Multi-faceted approach needed to tackle addictions: psychologist

With her goal of providing clinicians with the tools needed to tackle the widespread issue, a Los Angeles-based psychologist believes a multi-faceted approach is most effective in helping people overcome addictions.

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Dr. Ramani Durvasula was the guest speaker for this year’s Chatham-Kent Addictions Awareness Conference, held recently at the Everest Convention Centre.

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The theme was ‘Addiction and antagonism: Accounting for narcissism in the treatment of addictions.’

Durvasula focuses her work on the impact of narcissism — particularly high-conflict, entitled and antagonistic personalities — on relationships, mental health and society in general.

“We really need to talk about personality, specifically maladaptive personality, to understand other things that might be contributing to this,” she said during a break in the conference.

“When we assess the client, we often focus on the symptomatology that’s most problematic … (But) sometimes when we look to buy a house, we’re so focused on the doors, the windows, the interior I like, we don’t stop to check what the foundation is.”

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During her presentation, Durvasula provided an overview of various personality styles, as well as best practices for treatment.

She said personality can be described as the “constant backbeat that plays in the symphony” of a person’s life.

“We can understand how that person will cope with adversity, their levels of resilience, how they’ll show up in relationships,” she said. “By understanding all of that, we can inform long-term treatment for chronic issues, such as addictions.”

Helping someone with their sobriety is only part of the healing, she stressed, adding that relapse isn’t failure, but an opportunity to learn.

“Recovery is actually about sort of this full change in the person,” she said. “How they view others. How they view themselves. How they cope with stress.

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“The research is very clear that addiction treatment has to be multimodal. And involve a mix of group counseling, individual counseling, medication management … the provision of housing, the development of social resilience and relationship building.”

Nearly 180 people attended the event, spearheaded by the Chatham-Kent Community Health Centers, Chatham-Kent Health Alliance mental health and addictions program, Canadian Mental Health Association Lambton-Kent branch, Westover Treatment Center and Restorative Justice Chatham-Kent.

For the past decade, the conference has educated community members and service providers on a different topic of addiction each year.

Given the numerous challenges, preventing clinician burnout is also key, Durvasula said, noting that greater awareness and understanding will help.

“All clinicians working with this population have their work cut out for them,” she said. “This is hard work…And clinicians are not robots.”

Durvasula is the author of ‘It’s Not You: Identifying and Healing from Narcissistic People,’ which goes on sale Feb. 20.

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