Therapy, not just stopping
When someone looks for help with an addiction, almost everything they find in Madrid talks about "detox": getting the substance out of the body. That part is necessary in some cases — but it is only the beginning. The substance leaves in days; the reasons you were using are still there — the anxiety you were numbing, the relationship falling apart, the job pressure, the empty Sundays. If nobody works on that part, relapse is not a possibility: it is a matter of time.
That is exactly what addiction therapy does: sustained psychological work, with method and support, to understand what role the substance was playing in your life and build a way of living that no longer needs it. Most people do not need admission to a facility — they need a serious, consistent therapeutic process.
At Charlas Adictivas we run that process on an outpatient basis, in person in Chamberí (Madrid) and online across Spain, with a team combining psychiatry, therapy and day-to-day support. The first conversation is free, with no commitment.
How we work: a four-phase process
1. Initial assessment (free)
A first confidential conversation, in person or by video call, to understand your situation: what you are using or which behaviour has spun out of control, since when, what you have already tried, and how it is affecting your health, your work and your people. You leave with a concrete plan proposal — and if we believe your case needs a different kind of resource, we tell you just as clearly.
2. A personalised plan
No two addictions are alike. Depending on your case, the plan combines individual therapy, group work, psychiatric assessment and support between sessions, at a frequency that is realistic for your life. You will know from the start what we are going to work on, with whom, and what it costs.
3. The therapeutic work
The core phase: individual and group sessions working on cravings, triggers, risk situations, the skills to say no — and above all, what was underneath the using. This is where recovery stops being "holding on without using" and starts being a life that doesn't ask to be numbed.
4. Consolidation and relapse prevention
Sessions space out as you gain stability, but follow-up continues: relapse prevention is part of the process, not an extra. If there is a slip, we work on it — quickly and without drama, because a slip addressed in time does not have to become a full relapse.
Not sure whether your situation is "bad enough"? That doubt is almost always the first sign. Call us on +34 660 81 56 54 — the first conversation is free and without commitment.
Individual therapy
The backbone of the process. We work with evidence-based approaches for addictions — cognitive-behavioural therapy, motivational interviewing and relapse prevention — adapted to your specific case. Individual sessions are where the things you don't tell anyone else get addressed: the shame, the double lives, the fear that life without the substance might be worse. Your therapist is always the same person, knows your story and adjusts the work as you progress.
Group therapy: what only community can give you
Addiction isolates; the group does the opposite. In group you meet people who are where you are — or where you will be in six months — and discover that what you thought only happened to you happens to almost everyone. The evidence is consistent: people who combine individual therapy with group work sustain recovery better. Our center in Chamberí has two rooms dedicated to group therapy.
Psychiatry and dual pathology
More than half of the people living with an addiction also live with anxiety, depression, insomnia or another mental health problem. This is known as dual pathology, and it is the great blind spot of many treatments: the addiction gets treated and the rest ignored, or the other way round — and whatever goes untreated ends up sabotaging the rest.
Our Medical Director, Alfonso Martínez, is a psychiatrist subspecialised in Dual Pathology and Addictions, and the team includes further psychiatrists who assess and follow every case that requires it. Therapy and psychiatry work in coordination within the same plan — you will not have to tell your story twice in two consultations that never speak to each other.
Therapy and guidance for families
Addiction is never lived by one person alone. Partners, parents, children — everyone ends up inside it: watching, covering up, arguing, burning out. We also work with families: understanding what is happening, learning to set boundaries that actually help, no longer sustaining the addiction without meaning to, and looking after themselves while caring. Sometimes the family joins the patient's process; sometimes they need their own space. Both have a place here.
Outpatient therapy or admission?
It is the first question almost every family asks, so here is the honest answer we would want to receive: most people do not need to be admitted. Outpatient therapy — sessions while you carry on with your life — works, costs a fraction of a residential programme, and has a huge therapeutic advantage: you train your recovery in the real world from day one, not inside a bubble.
When does admission make sense? When there is severe physical dependence requiring medically supervised detox, when the immediate environment makes stopping unviable, or when several serious outpatient attempts have not worked. If that is your case, we will tell you at the initial assessment and help you arrange it — and we will be here for the after, which is where the real work continues.
In person in Chamberí and online across Spain
Our center is at Glorieta de Bilbao 4 (Chamberí, 28004 Madrid), one minute from Bilbao metro station — 180 m² designed for calm conversations, no white coats and no cold offices. You can see it on this page or come and visit in person.
If you are not in Madrid, or your schedule won't allow it, the whole process can be done online with the same professionals and the same method. Many people combine both: online sessions during the week and occasional in-person visits.
Addictions we work with
Every substance and every behaviour has its own clinical particularities. We have specific programmes for each:
- Alcohol — the most normalised addiction, and one that most needs professional help to quit safely.
- Cocaine — intense cravings and fast relapses: trigger work is key.
- Cannabis — direct impact on motivation, anxiety and sleep, especially in young people.
- Benzodiazepines and anxiolytics — gradual, supervised tapering: never cold turkey.
- Behavioural addictions — gambling, pornography, shopping, technology: addictions without a substance, running on the same brain machinery.
The team behind the therapy
Behind every plan there is a real, named team: Alfonso Martínez (psychiatrist, Medical Director, subspecialist in Dual Pathology), Eduardo Prades and Paloma (psychiatrists), Rocío León (addiction prevention and intervention therapist), Simón Hernangómez (social integration specialist, day-to-day support) and founders Ruy Arroyo and Salva Rivero, both holding a Master's in Drug Dependency from the University of Barcelona.
Take the first step today. One call, no commitment, and you leave with a clear idea of what is happening and what can be done. +34 660 81 56 54 · info@charlasadictivas.com
Content reviewed by Alfonso Martínez, psychiatrist, Medical Director of Charlas Adictivas and subspecialist in Dual Pathology and Addictions. Last reviewed: September 2026.