Breaking The Vice Like Grip Of Addictive Behaviour
Wayne Donnelly
Guiding High-Performing Professionals Reclaim Time, Reduce Stress & Master Their Mindset To Achieve Sustainable Business Growth Using Neuroscience & Coaching
This is a share of my experience with clients that come to me to seek a pathway out of addiction. This story is about one client in particular who had a gambling addiction and how two strategies (out of many) helped him to beat the addiction.
I realise that in this online world there are a lot of practitioners, therapists, psychologists and counsellors out there, (as well as those who have recovered from an addiction) who work with addictions. So there will be a lot of different perspectives and experiences surrounding this subject.
With that in mind, here is the story.
What does it take to break the vice like grip of addictive behaviour?
Let me share two strategies with you which have contributed to a clients incredible change to Break the gambling addiction.
In this clients case, the gambling addiction was costing $1,500 per week! Thats a salary for many people. This addiction, on top of the financial cost, was taking its toll on the family. Trust was being worn away. The spouse was ringing the bank twice a day to check on withdrawals. Stories were being fabricated to cover up the spending. Family comforts were reduced as money went on the horses.
The story has a happy ending though. To get to that happy ending we did a lot of intervention in the client's habitual addictive behaviour over a period of two months.
Today, I'll share two of the strategies that were used to help start the shift away from gambling.
Remember too, it's not just about the addictive behaviour. It had to start somewhere in earlier life.
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So there is a need for healing that part of the client that is using the behaviour to satisfy a deeper need. Then, as we worked through the process, we needed to replace the addictive behaviour with another positive behaviour that is right for the client, their family and their world.
The old saying is true "Nature Abhors A Vacuum".
The first strategy utilised was a Pattern Interrupt. Here is one example of how this strategy is utilised. In my initial discussions with the client I learnt that the gambling started at 10am on a Saturday at the local pub. There was a definite pattern. Every Saturday. (Plus random gambling on pokies at the local club). When he asked me when will we start, my reply was "Saturday at 10am!" Interestingly, he didn't want to go after that as he had missed the start of the gambling session. Instead, every Saturday at 10am he was working with me. A new pattern established. This continued well after we stopped working together.
The second strategy used was "Unconscious Consequences". How often do we think of the consequences when we are engrossed in an activity? In the case of addictions, we usually don't. Logically, we know we shouldn't engage in the addiction. This is the area of the conscious mind - logic and reason.
Where we need to work and what we need to do is impress upon the unconscious mind "the error of our ways". The process, in a nutshell, is to communicate to your unconscious mind in a way that utilises symbols and emotions (the language of the unconscious mind) the consequences of the addictive behaviour.
When the consequences are experienced in real time in an emotional way the message gets across. At that point I ask the unconscious mind to find a positive behaviour to satisfy that need without the addictive behaviour. It works. And for me, I dislike unfinished business. It's about perseverance with the client until we find a way to achieve the desired outcome.
As a result of the work that the client did with me, he and his family experienced significant changes in their lives.
This was a good outcome.
To learn more about these strategies and how they can work for you, a loved one or a friend for this or any addiction... email [email protected]
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