Addictions therapy

Addictions often reflect attempts to mitigate emotional pain, overwhelm, or unmet needs, though over time, these patterns can become destructive and painful. At Inara Center, we approach clients with addiction with understanding, curiosity and non-judgment, expanding insight into the emotional and relational drivers of their addiction and supporting them on their path towards recovery.

When Habits Take Hold

What To Expect

Addiction can take many forms—substance use, alcohol, work, relationships, technology, or other repetitive patterns that become difficult to change. Rather than being understood only as pathology, addiction often reflects attempts to cope with emotional pain, offering relief, distraction, or comfort in moments of loneliness, overwhelm, or distress.

It may also represent an effort to escape grief, anger, emptiness, or experiences that feel too overwhelming to face, and can mirror early relational or developmental patterns of avoidance and survival.

At Inara Center, we approach addiction with compassion and curiosity, working to understand the emotional and relational factors that sustain it. Integrating harm reduction and evidence-based approaches, we support clients in loosening reliance on these patterns and cultivating more connected, sustainable ways of living.

Common Effects of Addiction

Signs Addictions May Be Affecting You

  • Using the addiction to avoid painful feelings, memories, or stress
  • Loss of control or difficulty stopping once started
  • Increased shame, secrecy, or isolation
  • Needing more of the behavior or substance to achieve the same relief
  • Anxiety, irritability, or restlessness when unable to engage in the addiction
  • Neglecting responsibilities, relationships, or self-care
  • Feeling trapped in cycles of guilt, regret, and repetition

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YOU DON’T HAVE TO FACE ADDICTION ALONE.

Addiction can carry shame, isolation and a sense of feeling stuck. Therapy offers a supportive space to understand the patterns beneath addictive behaviors and move toward healthier ways of coping.

The Inara Team

Meet Our Clinicians

Audrey Moreno

Associate Marriage and Family Therapist, AMFT 141738

Mia Murray

Associate Clinical Social Worker, ACSW #130751

Megan Baker

Associate Marriage and Family Therapist, AMFT #160332

MONA SABA VALERIANO

Licensed Clinical Social Worker #27612

MONA SABA VALERIANO

Licensed Clinical Social Worker #27612

Megan Baker

Associate Marriage and Family Therapist, AMFT #160332

Mia Murray

Associate Clinical Social Worker, ACSW #130751

Audrey Moreno

Associate Marriage and Family Therapist, AMFT 141738

Benefits of Addiction Therapy

The Benefits of Addiction-Focused Therapy

  • Freedom from compulsive patterns and a healthier relationship to substances or behaviors
  • Improved self-worth, self-trust, and ability to care for yourself in healthier ways
  • Greater understanding of the emotional pain, loneliness, stress, or wounds the addiction was helping to avoid or numb
  • Greater emotional balance and resilience during stress or overwhelm
  • More energy for relationships and creativity in your life
  • Reconnection to purpose and meaning in your life, which may have felt lost prior

Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

01

Therapy may help if substance or alcohol use, compulsive behaviors, cravings, secrecy, shame, or loss of control are affecting your health, relationships, work, finances, or emotional well-being.

02

Therapy can support people struggling with alcohol, drugs, prescription misuse, gambling, sex and pornography, technology, compulsive behaviors, or patterns of dependency that feel difficult to stop.

03

No. A therapist can meet you where you are in your relationship to your addiction and help you explore your goals, whether that includes sobriety, harm reduction, or understanding your relationship with substances or behaviors.

04

Absolutely. Addictions often have emotional, relational, biological, familial, and trauma-related layers. Therapy can help identify what the behavior is helping you cope with and support healthier ways of meeting those needs.

05

Relapse is a common hurdle of addiction and does not suggest failure. Therapy can help you understand triggers, emotions, environments, and patterns that contributed to past relapses and build a more realistic plan for recovery and maintenance.

06

Yes. Shame can often keep people isolated and stuck in a cyclical and self-defeating pattern, furthering secrecy and self-blame. Therapy provides a nonjudgmental space to talk honestly, rebuild self-trust, and move toward change with more compassion.

07

Not always. Depending on your needs, therapy may include individual work, family support, couples therapy, or referrals to additional recovery resources, such as 12-step, IOP, or rehabilitation programs.

08

Yes. Family members often need support with boundaries, grief, codependency, anger, fear, and uncertainty. Therapy can help you care for yourself while navigating a loved one’s addiction.

09

Recovery is different for each person. Some people work on a focused goal short-term, while others benefit from ongoing support as they build stability, repair relationships, and maintain change.

10

You can schedule a consultation to talk about what you are experiencing and what kind of support you need. From there, Inara Center can help determine the best next step.