AREAS OF FOCUS
Addiction &
Substance Use Concerns
Helping you move from hurt to hope.
IN-PERSON IN ST. CATHARINES & THE NIAGARA REGION - VIRTUAL ACROSS ONTARIO
Disclaimer: The information on this page is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose any mental health or substance use condition. If you are seeking support, our team is here to help you understand your patterns, establish healthy boundaries, and develop practical strategies for recovery.
Everyone deserves a life that feels balanced, fulfilling, and aligned with their values. Often, addiction is not just about the substance or behavior itself—it is a coping mechanism deeply connected to pain, trauma, loneliness, or difficult life patterns.
At Wellness Counselling Centre, we offer a compassionate, non-judgmental space to explore these challenges. Whether your goal is harm reduction or complete abstinence, we meet you exactly where you are. We also provide dedicated support for family members and loved ones navigating the impact of a relative's addiction.
Understanding The Cycle: What Addiction Can Look Like
Addiction can take many forms, often developing as a subconscious way to numb emotional pain, manage trauma, or cope with overwhelming stress. In a private practice therapy setting, we focus on helping you understand your relationship with substances or habits. Often, these behaviours start as a way to cope with stress, anxiety, or difficult life events, but over time, they can begin to feel unhelpful or out of balance.:
-
Substance Use Patterns: Wanting to change, reduce, or explore your relationship with alcohol, cannabis, recreational drugs, or prescription medications.
-
Compulsive Behaviours: Noticing that compulsive habits and behaviours like gambling, shopping, emotional eating, sex, or screen time are beginning to interfere with your daily life, finances, or relationships.
-
Emotional Coping Mechanisms: Recognizing that you are frequently turning to external substances or activities to manage stress, quiet anxiety, or avoid difficult emotions.
Noticing the Impact: Signs It is Time for Support
Addiction and substance use concerns manifest differently for everyone. You might recognize these patterns in your own life or in a loved one:
In Yourself:
-
Loss of Control: Feeling unable to stop or limit the use of substances like alcohol, cannabis, recreational drugs, or prescription medications.
-
Compulsive Behaviors: Struggling to control behaviours like gambling, shopping, disordered eating, sex, or technology use.
-
Secrecy and Isolation: Hiding your substance use or behaviors from loved ones, lying about how much time or money you spend on them, or using in secret to avoid judgment.
-
Using to Cope: Relying on substances or behaviors to numb difficult emotions, manage stress, or escape past trauma.
-
Withdrawal and Cravings: Experiencing physical or emotional distress when trying to cut back, or finding that you need more to get the same effect.
In Relationships & Families:
-
Strained Connections: Frequent arguments, broken promises, or a loss of trust with partners, family, or friends.
-
Spousal & Family Burnout: Loved ones feeling exhausted, anxious, or hyper-focused on trying to "fix" or manage your behaviour.
-
Enabling or Codependency: Family members struggling to set healthy boundaries, often walking on eggshells to avoid conflict.
Healing and Rebuilding: Our Therapeutic Approach
Therapy provides the tools and insights needed to break the cycle of addiction and rebuild your life. Our collaborative process focuses on three key areas:
1. Understanding Triggers & Breaking Cycles
-
Uncovering the emotional and psychological roots of your addiction.
-
Identifying personal triggers and high-risk situations.
-
Developing practical strategies to interrupt automatic behaviors.
2. Building Healthier Coping Strategies
-
Learning evidence-based stress and anxiety management techniques.
-
Strengthening self-worth and practicing self-compassion during recovery.
-
Navigating sustainable lifestyle changes using the Stages of Change model.
3. Rebuilding Relationships & Identity
-
Addressing relational conflicts and healing past hurts.
-
Establishing healthy boundaries with yourself and others.
-
Rebuilding self-trust, confidence, and a sense of purpose.
Our Therapeutic Toolkit
We integrate specialised, evidence-based therapies tailored to help you process emotions, manage cravings, and create lasting change:
-
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT): To help you identify and reframe the thought patterns that lead to cravings and substance use.
-
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT): To teach concrete distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and mindfulness skills to navigate intense urges.
-
Motivational Interviewing (MI): To help you resolve ambivalence, connect with your personal values, and strengthen your motivation for change.
-
Internal Family Systems (IFS) & Trauma-Informed Care: To gently explore and heal the deeper pain, trauma, or "parts" of you that rely on addiction to feel safe.
Additionally We Provide:
-
Goal-Directed Support: We support both harm-reduction and abstinence-based recovery paths, depending on what is safest and most meaningful for you.
-
Compassionate & Holistic Care: We address the intersection of addiction, mental health, and past life experiences to promote deep, lasting healing.
Whatever your are facing, there is a place to start.
If addiction or substance use has left you feeling isolated, or if you are an affected family member carrying the weight of a loved one's struggle, you do not have to navigate this alone. Reach out to Wellness Counselling Centre today to connect with a therapist who can help you reclaim control, establish healthy boundaries, and rebuild a life aligned with your values.
Meet Your Support Team Who Work With Addiction / Substance Use Concerns
Cindy Rose, M.A., CCTP
Registered Psychotherapist
cindy@wellnesscc.ca
Stefanie DeJong, M.A.
Registered Psychotherapist
Meet Your Support Team Who Work With Addiction / Substance Use Concerns
%20offering%20affordable%20therapy%20while%20o.png)
Ciara Pember, MACP (Cand.)
Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying)
ciara@wellnesscc.ca
*Offers affordable therapy
%20offering%20Gottman%20couples%20therapy%20and%20CBT%20for%20OCD%20%20.png)
%20for%20adults%20and%20youth%20with%20a%20focus%20on%20men's%20mental%20.png)
Lewis Lau, MACP
Registered Psychotherapist
(Qualifying)
lewis@wellnesscc.ca
%20helping%20adults%20and%20youth%20with%20gri.png)
%20for%20relationships%20and%20trauma%20recovery%2C%20with%20faith%20.png)
Ashley Wills, MA
Registered Psychotherapist
Erin Coffell, MACP
Registered Psychotherapist
erin@wellnesscc.ca
Cassandra Umbriaco, MACP
Registered Psychotherapist
cassandra@wellnesscc.ca
Stefanie DeJong, M.A
Registered Psychotherapist
stefanie@wellnesscc.ca
Andrea Cottee MACP
Registered Psychotherapist
andrea@wellnesscc.ca
