Understanding Addiction

I’m using this blog post to advertise Part 2 of our salon series. If you were with us last month, then you know what to expect. A short presentation — 20 minutes tops — then much discussion. The discussion that emerged during Part 1 took off from a perspective Shaun and I share: that it […] (Read the rest.)

Hello again. This is a follow-up to my recent post, concerning the online salon hosted by Shaun Shelly and me, tomorrow at 1pm EST. I just wanted to remind anyone interested in attending to please register and get your ticket right away. The $20 cost for the first of our salons will be waived if […] (Read the rest.)

Hi all. Shaun Shelly (a frequent contributor to this blog) and I are co-hosting a series of four “salons” webcast (if that’s the word) by a splendid organization called Interintellect. These salons are Zoom-based meetings of people from various disciplines: IT, mental health, consciousness, culture, art and literature, drug use, philosophy, neuroscience, and science more […] (Read the rest.)

This post links to a recent podcast, where I join Dick Schwartz, the founder of Internal Family Systems (IFS), and Gabor Maté, a well-known commentator on addiction and its impact on marginalized communities. As I’ve blogged about lately, I rely on IFS as a ground-breaking therapeutic tool in my psychology practice. Here in this podcast, […] (Read the rest.)

Self-destructive thoughts and feelings grow from ripples to tidal waves in people who develop addictions. But how does self-directed aggression become entrenched in our inner worlds, and how can it be dislodged? Everyone who’s ever been addicted to anything is bound to know two feelings — craving and self-hatred. These feeling states essentially define addiction. […] (Read the rest.)