Addiction & Dual Diagnosis Therapy for Florida Adults

Substance Use & Dual Diagnosis Therapy for Adults in Florida

Recovery from a substance use disorder is a substantial life transition. It's not simply the absence of using — it's the reconstruction of a life that had, to some degree, been organized around the substance. Relationships shift. Routines change. Sense of self reorganizes. Whatever was underneath the use — anxiety, depression, trauma, mood instability — becomes visible again, sometimes for the first time in years.

Who This Work is For

I work with adults across three phases: early sobriety, sustained long-term recovery, and clients navigating a co-occurring mental health condition alongside substance use. You may recognize yourself in some of the following:

• Using alcohol, cannabis, opioids, stimulants, or another substance to manage stress, anxiety, low mood, or emotional pain
• Cycles of trying to stop, achieving sobriety, and relapsing that feel impossible to break
• Sustained sobriety accompanied by anxiety, depression, or mood instability that has become harder to ignore
• A sense that something underneath the use is driving the behavior
• Relationships, work, or daily life affected by use or by the process of stopping

Understanding Dual Diagnosis

Dual diagnosis refers to the presence of a substance use disorder alongside a mental health condition. Both are treated at the same time, because addressing one without the other rarely produces lasting change. The mental health condition tends to fuel the use, and the use tends to worsen the mental health condition.

Common co-occurring conditions I treat alongside substance use include Major Depressive Disorder, anxiety disorders, Bipolar I and II, Borderline Personality Disorder, PTSD, and mood instability that hasn't been formally diagnosed.

How I Work

Fifteen years of clinical experience — with a decade concentrated in addiction and dual diagnosis work — has shaped a specific approach. Sessions are structured and skills-based, drawing from CBT, DBT, motivational interviewing, and mindfulness practices. The specific tools we use depend on where you are in recovery, what's driving the use, and what the co-occurring condition (if any) requires.

The work generally moves through several layers: understanding what the substance was doing for you, building the specific skills to move through the moments it used to fill, treating any co-occurring condition as its own clinical focus, and rebuilding the parts of life that active use affected — relationships, sense of self, routines, work.

Level of Care

This is outpatient individual therapy at a weekly cadence. It is not detox, medically-managed withdrawal, or intensive outpatient (IOP) treatment. Clients who need those levels of care are best served by a treatment team that includes them. Clients who are stable enough for outpatient work — including many in early recovery and many in long-term sobriety navigating co-occurring conditions — are the primary population I serve.

Insurance & Access

I am in-network with Optum, UnitedHealthcare and affiliated plans (Oscar, Oxford, UMR, Harvard Pilgrim, GEHA, Surest, All Savers, UHCSR), Aetna, and Cigna. Private pay is available. Benefits verification is completed at no cost before your first session.

View Payment Options>

Serving Clients Across Florida

Sessions are conducted virtually, which means this work is accessible from anywhere in Florida — including Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Orlando, Tampa, and Jacksonville. For clients in early recovery, the ability to have therapy without a commute — without exposure to environments and cues that can trigger use — is often part of what makes sustained work possible.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to be sober to start therapy?
No. Many clients begin this work before they've achieved sustained sobriety. The therapy itself is often part of what makes sobriety possible.

What if I'm on medication-assisted treatment (MAT)?
MAT and outpatient therapy work well together, and many of my clients are on MAT during our work. I coordinate with prescribing providers when helpful.

Can you help if I've relapsed recently?
Yes. Relapse is often part of the recovery process, and it's a clinical event worth understanding rather than a failure. Clients frequently begin or return to therapy in the weeks following a relapse.

Do you work with family members of someone with a substance use disorder?
This practice is focused on individual therapy with the person navigating substance use directly. For family members, I can offer referrals to clinicians who specialize in that work.

Scheduling a Consultation

If addiction, dual diagnosis, or recovery has brought you here, a free 15-minute consultation is the most reliable way to know whether this practice is the right fit.

Return to Specialties>