the practitioners felt quite drained from such interactions and were very receptive to many of the approaches I outlined in my own Leeds Therapeutic Practice.

"As head of a busy community drug service, the most significant element I witnessed in his training for my team that has proved to be important in our work with addicted clients has been without a doubt the powerful insight he provided that profound change is not only possible and desirable - but that it is not a time bound process. We are used to assuming that our work will be slow and painstaking - Nick reminded us of the human potential for swift and dramatic change."

Sian James
Head of Community Drug Treatment Services

For more information on Nick's work see www.nickkemp.com