Below are some of the most common cravings that an addict faces long after the initial detox and addiction.

The Ten Most Common Dangers of Craving

1. Being in the presence of drugs/alcohol or places you used to use in.
2. Negative feelings, particularly anger, sadness, loneliness, guilt, fear and anxiety.
3. Positive feelings that make you want to celebrate.
4. Boredom.
5. Getting high on any chemical.
6. Physical pain.
7. Listening to euphoric or war stories or just dwelling on getting high.
8. Suddenly having a lot of cash.
9. Believing that you’re cured.
10. Peer pressure or group pressure.

Our team is based in the Hertfordshire area and we work with a select group of therapists throughout the UK and make referrals to those we think most able to respond to your particular needs.

Our team of therapists offer a one-off assessment service for anyone who thinks they might benefit from some sort of therapeutic input such as one-to-one counselling or residential treatment.

An assessment lasts around 45 minutes and will give you a clear idea of what sort of treatment plan might be of benefit to you.

Rehab Clinic Counselling Services

Counselling is an opportunity to explore difficult issues and change destructive behaviors within a supported and safe environment.

We know that making the decision to change can be difficult but our team is here to offer help and support to you or your loved ones when you feel ready. If you would like to talk to somebody about the possibility of having some counselling, please call one of our team.

We cover areas of:

• Psychiatric assessments, dual diagnose
• We treat poly substance misuse
• Alcohol and Drugs
• Gambling and Internet
• Stress anxiety
• Family breakdowns
• Sex and love addictions
• Eating disorders
• Shopping addictions
• Relationship breakdowns
• Prescription drug addiction
• Counsel for relations of addicts
• Private one to one counselling

All Types of Counselling Offered

We offer individual, couple and family counselling on an individualized, one to one basis. The sessions are conducted by highly trained and credentialed clinical staffs, which have multiple years of experience in substance abuse treatment as well as marriage and family therapy.

Private and individualized care on a one to one basis. This level of care is very useful for people who have completed a Residential or Day Treatment Program but still wish to have the ongoing support and accountability of one to one counselling.

One to One Counselling

One to One Counselling is also appropriate for people who may not be willing, interested and/or appropriate for the more intensive levels of care, so we provide one on one private, confidential and individualized counselling session, which is designed to address their specific needs.

Clients are not required to identify themselves as addicts or alcoholics nor do they need to meet any other admission requirements.

Services are offered in counselling packages of 6 or 12 sessions, which can be extended if, deemed clinically necessary. Anyone interested in receiving one on one counselling is encouraged to contact ourselves and will be assessed and assigned to the most appropriate counsellor.

Clients are able to take advantage of this service as long as is clinically appropriate.

Day Session Addiction Counselling

You might be ready to embark on a regular weekly counselling journey. We offer day counselling packages of 3 or 6 days, a typical day is three hours and we have morning, afternoon and evening sessions, these are group and non group. Confidential counselling sessions to anyone who is concerned about their drinking or drug use.

Anyone interested in receiving counselling is encouraged to contact ourselves and will be assessed and assigned to the most appropriate counsellor.

Clients are able to take advantage of this service as long as is clinically appropriate.

Group therapy, Single sex and Mixed groups

Group therapy sessions can be extremely helpful to many struggling with addiction, and group sessions or groups which are educational in nature, which are moderated by professionals. Group sessions, whether for support or as a clinical therapy have several benefits.

Learning that there are others who share your problems, or problems like yours. While their addictions may not be the same as yours, you’ll find that there are a lot of similarities to how you and the other members of the group experience addiction – meaning that you can learn valuable coping strategies from each other.

You will probably have the opportunity to see someone with the same problems as you who have come farther along through the recovery process that you’ll realise that there is hope for you; which will give you additional incentive to stay in recovery.

Being able to get some things off of your chest can be a big help towards getting you closer to recovery. We are by nature social animals and having a group to share your troubles with can make your burdens easier to bear. Group sessions are a great way to build your social skills.

Addiction therapy groups which are guided or moderated by a therapist or other professional offer even greater benefits to those battling drug and alcohol addiction.

These groups tend to be smaller. The information divulged in this context is far more likely to remain confidential. The therapist or other health professional moderating the group session will likely be very helpful in examining the dynamics of the group and helping the individuals in it to understand their own behaviours. Like any group sessions, the benefits are most readily apparent after having participated for some length of time.

Eating Disorders

Many people with an eating disorder use the eating disorder as a way of controlling their lives. We can help find the right treatment and support at specialised eating disorder clinics.

What most people don’t realise is that it isn’t them in control of their lives; their eating disorder takes control of their lives. An eating disorder develops for many reasons and as well as treatment for the eating disorder, you will need specialist help to deal with your feelings inside which play a big part in your eating disorder.

In 2006 the male death rate (18.3 deaths per 100,000 population) was more than twice the rate for females (8.8 deaths per 100,000) and males accounted for two thirds of the total number of deaths.

For men, the death rates in all age groups increased between 1991 and 2006. The biggest increase was for men aged 35-54. Rates in this age group more than doubled, from 13.4 to 31.1 deaths per 100,000 over the period. However the highest rates in each year were for men aged 55-74.

Death rates by age group for females were consistently lower than rates for males, however trends showed a broadly similar pattern by age. The death rate for women aged 35 -54 doubled between 1991 and 2006, from 7.2 to 14.8 per 100,000 population, a larger increase than the rate for women in any other age group. As for men, the highest rates in each year were for the 55-74 age group.

Between 2005 and 2006, for both sexes, rates remained the same for those aged 15-34 and increased for those aged 35-54 and 55-74. There were small falls in the rates for those aged over 75, down 8 per cent for men and 6 per cent for women.

