Art Therapy

Art Therapy has never been about making “good art” but about finding an alternative outlet for expression and healing. Underlying trauma and grief very often don’t have words. Putting a brush on canvas or a pen to paper is a creative process that often brings a powerful healing experience. Art therapy serves to connect clients with their intuition and inner maker while creating a path out of the wounds of the past toward wholeness.

Music Therapy

We use music to help manage addictive thinking and behavior and to help release, process, and heal trauma. The theory behind our practice is that music alters energy and mood, leading to improved health and wellness—with decreased anxiety, depression, and pain. We utilize lyric analysis, song circles, drum circles, and clinical improvisation in an open and versatile manner, connecting suffering and addiction to the creative process and healthy self-expression. There is a strong emphasis on focus, attunement, mood modulation, and positive social interaction.

Mindfulness Meditation

Mindfulness supports clients in becoming aware of their thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations. The practice of bringing awareness to one’s inner world teaches presence and being in the moment. By focusing on one’s breath and other exercises, people learn how to manage stress better, improve emotional regulation, and reduce impulsive behaviors that can often lead to relapse.

Poetry Group

Our poetry groups focus on recovery principles and concepts. We explore themes of resilience, self-esteem, motivation, personal growth, self-expression, spirituality, and purpose in life. We analyze excerpts, share reflections, and connect the content to the client’s recovery journeys. We utilize the creative process, offering time for self-expression and encouraging the exploration of feelings and experiences through poetry. Clients have the opportunity to share their writings and receive feedback from peers, fostering a supportive group environment and promoting healing and wholeness in recovery.

Journaling

Journaling gives clients a private and safe way to explore their thoughts and feelings. Writing helps to process difficult emotions, track progress, and recognize behavior patterns. It also builds self-awareness and provides a practice clients can use long after treatment to manage stress, set goals, and stay connected to their recovery journey.

Somatic Processing

Somatic Processing focuses on the many ways in which the body holds on to stress and trauma. Most who come to us for help have a lifetime of trauma stored in their bodies. This modality is described in depth in Bessel Van Der Kolk’s book The Body Keeps the Score. Through movement, breathing exercises, and body awareness techniques, clients can release built-up emotions, calm their nervous systems, and feel safer in their own bodies.

Book Club

We provide a book club dedicated to exploring several books that promote the development of conscious awareness. Some of these books include “The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle, “The Untethered Soul” by Michael Singer, and “Living Untethered” by Michael Singer. These readings are used to bring insight into the existence of thoughts, emotions, and behaviors as separate from one’s sense of being. At CSS, we support clients in considering deeply their relationship with their inner world and how that understanding impacts the lens through which they view the outer world. Addiction is often the result of living in the past. In order to recover, addicts must begin to see the world differently.

Qigong

Qigong is one of the four branches of Chinese Medicine. While the public knows acupuncture, herbs, and massage better, Qigong has a long history and application in promoting health and strengthening the body/mind/spirit. As in all the branches of Chinese Medicine, Qigong is a complete system that addresses the needs of the individual and treats the whole person, targeting the root of the disease while creating balance and harmony for the patient. Qigong uses breathing, sound, creative visualization, and spiritual intention to promote health and release disease.

Group Work

We offer a robust group therapy program that utilizes a range of learning styles, including audio, visual, tactile, kinesthetic, and logical. Our curriculum utilizes interactive activities that facilitate self-discovery and help acquire insight or knowledge about oneself. The goal is for individuals to use these insights to guide their choices, move towards healthier behaviors, and build a life of recovery.

Presentation Group

Each week, a theme directly and indirectly binds all the week’s group topics together. Clients spend the week developing a presentation about themselves as they relate to the theme. Clients are encouraged to expand their creativity, using or combining art, music, poetry, creative writing, drama, and movement to express themselves. Often, clients find this group to be the most rewarding of the week as it is primarily created and run by themselves and their peers.