Everyone has an addiction to something, whether it’s chocolate, eating in general, fizzy drinks, exercise, work, drugs, alcohol, gambling, cleaning etc.

Addiction lets off a chemical in our brains called dopamine and this chemical makes us feel good. Managing addiction is about having the awareness of how your behaviour has a pattern.

Difficulty in controlling repetitive behaviours can result in addiction and the compulsion to do things excessively. Addiction can also be an escape from certain situations and emotions, a social and regular activity can soon lead to a destructive compulsion affecting people around you. It is quite common that people with addictions are not aware of it and do not see the impact it is having on their lives. Almost like they have got their blinkers on so can not see this clearly.

If the addiction is triggered by a past event which could include trauma or mental health issues, then the addiction will be a struggle to break on its own. Addiction is also sometimes a learnt behaviour from people around us at an early age, built in to how we handle things in our lives, if our parents struggled with a drinking addiction when we were younger then we may follow in their footsteps as that is a familiar behaviour to us.

Counselling will help you recognise the problem and then plan the steps to recovery. I would explore this with you so we can identify the underlying reasons why you have gained this behaviour and then work together to positively rewire your thoughts and beliefs. I would work with you to 'retrain your brain' - this type of counselling is goal focused and often involves the use of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT).