IN-PERSON IN WALNUT CREEK, CA

ONLINE THERAPY IN CA

Therapy for People Questioning Substance Use

Helping individuals to develop a new relationship with substances by empowering them to understand their patterns and implement new coping skills.

I help you explore your relationship to substances and their impact on your everyday life.

Turning to substances (alcohol, marijuana, psychedelics) when you are stressed or hurting can feel like a burden. In the moment, it feels like you get a short break, but you have found that it really isn’t a long-term solution or the relief isn’t lasting.

You notice your use impacts all areas of your life, from your personal relationships to finding pleasure in the activities you used to enjoy. You feel isolated and lonely, afraid to talk to anyone about your usage.

You're scared you won’t be able to stop using and need support in understanding why you feel so connected to the pleasures and relief these substances bring you. 

FIGURING OUT YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH SUBSTANCES

Substance use behaviors develop as a way to cope with stress, trauma, and hopelessness. Eventually, the substances become a part of our identity, and ending our relationship with them can feel scary.

Who am I without drinking? What if I can’t handle the stress or pain? What if I can’t quit, or if I do, what if my friends, family, or partner no longer like me?

In this blended relationship, we can give substances authority and allow them to direct the choices we make in our lives. Our identity and self-worth can be tied to the messages the substances give us. 

These messages can surface as insights, emotional truths, or reflections of deep needs. You may notice phrases such as:

  •  “You need relief.”

  •  “Your body is tired of hurting.”

  •  “You’re longing for connection.”

In therapy, together we will explore your substance use and the identity you have created around your use. We will also explore past traumas and current stressors. We will move slowly through this process, establishing routines, new skills, and triggers that impact your usage. 

Using Internal Family Systems (IFS), we will check with the parts of your system that are pulled to use substances as a way to cope when they are feeling activated.  

In our work together, we will learn how the brain and its pleasure centers are affected by substance use. I will support you with harm reduction techniques, new behaviors, and ways to cope that will positively impact the amount you are using. 

I will help you develop new coping skills, a strong relationship with yourself, and process trauma that is impacting your identity.

Sobriety is not required in therapy, and we will work together to establish how you would like to show up in session.

I help people struggling with their relationship to these substances;

  • Alcohol

  • Marijuana

  • Vaping

  • Cocaine

  • Psychoactive Drugs

In my experience, we use substances when feeling anxious, depressed, and stressed to reduce the feelings of pain and hopelessness. When we are working with your behavior of substance use, I will teach you to slow down, listen to your triggering thoughts, and choose a new and supportive way to cope. 


You can learn to listen to what you need in times of stress and choose a new way to cope. You can heal the trauma connected to substance use by forming new neural networks and opening up to new ways of thinking.

DEVELOPING A RELATIONSHIP WITH SUBSTANCES WHERE YOU ARE IN CONTROL

Meet Jackie - YOUR THERAPIST FOR HEALING

The clients who work with me on their relationship with substances feel seen and cared for.

I use a great deal of empathy to understand your coping skills and trauma. 

I open our space together so that you feel safe in diving deeply into your pain and exploring the whys of your substance use. I combine the art of caring with direct support in establishing new routines, changing relationships, and creating systems of sober support.

If you would like to get started changing your troubled relationship with substances.