What we treat
Most men here are carrying something older than the addiction.
You do not have to talk about it to get help with it. But if the drinking or the using has been doing a job for you, it is worth knowing what that job was.
How trauma and substance use fit together
Substances are very effective at turning down a nervous system that will not settle. That is not a weakness; it is why the pattern is so common.
It is often the reason, not the result
For a lot of men the drinking arrived after something else did, and it worked well enough that it stayed.
It does not have to be one big event
Trauma is not only combat or catastrophe. Long stretches of fear, humiliation or unpredictability do the same thing to a nervous system.
Treating one without the other rarely holds
Take the substance away and whatever it was managing comes back up. That is usually what relapse actually is.
Not ready to talk about any of this?
You do not have to be. Call and we will start wherever you want to start.
How it is treated here
EMDR
A structured therapy for trauma that does not require you to narrate the whole thing out loud. It is one of the services offered here.
CBT and individual therapy
One-to-one work at your pace, with a clinician rather than a group, on what is driving the pattern.
Group work, when you are ready
Some of the most useful moments happen when a man hears his own story in someone else’s words. Nobody is made to speak.
What we will not do
Make you relive it
Forcing a detailed retelling is not treatment and can do harm. The pace is set clinically, and by you.
Treat it separately from the substance use
Both are in the same plan, overseen by psychologists, psychiatrists and counsellors. Dual diagnosis →
Pretend thirty days finishes it
This is longer work than a residential stay. The aftercare plan carries it forward. Aftercare →
Talk to someone who has heard this before.
Free and confidential. No detail is required from you on a first call.
Questions people ask us
Do I have to tell the group what happened?
No. Nobody is required to disclose anything in group, and plenty of men never do.
What if I do not think what happened to me counts?
That is one of the most common things men say here, and it is almost never true. What counts is what it did to you, not how it compares.
Is EMDR available here?
Yes. EMDR is one of the therapies offered as part of treatment.
I am a veteran or a first responder. Is that different?
The exposure is different and so is the culture around admitting it. We can point you toward programs built specifically for that alongside treatment here.
What if talking about it makes things worse for a while?
That can happen, which is exactly why doing this with clinical support beats doing it alone at home.
Something we did not answer? Call 1-866-745-6459 and ask.
You are allowed to get help with the part underneath.
One call. Confidential, and you set the pace.
Call 1-866-745-6459Dual diagnosis