I am always available for initial phone calls from readers who have found my work through an Internet search or referral from a friend, therapist, or treatment center and want more information or just to talk. We can do this by phone, Skype or Zoom – whichever works best for you. Just send me an email at lisaf@BreakingTheCycles.com, and we can arrange a time. There is no charge for these initial phone calls.

If after an initial phone call, you would like more help, I offer the following consulting services online, by phone, or in the family home, if preferred:

• Family Education Consultations – a comprehensive educational session (or sessions) on the neurobiology of addiction and toxic stress during which I share the research behind the facts about alcohol or other drug abuse or addiction (aka substance use disorder) as a brain disease, the difference between substance abuse and addiction, how a person develops the disease, what constitutes effective treatment, why co-occurring disorders treatment (meaning to have both a substance use and mental disorder) is critical to long-term recovery, how the family can and cannot help, the toxic stress impacts on the family caused by their ongoing coping with a loved one’s drinking or drug misuse behaviors, and similar topics. The person with the substance use disorder is more than welcome to participate (or not).
• Finding Effective Treatment Consulting – there is so much out there to learn and understand in order to identify treatment that will be effective for YOUR loved one OR for yourself. I help people become informed consumers of effective treatment. I do not make referrals to specific treatment centers, but I do help people identify what they should be looking for based on what they tell me of their own and their loved one’s situation, including the list of questions they will want answered when contacting a potential treatment center or therapist or other professional in order to make their final decision. I also help them narrow their search to the centers or treatment providers that meet their criteria.

Please know I am not a therapist, psychologist, lawyer, or medical doctor.

In the Meantime…

You may want to order my latest book, 10th Anniversary Edition If You Loved Me, You’d Stop!

The first half explains alcohol use disorders (drinking problems) – how they’re developed and treated and what long-term recovery requires. In the case of alcohol abuse, for example, it’s possible to learn to “re-drink,” but in the case of alcoholism, it must be total abstinence from alcohol, yet in both cases, there are other brain healing aspects necessary in order to address “why” a person finds themselves drinking to these extents in the first place (e.g., trauma, anxiety, depression, social environment…).

The second half explains what happens to family members and friends and what they can do to help their loved ones, as well as what they can do to take back control of their physical and emotional health and the quality of their lives. The book comes in both paperback and Kindle (which can be read on an iPad or other eReader device). With the Kindle format, you’re able to get it immediately, which may be helpful for right now, and it allows you to read it without anyone knowing, which may also be helpful.

If you’d like to schedule a call, please send me a confidential email at lisaf@breakingthecycles.com. I have been researching, writing and consulting in this area since 2003 and can help you find the answer(s) for your particular situation. The important important take-away is that there is hope and a way out. It really can and does get better.

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Disclaimer: The purpose of these consulting sessions/phone calls is to provide information. Lisa Frederiksen will make every effort to ensure the information she imparts is as accurate as possible but no warrant of fitness is implied and any decision or action taken based on said information is the caller’s choice and responsibility alone. Caller understands that Lisa Frederiksen is not a medical doctor, therapist, social worker or similarly licensed professional.