Substance/Drug & Alcohol use


It can feel a risk to get professional help for substance use, particularly because some are illegal, and you may not be sure what the professionals' response may be. There is an understandable fear of what the outcome might be in telling a professional or stranger about your substance use, especially if you are a professional too.

I work with professionals, and young people helping them regain control. Whoever you are, I am not here to judge, I am here to be curious and help.


What is substance?

When a professional says substance they usually mean drugs, these could be common drugs such as amphetamine (speed), cannabis (weed/skunk), Cocaine (Coke, ironically often called Lemo' as in Lemonade in Liverpool), ecstasy, or MDMA. However, it can mean other drugs such as alcohol, Ketamine, Nicotine, and 'legal highs' such as 2CB. Alcohol & Caffeine are also a drugs - legal ones, and did you know caffeine is the most commonly used and socially accepted drug.

People also approach me for help with addictions to prescription medications, such as benzodiazepines (Alprazolam/Xanax) opioids. I have helped people to recover from substance use, usually after they have significantly impacted their well being, lost family & friends, or have experienced trauma through a 'drug induced psychosis'.

Most people who come to me for support with substance misuse/use want help with cocaine use, and alcohol use, and the effects of stopping after long-term use. In Liverpool there is a culture of functional cocaine use that runs through young men. Those who heavily use cannabis usually have a desire to stop, and break the habit, but unfortunately have little motivation to do so because of the nature of the drug.. and also it is becomes a coping mechanism.

It's not just the drug/alcohol impact on health that is a problem, it's the frictions it causes in people's relationships, and the trauma it leaves on the brain the nervous system. People close to the user see the substance use and the change in the person, and naturally judge them, this triggers a protective response in the user and the cycle continues. People can loose and also gain through some substances meaning, connection, and relationships, as the 'neural pathways' in the brain are changed, pleasure and solace becomes something which is only gained through substance use/abuse.
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If you are dedicated, and want to commit to getting help, and make a change then book in to see me and we can work together on it.

I integrate Brainspotting, IFS, and EMDR Therapy which helps a person's internal nervous system learn to re-regulate itself. This works across the spheres of consciousness and subconscious, so there is little required in the way of talking or 'thought challenging'.

Sometimes, you know and think that you shouldn't do such and such... but this does not make sense to the part your brain that is responsible for the reward of the drug. "The reward part of the brain does not think, it just craves"

​With Brainspotting therapy we work with the reward part of the brain, through eye positions, and corresponding neurological transmitters within the brain. In IFS Therapy we view it as only a part of you that uses, and work with that part - not against it. IFS views you holistically and values all aspects of you.

Many therapies do not deal with the physical elements of substance use. Neuro-therapies that I employ go deeply, and quickly into the reward centre of the brain, where the feelings associated with the addiction/habit is formed. This helps with the physical stress of giving up, and withdrawing/craving feelings substance use can create.

I also support people who are suffering because of their relationship with the person who is using substance etc.

Many people want a quick fix, unfortunately there is no quick fix. However, some therapies are quicker and more robust than others..



I don't know how it worked but I've now stopped using (cocaine) since we did Brainspotting.
It's helped me to stop and think. A. Client 

"After Brainspotting therapy I understood my addiction at a deeper level, I had less cravings which subsided quickly, and I had a lot more control over it, than it over me" A. Client

"I'm not sure how it worked.. but it did!" A. Client


Office 6, Mersey House, 140 Speke Rd, Garston, Liverpool L19 2PH​
Website made by Chris Rudyard
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