Addictive behavior(s) were very much the main area I went to see therapists for. I have a history of different kinds: eating disorder in my youth, a crazy and mutually addictive romantic relationship in my 30s, drinking that became the most horrible, destructive habit for me, and distracting myself with useless emailing and other online interactions and not dealing with problems, including important practical issues and the drinking itself.

First time I started therapy, I was already in recovery from the alcoholism (~1.5 year total abstinence) and I decided to try psychoanalysis mostly out of curiosity and to add something new to my recovery regimen and my life-long interest in self discovery. I had zero denial about my addictions at that point (had lots before of course, like most addicts) and I wasn't interested in anything else but 100% sobriety-based solutions as I was too far gone for moderation, unable to handle my drinking that way. I did talk about the addictions and my recovery with that T a lot but he wasn't really helpful, especially when I had a relapse later. He handled that terribly in spite of claiming addictions as one of his specialty... but with experience I figured he was just a bad T for me. I left therapy then mostly because I was desperate about the relapse and very angry about the T's dismissive attitude about it. I desperately wanted help to stop the drinking and instead of addressing that and suggesting ways to resolve it, he just wanted me to talk about my parents, told me directly not to seek other support outside of him ("just come and talk to me"), and got very angry and defensive when I criticized him for that attitude. It was downright destructive and I did not need more of that on top of my own behavior. Then he was unwilling to accept when I terminated and would contact me with all sorts of "analyses" that made no sense and just added to the distraction, they were all about him more than myself. Not addressing the drinking at all or only as far as trying to lure me back into seeing him. One thing he told me once was "you would be better to drink me rather than all the alcohol that is not good for you". Can you believe?

Anyhow, I left that T and got heavily involved in peer recovery groups (also did first time I got sober). I tried pretty much every self-help addiction recovery method out there: AA, SMART (my favorite), Refuge Recovery, Rational Recovery, and an awesome web forum called Sober Recovery (which I ended up using excessively but was better than the drinking). I found helpful things in all of them but never committed to just one or followed one program completely as prescribed, kinda made my own more holistic combo. I also found a new T when I was still drinking off and on and told him in my first contact email that the relapse was the main issue. He wasn't too helpful with the drinking per se, but it's hard for anyone to tell me anything new about substance addiction/recovery at this point as I know more about it both theoretically (it's also one of my research areas that I do for living) and from first hand experience... it was more that he learned new methods from me.

What became very helpful eventually with the second T was his approach to handle my obsessive emailing/online habit, which was definitely a form of addictive behavior for me. I worked very hard to beat that myself (still do, one reason I don't get too involved in this forum either), but his allowing but not reinforcing the emails (the other T got enmeshed in that as well) turned out the best help for me. It helped to lose my compulsion to email gradually, and never felt inclined to do it again with anyone else either. It's been a year since, so I am happy with the result that seems to hold up. It was something I did not plan or expect to address in therapy at first but turned out the greatest benefit.

I did become quite addicted to the whole collaborative self-analysis/therapy thing though and in the end I kept going mostly for the pleasure of it, but I wasn't comfortable as I still used it as distraction from other things in my life - that was when I stopped regular therapy completely, and that was also a very good decision for me.

This is my story in relation to addiction and therapy. I know that some people find Ts helpful more directly with substance abuse, but I think it only works if the client has a high level of determination and motivation to address it and turn it around on a daily basis, as the behavior itself does not occur in therapy sessions. Why the peer support, that is not so structured and can be accessed as needed, can be much more helpful for many.

It is awesome that you recognize that drinking is a problem for you, LT, at this stage - many people (including myself) go much further and get stuck in already very destructive phases, and then it is extremely hard to stop. For me, it was undeniably the most difficult thing I had done in my life, no other challenge comes even close.

ETA: A somewhat related thought that often occurs to me reading this forum is that the "attachment" to the Ts people describe is perhaps more a form of addiction than genuine attachment and interpersonal bond (even one-sided), but this is just my view and obviously biased based on my experiences.