Cocaine addiction is increasingly more common in society today, and I see lots of clients with this problem. Often, they find that they have become locked into a behavioural pattern, so their whole thinking processes revolve around taking this drug. In many instances, the result of this endless cycle of anticipation and thinking produces a feeling of being disempowered, and in many instances, clients experience an ongoing sense of paranoia. Analytical approaches to resolving cocaine addiction, in my experience, rarely work. Instead, it’s better to work on changing the thinking and feeling processes that trigger the emotional craving that results in the addiction.

I see clients of all ages in my UK clinics and work internationally via Skype. As well as seeing clients on a 1 – 1 basis for cocaine addiction, I have also given talks to community drug groups on my approach to working with such client problems. It’s important to remember that cocaine addiction is the result of a sequence of thinking and feeling, and not just focusing on talking about the actual drug. Most clients who have a cocaine addiction know all the dangers and pitfalls of this behaviour, but have not yet managed to break out of that unhelpful cycle.

I use the Provocative Change Works approach to help clients with cocaine addiction. I generally get excellent results, and most clients experience useful and lasting change in just a few sessions. Before agreeing to see any client, I always request a full set of client notes so the session time is then used to best effect. It’s important to realise that there is no magic wand for resolving these issues, and to listen back to the recordings of each session to get the best results.

Some clients mistakenly imagine they can be hypnotised to make the problem go away!

The reality, of course, is that both the practitioner and client need to work together and focus on discovering what helps change the previous patterns of behaviour. There is no magic hypnotic want for resolving this problem, but clients who follow advice generally do very well.

In 2016, I taught PCW to a group of drug practitioners in Osaka, Japan, over three days, and continue to teach PCW worldwide to assist with these types of problems.