Current medical evidence shows that men should not regularly drink more than three to four units a day and women not more than two to three. “Regularly” means drinking every day or most days of the week. Consistently drinking more than these amounts can risk damaging your health, with the danger increasing the longer you continue and the more you drink.

Did you know?

There are around 10 million people drinking above the Government’s recommended limits.
Between 15,000 and 20,000 premature deaths in England and Wales each year are associated with alcohol misuse.

Alcohol Abuse – The Facts!

An alcohol fact sheet published by the Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) reports that in developed countries, alcohol is the third leading cause of disease and injury, alcohol causing nearly 10 percent of all ill health and premature deaths in Europe. This is ahead of obesity, diabetes and asthma and second only to smoking and blood pressure conditions.

In addition to the large-scale problems of intoxication, addiction and a multitude of alcohol related social problems, alcohol on a worldwide level causes an estimated 20 – 30 percent of cancer of the oesophagus, liver cancer, cirrhosis of the liver, epilepsy, homicide / murder and motor vehicle accidents.

“For advice about addiction, call the Rehab Clinic on 0800 118 2892″

In the 2002 World Health Report, the World Health Organisation estimated that globally 1.8 million people’s deaths every year are directly attributable to alcohol consumption. Moreover, it has been proven that a country’s drinking levels directly parallel the level of harm caused, ie the more a country drinks, the more alcohol-related harm occurs.

The UK is one of the top ten in the world for alcohol consumption per head of population and alcohol abuse is clearly escalating. The Office for National Statistics reported in November 2006 that the alcohol related death rate in the UK doubled from 4,144 deaths in 1991 to 8,386 deaths in 2005.

The death rate may be broken down by gender, with studies indicating that alcohol related death rates are much higher in males. The gap between female and male death rates is increasing and in 2005 the rate was more than twice that of females with males accounting for more than two thirds of the total alcohol related deaths.

Alcohol abuse as a cause of death in the UK has been estimated at 8000 – 40,000 according to the IAS. The lower figure constitutes deaths caused by alcohol defined causes such as chronic liver disease. The upper figure is an estimate of all other deaths in which alcohol has contributed but is not alcohol defined, such as falls, suicide and motor vehicle accidents.

Alcohol misuse within the UK is highest in Scotland. Whilst the population in England drink more frequently, the Scottish population are more likely to exceed recommended daily limits of alcohol with males consuming more than double female alcohol intake. A quarter of women and two in five men in Scotland exceed their daily limit. There were 41,651 alcohol related discharges from hospitals in Scotland alone in 2006/7 which is an increase from the previous year’s statistic of 39,061. According to the Chief Executive of the national charity Alcohol Focus Scotland, ‘the number of people in Scotland hospitalised through drink has soared by 270% in only 15 years.’

Alcohol Related Deaths on the Increase

A recent report from the Office for National Statistics has shown that alcohol related diseases in the UK are killing nearly twice as many women as at the start of the 1990s.

Approximately 30 years ago, alcohol related death rates for men and women in the UK were around two per 100,000, which was the lowest in western Europe. Now, the rate for men is 18 per 100,000, although this is still less than the European average.

For women, particularly In the 35 – 54 year old age group, around 14 women per 100,000 die from conditions such as cirrhosis of the liver and liver failure – and this is well above the European average.
How long does alcohol stay in your system?

Alcohol is broken down by the liver at the rate of approximately one unit per hour (a pint of normal strength beer being two units). Consequently, it is possible to still be under the influence the following morning if you have drunk excessively the night before. In fact, every year in Britain over 25,000 people lose their driving licences the morning after a night\’s drinking.

To exercise caution, the following alcohol calculation can be used to estimate your level of risk after having drunk the night before.

1 Unit of alcohol = ½ Pint ordinary strength beer or…
1 standard glass of table wine or…
1 standard glass of sherry or…
1 single measure of spirits.

It is advised that you allow a minimum of 1 hour per 1 unit of alcohol consumed before driving or operating heavy machinery or electrical equipment in order to ensure that you are not under the influence of alcohol.

In the longer term, regular alcohol consumption increases your risks of: liver damage, cancer (of the liver, mouth, throat, and breast), mental health problems, weight gain, heart disease, stroke, shrunken genitals and reduced fertility. Alcohol reduces your body\’s ability to absorb nutrition, and the weight gain can also contribute to other conditions such as diabetes.

Drugs

Other notable recent statistics include the number of younger teenagers using drink or drugs. Last year one in seven people admitted to Accident and Emergency departments across the UK for alcohol related health issues were under 14 years old – a total of over 2239 cases.

Drug and alcohol abuse in teens is becoming more of a problem each year as our culture changes. A key statistic is that the average starting age of Heroin use in many towns and cities in the UK is just 15 years of age – so we have an obvious duty to prevent young people from getting inadvertently caught up in addiction through misguided experimentation.

Physical recovery can sometimes take as little as ten days, but the Central Nervous System takes longer. This results in extremes of moods like really happy and spiritual one minute and so sad and negative soon after.

2) Cravings are stimulated automatically if recovering person experiences situations that were associated with patterns of former drug/alcohol use. They can include emotions, people, places and things.

3) Gradually being exposed to cravings situations and not using with strong support is a way to weaken cravings (if you do not act, it will pass)

4) Complete Abstinence – which means not getting high on anything, is the surest and quickest way of reducing cravings.

5) Certain old patterns that have not been dealt with, such as loss, childhood issues and destructive relationships can evoke old habits in an otherwise solid recovery.

A house full of people with holes in themselves’ such as rejection, abuse and old patterns of behavior will lead to craving.

6) Determination and will power is a poor defense. Changing your lifestyle is a good one.

7) Even though cravings are a natural after-effect of addiction, remember you have the power of choice. You can take steps to conquer it or remain its slave.