Addiction Story: How George Quit Pot

George had smoked pot since the age of fifteen. When he came to me at age forty for help with his mild depression he asked me never to talk about his pot habit. He said he had no interest in stopping and that it wasn’t an issue with him. I agreed. I agreed while hiding my smile. I knew that if George was willing to do his personal growth work with me that he would likely voluntarily stop smoking pot on his own. So we set out on a course of therapy that included one-on-one work and a five day intensive workshop I have conducted with small groups for many years. That work was followed up by weekly meetings with other clients who had gone through my workshop, The Renaissance Experience. George worked hard. He was willing to allow me to help me become aware of his childhood conflicts and how those conflicts have influenced his life since. He was willing to allow himself to feel and express the emotional pain of his childhood and he was willing to allow himself to love himself. The process was gradual but steady and within just months George’s life had changed dramatically. One  day a year after he began the process of therapy with me he called me up. The first thing he said was, “Thank you, Wendy.” Since often have clients offer me thanks for helping them I was grateful for the call but not surprised. What did surprise me was what George said next. “I want to thank you for never talking about my pot addiction. I guess you knew that I would want to give it up myself because several months ago one morning I woke up and realized that I no longer needed it to medicate myself with it.” It’s been over twenty-five years since I received that call and George still doesn’t smoke pot. Bottom line: if you heal the original problem that’s buried beneath the addiction, you cure the addiction.

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