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Addiction doesn’t begin with a substance or a behavior — it begins with pain.
At the core of all addiction is the fear of fully facing reality: emotional wounds, trauma, stress, grief, loneliness, or unresolved psychological struggles. Substances and compulsive behaviors often become coping mechanisms for avoiding these painful internal experiences.
At My LA Therapy, we provide compassionate, evidence-based Addiction and Recovery Therapy in Los Angeles designed to help individuals heal not only from addictive behaviors but from the deeper emotional patterns driving them.
Whether your addiction involves alcohol, drugs, food, sex, pornography, gambling, or emotional dependency, recovery is always possible — and you do not have to do it alone.
Addiction is not a moral failure or a lack of discipline. It is a complex condition involving:
• Brain chemistry
• Emotional regulation
• Trauma responses
• Environmental conditioning
• Genetic predisposition
When access to a substance or compulsive behavior is removed, individuals often experience withdrawal symptoms — anxiety, agitation, depression, cravings, and physical discomfort. This “crawl-out-of-your-skin” sensation can feel unbearable and reinforces the addictive cycle.
Over time, addiction can negatively impact:
• Physical health
• Mental health
• Work performance
• Self-esteem
• Romantic relationships
• Family dynamics
• Financial stability
Without professional intervention, addiction frequently deepens rather than resolves.
Addiction is influenced by both nature and nurture.
If a parent or close family member struggled with addiction, you may have:
• A genetic vulnerability to addictive behaviors
• Learned coping strategies centered around avoidance
• Emotional conditioning that normalized substance use
This creates a powerful combination — sometimes called a “double risk factor” — making it harder to regulate emotions without external relief.
Understanding these roots is a critical part of long-term recovery.
We’re so confident in our extraordinary therapists that we guarantee you’ll love your match – or your money back.
At My LA Therapy, our highly-vetted Anxiety experts are selected not only for their clinical acumen but for who they are.
Addiction does not always look extreme. Many individuals function professionally and socially while still relying on unhealthy coping mechanisms.
You may be struggling with addiction if you notice:
• Repeating a behavior despite negative consequences
• Losing interest in activities you once enjoyed
• Increased irritability, anger, or mood swings
• Continued use despite medical concerns
• Needing more of the substance to feel the same effect
• Cravings or obsessive thoughts
• Relationship conflict
• Risky or unsafe use
• Disrupted sleep, eating, or weight
• Feeling sick, shaky, or anxious when trying to stop
If you recognize yourself in these symptoms, therapy can help.
Our licensed addiction therapists in Los Angeles specialize in helping clients address both:
✔ The addictive behavior
✔ The emotional root causes
Through therapy, clients learn to:
• Identify emotional triggers
• Regulate distress without substances
• Heal trauma
• Develop healthier coping strategies
• Build self-trust
• Repair relationships
• Strengthen long-term relapse prevention
We integrate scientifically supported approaches such as:
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
• Trauma-informed therapy
• Psychodynamic therapy
• Relational therapy
• Mindfulness-based relapse prevention
• Attachment-based treatment
• Motivational interviewing
Our treatment plans are fully individualized — because recovery is not one-size-fits-all.
We provide therapy for:
• Alcohol addiction
• Drug addiction
• Prescription medication dependency
• Food addiction
• Sex addiction
• Pornography addiction
• Love addiction
• Gambling addiction
• Process addictions
• Behavioral compulsions
Regardless of the substance or behavior, the emotional recovery process is deeply similar: reconnecting with yourself without escape.
One of the most recognized recovery pathways is the 12-step program, including:
• Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)
• Narcotics Anonymous (NA)
• Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous (SLAA)
• Debtors Anonymous (DA)
These programs provide:
• Peer support
• Accountability
• Structure
• Spiritual reflection
• Community
Relapse is not failure — it is part of the recovery process.
We support clients who participate in 12-step programs and can help you find meetings throughout Los Angeles.
While 12-step programs offer community, therapy provides:
• Psychological insight
• Emotional processing
• Trauma resolution
• Pattern awareness
• Relational repair
• Long-term stability
Addiction rarely exists alone — it often coexists with:
• Anxiety
• Depression
• PTSD
• Attachment trauma
• Relationship issues
• Low self-worth
Our addiction recovery therapy addresses the whole person, not just the addiction.
At My LA Therapy, our highly-vetted addiction therapists are selected not only for their clinical expertise but for who they are as people — warm, grounded, and deeply committed to healing.
We help clients:
• Face the pain they have been avoiding
• Release compulsive behaviors
• Restore emotional balance
• Build resilience
• Create meaningful connection
• Reclaim control over their lives
Recovery is not about punishment. It is about freedom.
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I am blown away! I don’t write testimonials, unless I have been extremely moved by something. I was blessed to work with Brooke on a single session, and before this I was in therapy on and off with multiple therapists for the last 20 years of my life. Brooke was able to do more in one session than many years of work with my previous therapist. She has the true gift of great insight and compassion while also getting straight to the heart of your blind spots and unconscious issues in a way that has truly changed my life.
Skyler J.
There are people who are good at their work there are people like Brooke: who are born to do it. I cannot recommend Brooke more highly. I can only imagine where I would be today if I had started working with her years ago. From the beginning of our session, she knew exactly what tools and questions that would work for my particular psychology and my personal experience. No other therapist has been able to do that or anything close.
What I also really appreciate from our session is Brooke's ability to go directly to the source of the issue while also keeping a very gentle and kind energy with me. I felt very seen, understood, and supported. Everything and more that I could have ever asked for from a therapist. I have a severe trauma history and complex issues she was able to immediately identify and help. If she could help me, I know she can help you too.
Taylor E.
You did more in 45 minutes than my last therapist did in a year.
Jamie
With your help, I've finally started to understand that while my vivid imagination often wants to create terrifying monsters under the bed, in a lot of cases those monsters are nothing more than a heap of decidedly less-terrifying laundry I've avoided for too long that just needs to be aired out and put away. Which is definitely a lot easier than monster slaying. Thank you for shedding light in the dark places I was too afraid to face alone.
Morgan B.
I am extremely fortunate to work with Sydney, who is helping me create real internal change. The talent to listen well is Hall of Fame stuff, and she has that. She then follows with questions, strategies that are organic to the moment. I have come to believe that deep, radical, if occasionally deeply painful change ... and, then, healing can happen. I'm just at the lip of that last part - but would not have gotten there, AT ALL, without Sydney
Ric K.
The best therapist ever! Life-changing 🙂
Catherine H.
Right now, the work is changing my life, sometimes in inches, sometimes in miles.
Ric K.
