Relapse Prevention Archives - Rochna Hazra, LPC

Alcohol and Shame

Shame as a basis for Alcoholism: Greg's dad died when Greg was only nine months old. His mom struggled as a single woman to raise him. It was the 1960s and life was hard for Greg’s mother. Two years later, it got to be too much and, she too left Greg. Greg's grandparents raised him from then on. For the most part, his grandmother was kind and fair woman. But when she was overwhelmed, stressed or frustrated, she projected her anger on to Greg. She told him, "This is why your mother left you. You are just too much [...]

By Rochna Hazra, LPC|2017-12-07T21:57:20+00:00November 10th, 2015|Alcoholism, For Spouses, Relapse Prevention|Comments Off

Stages Of Alcoholism

Stages of Alcoholism What is alcoholism? The word “alcoholic” conjures up the image of an out-of-control drunk who is completely unaware of his surroundings. We see them on street corners, sleeping or chattering to themselves. But in reality, if alcohol is ruling your life, moods and relationships, you probably have a problem with drinking. Alcoholism is a progressive disease and there are different stages of Alcoholism. Drinking is an accepted social activity in our society— wine with dinner, going out for drinks with friends or celebrating special occasions. Because alcohol so commonly used and is a social lubricant, it can [...]

By Rochna Hazra, LPC|2017-12-07T21:57:20+00:00November 1st, 2015|Alcoholism, Relapse Prevention|Comments Off

Sex Addiction in Women: Challenges to Recovery

Sex Addiction in women can look different from sex addiction in men. What is shared in common is the out-of-control risk taking behavior that is common to all addictions. It is also not unusual for people recovering from one addiction, say, alcoholism or drug addiction, to substitute their need to numb feelings with sex. This could be porn, soliciting sex in massage parlors or sexual encounters with colleagues at work, friends or even strangers. Vera is a 49 year old woman who has struggled with alcoholism for several years. After a DUI, Vera decided that she needed to quit. She [...]

By Rochna Hazra, LPC|2017-12-07T21:57:21+00:00June 23rd, 2015|Relapse Prevention, Sex Addiction|Comments Off

Relapse Risk: What You Don’t Tell Your Therapist

Relapse Prevention: Looking back, Doug realizes that 4 years back alcoholism had taken over his life. but could he be risking Relapse again? You don't tell your therapist everything. After all, you think, what if my therapist felt disappointed, felt let down or thought less of me? So, what do you do instead? You carry on hoping the problem will go away if you just ignore it. But this could put you at risk for relapse. Let's look at Doug's situation: Doug began seeing his therapist 5 years back. His wife had threatened divorce if he didn't seek help for his [...]

By Rochna Hazra, LPC|2017-12-07T21:57:21+00:00June 16th, 2015|Alcoholism, Relapse Prevention|Comments Off

What comes out of you when you are squeezed is what is inside of you –Wayne Dyer

Throughout our day, we are engaged in activities that will make our lives "better", easier, more secure, happier, or make others happy. We avoid adversity, or anything that may bring adversity upon us. And yet, if you look back at our lives, we see that when times have been hard, we have stepped up and taken on challenges that we never thought we could handle. We have all heard the story of Candace Lightner , the founder of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). Candace founded MADD when her thirteen year old daughter died when a drunk driver hit her and [...]

By Rochna Hazra, LPC|2017-12-07T21:57:22+00:00November 24th, 2014|Alcoholism, For Spouses, Relapse Prevention, Sex Addiction|0 Comments

5 Myths About Relapse

Relapse is not uncommon in the Recovery process. It can happen right after rehab or several years after you have been sober. However, Relapse is not inevitable either and in order to avoid it, it is important that we debunk the many myths that surround Relapse. Myth #1: You cannot predict Relapse Fact: Relapse does not come on suddenly. It follows a pattern where we begin to stray from recovery behaviors gradually move on to high risk patterns of thinking and action. There are many warning signs that people close to us may notice but we may fail to pay [...]

By Rochna Hazra, LPC|2017-12-07T21:57:23+00:00November 13th, 2014|Relapse Prevention|0 Comments