While some people can use prescription or recreational drugs with no negative effects, many others become addicted and face dramatic health and lifestyle problems as a result. Substance addictions negatively affect relationships, home, school or work, leaving the person feeling ashamed, helpless and isolated.

Physical symptoms of substance abuse and addiction are varied depending on the drug of choice, but the symptoms of the addiction itself are similar. People who are addicted to substances may neglect their responsibilities, take potentially dangerous risks and get into trouble with the law. As their drug use spirals out of control, they will lose interest in activities that used to be enjoyable and continue to take drugs despite knowing the harm it causes.

Substance addicts tend to build up a tolerance to their drug of choice, and get angry when they can't get more of it. Withdrawal symptoms are highly probable when an addict goes without it for too long. Depression, nausea, insomnia, sweating, restlessness, anxiety and shaking are all common withdrawal symptoms.

Psychotherapy can help you to overcome substance addiction by focusing on correcting maladaptive behaviors. Substance abuse is usually a coping mechanism against emotionally overwhelming past events or memories. Substances are often used to provide instant gratification instead of facing certain issues.

Therapists are equipped to help clients deal with addiction recovery through empowerment and helping them set simple short term targets. The first target is sobriety, followed by empowering the client with adaptive skills and finding new coping strategies that deal with the issues that caused the addiction. Substance addiction can be ended, allowing the person to live a healthy, productive life.

If you need a counsellor or psychologist to help you address the effects of substance addiction, you can search the directory below to find a professional with the approach best suited to your situation.

Perfectionism is considered as a personality trait among many mental health practitioners.  Perfectionists tend to view projects or tasks that are not perfect done, as unworthy. Unless they know that they can do something perfectly, they are unlikely to take it on. They tend not to care much about the learning process while completing a task, but rather about the end project, which, for them, is the most important aspect of any project they undertake.

Procrastination is a great obstacle with people who are perfectionists. They usually don't want to start a task until they are sure that they can do it perfectly. It's common for them to spend an enormous amount of time on a project, making sure that it is done to perfection. Yet, perfectionism prevents these people from appreciating a job well done. Instead, they don't believe that anything they do is good enough and they constantly compare their results with that of other people. They become fixated on achieving perfection.

There is a correlation between perfectionism and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and some perfectionists also have OCD.  However, not all people with OCD are perfectionists. While most people with an ambition to succeed and therefore strive to excel in their pursuits, they are not necessarily perfectionists.

Therapy can be very helpful in treating perfectionism. Therapy will help the individual to reframe their thinking to change the end goal of his or her undertakings. A therapist may often help perfectionists recognize that some of the most successful people are not perfectionists at all.

If you are looking for a counsellor or psychologist who offers therapies to address your perfectionism or OCD issues, you may want to search the directory to find a professional whose approach will suit you best.

Trauma counselling can assist with a wide range of internal emotional reactions to devastating situations. Some people experience things as more traumatic than others, and therefore they will need help in coping the emotional burdens of an event or situation.

Stressful events such as death of a loved one, rape, abuse, accidents, divorce, violence or bullying can leave people unable to cope or process the emotional burdens. However, it is not only events linked to the individual personally, but also being a witness to events that might leave a person with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This includes being a victim to violence or natural disasters - there is no limit to the causes of trauma.

In the case of PTSD, people can develop many different psychological reactions, as determined by their own coping skills, emotional stability and background. Symptoms of PTSD include a anger, depression, flashbacks, insomnia, nightmares, social withdrawal, loss of self esteem and confidence, and substance abuse.

It takes a strong person to have the courage to stand up and request trauma counselling. This is no time to compare yourself to other people in similar situations, but rather to recognize that everyone has a different reaction to trauma. Therefore, it is important to address the symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder as soon as possible to help you deal with emotions in a healthy way and to overcome the difficulties you are facing. Trauma counselling can help avert potentially more severe psychological disorders, that can occur if PTSD is left untreated.

If you are looking for a counsellor or psychologist who provides  trauma counselling to address your posttraumatic stress management issues you may want to search the directory to find a professional whose approach will suit you best.