Transfer of Addictive Behaviors

was just reading on addiction counselling and what a counseller should do and now this is a little blurp from it talking about transfering addictive behavior like the forum for some.

Transfer of Addictive Behaviors

Addicts recovering from chemical addiction often believe erroneously that recovery lies in transferring their addictive behaviors and may not recognize this pattern as such. Addicts may become compulsively involved in other activities, such as work or exercise. The counselor should warn the patient against transferring addictive behaviors, because compulsive behavior does not allow one to exercise free choice. It may not be drug use, but it is compulsive behavior nevertheless and therefore not within the individual's control. The replacement of one's drug addiction with another compulsive behavioral pattern will not lead to true sobriety in the long run.

The counselor and patient can examine the patient's activities in recovery and find out whether the patient is prone to becoming compulsive in his or her behaviors. So-called "workaholism" is a common compulsive activity in recovery and can involve the patient working more than full-time, spending a lot of spare time thinking about work, or spending every waking moment in job hunting. Such behavior should be pointed out to the patient as being compulsive and not beneficial to recovery.

To combat compulsive behaviors, patients should be encouraged to make their recovery a first priority, to structure their days, and to make sure that recovery-oriented activities have a prominent place in their agendas on most days. The patient should be helped to identify and meet personal needs. The importance of relaxation and participating in leisure activities should be highlighted. The addicted person will greatly enhance his or her chance to stay in a healthy recovery process if he or she eats healthfully, exercises, sleeps well, avoids overscheduling and overworking, and is able to relax.

There is one important exception to discouraging compulsive behaviors in recovery: if the patient participates in AA, NA, or CA in a manner that appears compulsive. If the patient identifies 12-step participation as the major activity supporting recovery and feels that he or she needs to attend several meetings a day, then this activity should be supported by the counselor. If a patient's 12-step participation is indeed compulsive, and he or she develops a dependency on groups rather than internalizing the important 12-step ideas, then this is a therapeutic issue for some much later point in recovery. However, at this still-early point in recovery, the counselor's best approach is to continue to support the participation with the hope that through exposure the patient will internalize what he or she needs from AA, NA, or CA.