I recently spoke to a client who believed they had an anger problem, another who had a problem in their relationship, and yet another with alcohol. Each of them was under the impression that the symptoms they had were their problems.

As someone who had confused these things in the past, I no longer care about symptoms. That is why I can walk into an intensive outpatient program and tell them I don't care about their sobriety. That has to be their job.

Being able to distinguish between what is a problem and what symptoms arise because of problems can be tricky. Symptoms, like overusing alcohol, can become problems in themselves over time and need to be managed. However, I have never met a person whose big problem was overusing alcohol, emotional outbursts, or overeating. Each of those people had actual problems that, over time manifested into those physical symptoms.

If you are noticing that you have been looking at or addressing symptoms and not problems respond to this email and give yourself an opportunity to know yourself better now.