Helping those suffering from substance abuse to truly change

Hello all,

Jeff Ryan, LPCIT, CSAC

My name is Jeff Ryan.  I am a new therapist at Get Connected Counseling in Appleton, WI.  Get Connected Counseling is a new mental health private practice offering counseling services to teens, adults, couples and families in the Fox Valley and beyond.  We strive to offer a different experience for people seeking services which focuses on transformation healing of mind, body and spirit.  We do this by using such profound and effective interventions as Brainspotting, Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR), Ego State therapy and Motivational Interviewing while treating Substance Abuse.

As some that has been around the field of substance abuse counseling for quite some time, I have been on a journey to understand how do we truly help individuals suffering from substance abuse to heal and change.  In my early years as a substance abuse counselor, I witnessed so many individuals young and old not being offered effective pathways to actually change while in a system that often punished them for doing exactly what they came seeking help to solve.  Additionally, individuals were often told such things as 'stay clean or sober for 6 months to 2 years then we will help you find a way to heal the deep -- grief, trauma, and abandonment' that was deeply embedded in their substance abuse which kept them from succeeding.

From my experience and the experience of the many individuals that I have learned from over the years there are a few core principles to effective substance abuse treatment: be relational and empathetic, use developmentally and culturally appropriate interventions, understand that motivation and change are dynamic forces and know that substance abuse is a complex disorder that is embedded in multifaceted issues such as trauma, grief and attachment disruptions.  When substance abuse treatment is informed by these key concepts then it can be more successful and meet each individual where they are at when they make the decision to seek services.

Carl Rogers, preeminent psychologists of the 20th-century, is quoted as saying, "It is the client who knows what hurts, what directions to go, what problems are crucial, what experiences have been deeply buried." (On Becoming a Person, 1961)  This simple but profound truth, that Rogers evolved while working at UW-Madison, summarizes very nicely the key principles that we at Get Connected Counseling strive to follow.  When treating substance abuse, specifically, we will allow the inherent truth that you hold along with your body and brain to be our guide while finding the unique path fits you where you are at.

Please call to talk about how Get Connected Counseling to discuss how we can be of service to you.

Jeff Ryan, LPCIT, CSAC
Therapist
 920-750-6120