Addiction is a symptom, not the cause.

My philosophy of addiction is consistent with how I view much of what people come to therapy for: it is an end result, a symptom rather than a root cause. This doesn't mean that it isn't very serious. Addiction can take everything.

The analogy of a fever is a useful one when thinking about addiction because a fever, similarly, is a symptom of something else going on. It is not a disease in and of itself, but a response by the body to something else that is being battled. Fevers can range from relatively mild to life-threatening. General advice around fevers includes avoiding simply trying to bring the temperature down without addressing the underlying cause. In my experience, human beings with addictions can benefit from a similar philosophy and approach.

In 2026, I completed a Level 9 Postgraduate Certificate in Addiction Studies, with a particular focus on gambling and the wider psychological and relational context of addictive behaviours. The training affirmed much of what I had already found in practice: that addiction is best understood as a symptom of something deeper, rather than a problem to be switched off on its own.

Many people arrive feeling they should already have stopped, or worried they will be judged. That is rarely where useful work begins.

In practice, we seldom begin by trying to switch the behaviour off. Instead, we start by getting curious about what it has been doing for you: what it numbs, what it holds at bay, or what it substitutes for when other needs feel unavailable. The behaviour usually made sense before it became costly. Understanding that is often where change begins, and it helps to have a space honest enough to speak about what is actually happening, without the judgment that often keeps people stuck in silence.

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