Amber HollingsworthRecovery Conversation Simulator, Amber's Recovery Practice Lab · Interactive learning tool trained on Amber methodoloy

Psychological Mechanisms of Addiction

29 Jan 2024 · 1 min

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Amber Hollingsworth explains that addiction is protected by psychological defense mechanisms (denial, shields) that become stronger when others try to "bust through" them by pushing. She argues that confrontational attempts reinforce these defenses and that gentler, alternative strategies (discussed elsewhere on the channel) enable people to let go of defenses on their own.

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It's helpful to understand what are those psychological mechanisms that actually sort of protect this addiction, that keep it in play? If you're going to break through it, you got to understand what's happening there. Because most family members, loved ones, even some counselors, and even some, you know, like other recovery supports, like sponsors, they try to get through these denial mechanisms, but they try to do it through busting through it, almost like breaking the shield down. And that doesn't work. In fact, the harder you push, the more you try to bust through these defense mechanisms, the stronger and more reinforced they are. What happens is the person starts to cling to these defense mechanisms for dear life. And if you can choose other strategies, all of which we talk about on this channel, they'll actually let go of these defense mechanisms on their own. The key is not pushing.