21 Sep Help with Addiction Relapse: Finding Self-Compassion on the Healing Journey
Help with Addiction Relapse: Finding Self-Compassion on the Healing Journey
The Weight of Denial
Relapse can feel like a secret you’re carrying alone. Denial often slips in as a coping mechanism convincing yourself it didn’t happen, or that it wasn’t “that bad.” But pushing away the truth often intensifies the shame that follows. You may find yourself avoiding mirrors, conversations, or situations that might expose the truth.
The Shame Spiral
Shame after relapse can feel suffocating:
- A deep sense of having “failed” again.
- Feeling like an imposter in recovery.
- Believing that others will judge or abandon you if they knew. Especially when you know you have inspired other struggling.
This shame creates a cycle using substances or unhealthy patterns to numb the pain, only to feel more shame afterwards.
Pulled in Two Directions
Relapse often feels like being torn apart:
- One part of you craves relief, escape, or familiarity.
- The other part longs for alignment, peace, and healing.
This internal tug-of-war is exhausting. And while you are fighting between the 2 the subconscious will always revert to unhealthy coping strategies.
The misalignment between your values and your actions can lead to:
- Discontent and disharmony.
- Frustration with yourself.
- Anger that you can’t “just stop.”
- Feelings of being an imposter
If you’re looking for help with addiction relapse, remember that addiction isn’t about willpower, it’s about pain. And pain needs compassion, not punishment. Punishing yourself and shame haven’t helped you in the past, so maybe it’s time to try a different approach?
Why Self-Compassion is the Key
True recovery begins with self-acceptance and kindness. Hypnotherapy, EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), and inner child healing can help you:
- Reconnect with the younger part of you who first sought comfort or escape and offer comfort, compassion and nurture
- Release stored emotions of shame, fear, and self-criticism.
- Reframe your relationship with yourself, building self-love and compassion instead of self-punishment.
When you treat yourself with the same care you’d offer a loved one, relapse becomes an opportunity for deeper understanding rather than another layer of shame.
How Hypnotherapy Supports Healing
Hypnotherapy works by guiding your subconscious toward new patterns of thought and behaviour. In sessions we focus on:
- Softening the harsh inner critic.
- Building a mindset of resilience and forgiveness.
- Creating new associations with safety, calm, and self-worth without turning to addictive behaviours.
When combined with EFT tapping and inner child healing, these approaches support the emotional regulation needed to:
- Calm the nervous system.
- Release trapped feelings of unworthiness.
- Build healthier coping strategies.
Moving Forward After Relapse
Relapse does not erase progress. It can be a signal to slow down, reflect, and ask: What pain am I trying to soothe?
Every stumble is part of the journey, not the end of it.
Remember:
- You are not a failure.
- You are not broken.
- Healing is not linear.
With compassion, patience, and the right tools, relapse can become a doorway into deeper healing not a dead end.
✨ If you’re navigating relapse or the shame that comes with it, I offer hypnotherapy, EFT, and inner child healing sessions to support you in rebuilding self-love and emotional balance. You don’t have to face this alone.
If you’d like personalised support, I offer online and in person 1:1 sessions in hypnotherapy, EFT, and emotional regulation to help addicts build strong foundations of self-love, which effectively and organically helps let go of addictive behaviours.
You are not broken. You are healing.
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