Addiction & Substance Use Therapy

Maybe you're not sure if what you're doing counts as "a problem." Maybe you already know it is, and you're exhausted from managing it alone. Maybe you're in recovery and doing the work, but the anxiety, trauma, or relationship damage underneath the substance use hasn't been touched yet. Maybe someone you love is using, and you don't know how to help without losing yourself in the process.

There's no single starting point that's the "right" one. Wherever you're at, this is a place to talk about it honestly, without needing to justify how bad things have gotten first.

Virtual therapy for addiction and substance use is available across Ontario, with Jennifer.

• Questioning whether your substance use has become a problem
• Wanting to cut back or stop, and struggling to actually do it
• Early recovery and staying steady through it
• Relapse, and the shame that often follows it
• Longer-term recovery, once the crisis has passed but the underlying issues remain
• Trauma, anxiety, or depression that existed before — or developed alongside — substance use
• Relationships strained or damaged by substance use, on either side
• Family members and partners affected by someone else's substance use
• Rebuilding trust, routines, identity, or a sense of self after active use
• Court-mandated or workplace-prompted therapy, approached without judgment

You don't need to have hit a particular "bottom" to be here. Plenty of people start this work well before things fall apart completely — and plenty start after.

This is one of the most common things people say before starting.

Maybe you're comparing yourself to a worse version of the problem — someone who lost their job, their relationship, their health — and telling yourself it's not that bad because you haven't hit that point. Maybe you function well most of the time, which makes it easy to explain away. Maybe other people in your life use just as much, so it feels normal.

You don't need a specific severity threshold to talk about this. If your use is taking up mental space, costing you something, or something you've tried and failed to change on your own, that's reason enough to explore it.

Substance use is often connected to something else — anxiety that gets quieter for a while, trauma that gets easier to not feel, depression that gets briefly interrupted, or chronic stress that finally lets up.

That connection matters clinically. Treating the substance use without addressing what it's been managing often doesn't hold. Jennifer's approach looks at both — the substance use itself, and the anxiety, depression, trauma, or relationship patterns that may be underneath it — rather than treating them as unrelated problems.

If you're returning to therapy after a relapse, or worried a slip means you've failed, that reaction is common — and it's often more damaging than the relapse itself, because shame tends to drive people away from support at exactly the point they need it most.

Relapse can be part of a recovery process, not evidence that the process doesn't work. Therapy can help you understand what happened, without treating it as proof you should give up.

If you're the partner, parent, or family member of someone struggling with substance use, you carry a different kind of weight — watching someone you love make choices you can't control, managing your own fear and anger, and often losing track of your own needs while trying to manage theirs.

This work can include family members and partners directly, addressing boundaries, communication, and how to support someone without absorbing responsibility for their recovery.

Jennifer adapts therapy according to your goals, circumstances, readiness for change, and the factors contributing to your substance use. Her work may integrate:

Meeting you at whatever stage of readiness you're actually at, rather than assuming you should already be committed to a specific goal.

Addressing the experiences that often sit underneath substance use, particularly when trauma and substance use have been intertwined for a long time.

Identifying triggers, patterns, and thought cycles connected to use, and building concrete strategies for high-risk moments.

Distress tolerance and emotional regulation tools for managing intense urges or emotional states without defaulting to substance use.

Identify triggers, warning signs, high-risk situations, coping strategies, and supports.

Repairing relationships affected by substance use, and understanding relational patterns that may contribute to it.

Therapy remains collaborative, respectful, and grounded in your goals rather than someone else's definition of what your life should look like.

The goal isn't necessarily a single fixed outcome decided in advance. Whether that means abstinence, harm reduction, or something else is part of what gets worked out together, based on your goals and circumstances.

Whether you're questioning your own use, working through recovery, or affected by someone else's, this isn't something you have to sort out by yourself before reaching out.

This page is for general informational purposes and does not replace individualized clinical assessment. If you or someone else is experiencing a substance-related medical emergency or possible overdose, call 911 immediately. Naloxone kits are available free at most Ontario pharmacies and can reverse an opioid overdose — if you or someone you know uses opioids, consider carrying one.

For confidential addiction support and referrals in Ontario, contact ConnexOntario at 1-866-531-2600, available 24/7. If you are in crisis or experiencing thoughts of suicide, please contact 9-8-8 (Suicide Crisis Helpline, Canada) or go to your nearest emergency room.