Helping Professionals Overcome Addictive Behaviors

HonnolDCounseling helps professionals find emotional insight, strength and resolve to stop abusing alcohol, drugs, food, work, and sex, so they can stabilize their lives and maintain professional integrity.

Washington, D.C. is fueled by power and ambition, rather than by money (as in New York) or glamour (as in Los Angeles).  Ambitious professionals in Washington work compulsively, and then seek relief from stress by abusing substances such as alcohol, drugs, or food, and through other compulsive behaviors, such as sex (or more work).

Many Washington professionals experience:

• a high incidence of substance abuse, especially with alcohol;
• a pervasive work compulsion, which is highly rewarded but frequently unsustainable and destructive of personal life and health;
• feelings of “emptiness” and “loss,” which accompany addictive behaviors;
• the compounding effect of one addictive behavior on another (for example, an all-night work compulsion that follows a drinking binge);
• serious impairment of work performance and emotional stability from addictive behaviors; and
• injury to personal and family life from stress-related addictive behaviors.  

HonnolDCounseling can work with you to assess and address addictive behaviors:

• Work Addiction:  Perfectionism and high performance standards can be a serious challenge for many professionals in Washington, D.C.
  • Work-addicted professionals cannot contain their compulsion to work constantly.
  • Collateral effects include tendencies toward micromanagement, controlling behavior, anger, hyper-sensitivity to criticism, and personal rigidity and defensiveness.
  • Work addiction can also interfere with sleep, personal relationships, and mental health, contributing to both anxiety and depression.

• Alcohol, Drugs, Food, Sex and Gambling:
  • Seeking relief from work stress, many professionals in Washington abuse substances and engage in personal activities (such as sex or pornography) that help them relax, provide excitement, or offer a “pleasurable feeling.”
  • Taken to excess, such substances and activities can expose a professional to significant risks, including Driving Under the Influence (DUI), possession of illegal substances, and unethical behaviors, including sex with subordinates, colleagues or constituents.

To assist professionals struggling with addictions, HonnolDCounselingprovides:

• Awareness of an addiction and the need for treatment;
• Insight regarding addictive behaviors that may co-exist;
• Perspectives on the impact of family history on addictions;
• Exploration of the emotional dynamics in addictions;
• Benchmarks for curtailment of addictive behaviors;
• Support for adoption of healthy behaviors in place of addictive ones;
• Encouragement for development of new social supports; and
• Referrals to outside rehabilitation and other resources, where needed.

HonnolDCounseling can help you determine if you have an addiction problem, understand its causes, and take steps to address it.  HonnolDCounseling provides a professional setting where addiction problems are addressed competently and sensitively, in complete confidence.