if You Find Addiction Work Complicated, It Might Be a Symptom of Your Misunderstanding.

For years, I thought I understood addiction, like so much more than everyone else…

I had the certifications….

I knew the frameworks

I worked with clients who were therapists themselves

I was years clean, I did all the recovery stuff

 

And…..I was still hiding.

Hiding a food addiction, hiding my compulsive thinking, hiding the fact that something in my body always felt off – no matter how much service I did, how many meetings I attended, or how many acronyms I could quote.

But I didn’t know why it felt off.

So I did what most of us do when something doesn’t feel right, I reached for more complexity.

More models

More trainings

More theories

More performance, all dressed up as progress.

The uncomfortable truth I eventually had to face
– Complexity was my defence
– Complexity made me look competent
– Complexity helped me avoid the one thing I was most afraid of: feeling

Addiction work isn’t complicated, but the industry is, and people will stroke your ego for complicating things further…

We’ve built layers of abstraction, clinical labels, protocols and ‘evidence-based’ frameworks – all while avoiding the one truth that actually heals

No theory can replace the impact of being met, felt and seen – by someone who has made that same journey inward.

We think complexity helps us serve others. But often, it’s just helping us bypass ourselves.

Here’s the mirror I had to face:

The more addicted I was to complexity, the more I was avoiding the simplicity of healing.
Addiction Isn’t as Complicated as It Seems — Our Misunderstanding Makes It SoAnd the more I made addiction a brain-state or behaviour, the more I missed the human right in front of me.

There’s nothing wrong with learning, this is not about that. But if your need to understand addiction is rooted in not wanting to feel, you won’t see what’s right in front of you.

Presence heals and Complexity protects.

And protection is not the same as transformation.

What helped me change?
Being seen – without agenda.
Being met – not managed.
Being asked: What’s here right now? – instead of Which protocol applies?

Curious to hear from you:
Have you ever noticed yourself reaching for theory when presence might be enough?

 

Get the book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1068323302