Substance Abuse Counseling, Drug and Alcohol Counseling, Anxiety Counseling, PTSD Counselor, Stress Counselor for Couples, Family and Individuals

Lynn Telford-Sahl

M.A. Psychology, Certified Addiction Counselor

Over the past 25 years, I’ve worked with people from throughout the Central Valley, including Modesto to Oakdale, Empire, Ceres, Turlock, Hughson, Livingston, and Merced as well as Escalon, Ripon, Manteca, Stockton, Tracy, Lodi.

Are You Ready for a Positive Change in Your Life?

Call Me Today at 209-505-2675 (textable) or email me at lynntelfordsahl@gmail.com.

We’ll set up your free phone consultation ASAP so you can start feeling better soon! Read Lynn’s Blogs about Addiction & Better Coping Strategies.

I specialize in Stress and Anxiety Management Strategies Emotional Regulation & Recovery, Healing from Trauma, Effective Loving Limits Strategies for Addictive family and employ Emotional Freedom Technique and Guided Imagery methods, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Anxiety Counseling

Ever feel cranky, irritable or snappy for no good reason? You try to feel better with a few beers, a couple glasses of wine, or 3 hours on social media? And… end up feeling worse?

I’d guess anxiety is part of the problem. Anxiety can show up as negativity, worry, doubt, trying too hard to please others, second-guessing yourself, over-thinking the past or future, or perfectionism. Anxiety is physical tension, an upset stomach, clenched jaw, tight fists, way too much thinking. Anxiety fuels stress and stress seeks relief.

Many addiction counseling clients I see don’t realize part of what is driving their addictive behaviors is anxiety.

Anxiety (and depression) drive seeking external relief to soothe or comfort…to take the edge off, to numb pain or for the chance to feel happier and make over-thinking voice calm down.

Anxiety counseling provides new, different coping skills to support feeling better, taking charge, making healthier choices, and creating greater happiness.

As a substance abuse counselor and food addiction therapist I help individuals, family members and couples regain a sense of Self, change addictive habits and learn to lovingly and effectively communicate limits with others.

As family members or friends of a substance user, co-dependents can feel stressed, anxious and overwhelmed. Learn loving ways to set limits and take care of yourself.

I teach specific strategies to cope with stress and the emotional ups and downs that addictive behaviors produce. To better understand addictive issues and develop healthy coping strategies I wrote Intentional JOY: How to Turn Stress, Fear & Addiction (available through Amazon).

As a holistically trained counselor I work with the whole person – mind, body, emotions & spirit, depending on the needs of my clients.

PTSD Counseling

PTSD & Relapse Prevention – Emotional Freedom Technique Can Help! Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects millions of Americans who are struggling to gain or retain sobriety. According to Bessel van Der Kolk, author of The Body Keeps the Score in an article in the June 2019 Psychotherapy magazine, : 1 in 8 American children are victims of maltreatment and half of all the children in the world are exposed to extreme violence. “Approximately one-third to one-half of severely traumatized people develop substance abuse problems.” It makes sense to me that those that have gone through trauma are seeking comfort, relief, or escape from emotional or physical pain. What’s handier than alcohol, drugs, TV, video games, sex? No judgment zone here. The problem is relief is temporary. I assume when someone comes to see me to see for an addictive problem that it’s likely they have experienced some type of abuse or struggle with anxiety or depression. There may have been parents fighting, parents addictive struggles, divorce, even violence. Post traumatic stress means that the upset caused by the original event is lingering and affecting a person’s ability to be happy, healthy and have good, secure relationships and of course can affect choices about alcohol and drugs. Traumatic Stress and addiction go hand in hand. Pain seeks relief and relief can come in many forms; alcohol, pot, vicodin, sex. You name it, people have used it to distract themselves from pain or to cope with it. Post traumatic Stress Disorder was first named after Vietnam veterans came home traumatized from war. Later, the psychology profession realized our clients were demonstrating many of the same symptoms: anger, not sleeping well, fighting with spouses, depression, anxiety and inability to function well in life. One technique I use with clients and teach them how to use for themselves is Emotional Freedom Technique. Here’s how Emotional Freedom Technique might help you: If you struggle with staying sober, if you keep relapsing after regular amounts of time – 90 days, or a year or if you have particular triggers, say, fights with a spouse that give you a good excuse to get drunk, overreacting to anger or pain, or stress or anxiety that fuel cravings then seriously consider learning Emotional Freedom Technique. Emotional Freedom Technique is easy to learn and very effective to release anxiety, stress or upset. As an addiction counselor I’ve used EFT for over 15 years with my clients on everything from childhood trauma to car accidents, to snake phobias, to driving phobias to simple anxiety or migraine headaches. One client reduced migraines from over 20 a month to less than 5. EFT was developed by Gary Craig, an engineer. He simplified an older process called Thought Field Therapy. As an addiction counselor I LOVE that once learned I can send clients out the door with the instructions on how to use EFT and they can practice on real life situations that push their buttons. What that means is say you’re about to pick up the kids from your ex and you’re feeling anxious – you can spend a few minutes tapping to relieve anxiety. Or, let’s come back to relapse – you’re having a craving so you spend 5 minutes tapping and bring the craving down from a 9 or 10 to a 3 or 4. Having an easy to use tool makes relapse less likely, but…of course, you have to use it. For more on Emotional Freedom Technique check out www.emofree.com or my book: Intentional JOY: How to Turn Stress, Fear & Anxiety or call me for a FREE 15 minute Consult to see if EFT is right for what’s bothering you. Please feel free to email or text me 209 505-2675. I’ll point you in the direction of help or if you’re in my area perhaps be able to see you myself. (209) 505-2675 or email me at lynntelfordsahl@gmail.com