Most of us would agree that living with addiction is a traumatizing experience for all concerned. But we are still wrapping our minds around why trauma in childhood can have such pervasive and long-term effects on our personalities and the way we live our lives. Recent research in neuroscience is helping us to decode this [...]

Charlie Sheen is now sober, that is he has tested free of drugs. But his behavior is raising eyebrows because it is increasingly apparent that whatever the hair or blood tests say, he does not appear to be emotionally sober. Physical sobriety can take around 72 hours to achieve. Emotional sobriety, or learning to balance [...]

Over the years I have listened to a sort of running monologue from clients who grew up with an addicted parent. It goes something like this: “I felt like it was all about them, like what was going on inside of me was sort of invisible, like what they wanted or needed always came first.” [...]

Holidays are a season of gaiety and celebration, intended to affirm bonds of family, friendship and life. But for those whose families have been disturbed by addiction and relationship trauma, these rituals can feel empty or even painful. The very gaiety and the pressure we feel to be happy can accentuate what’s missing, or what [...]

Where did I hear this? I can’t remember exactly. It was at an awards ceremony when a survivor of the Holocaust who had been put on film (Spielberg?) said in an acceptance speech something like, “people think I am boring because I don’t care about going to so many places but still, after all these [...]

Intimacy can be challenging if we don’t have some degree of emotional sobriety and balance. If we have no emotional language for talking over the kinds of deep feelings that intimacy inevitably brings up, we spend our time and energy avoiding the kinds of intimate moments that we’re afraid might expose our soft, emotional underbellies; [...]

An Interview with Writer William Borchert A story of Lois W.’s life and the roots of ALANON, When Love Is Not Enough is scheduled to air as a Hallmark Hall of Fame Presentation on the CBS Network on Sunday, April 25 at 9 p.m. EST. More than three years in the making, the movie is [...]