by Tian Dayton, PhD Which characteristics do you identify with and to what extent? This is something of a self-test and a survey. If you are an Adult Child of Alcoholism or Addiction (ACOA), you may have been both traumatized and strengthened by that experience. Following is a survey of both the positive and the [...]

By Dr. Jack Hinman Divorce, even under the most amicable of circumstances, represents a trauma for the family system, impacting not only the couple, but all members of the family. Many parents in therapy quite aptly describe their experience of divorce as a kind of death. It is a loss of shared dreams and goals [...]

By Charlotte Reznick, Ph.D. An enraged mom pulls her son into my office. At her wits end with her 10-year-old’s acting-out behavior at school, she demanded to come into his private counseling session without notice. Across town, his dad had a different reaction — on his son’s weekend visit, while staying very calm, he put his [...]

It has long been understood in the vernacular of the addictions field that those whose “lives become unmanageable” through excessive use of drugs and alcohol may be trying to “drown their pain” with drugs and alcohol. While initially addicts may feel they have found a way to manage a pain-filled inner world, this synthetic form [...]

In 1980, when the term adult child of alcoholic, ACOA, was coined, ACOAs literally came out of the woodwork, testifying in droves to confusion, resentment and hurt that the child within them still hung onto. They reported feeling, at times, like “children walking around in the bodies of grown-ups”. Both scared and relieved, they were [...]

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 [...]

A long-held tenet in the treatment and recovery worlds is that alcoholism and other drug addictions are a family disease. Everyone in the family, including children, gets hurt by this cunning, powerful, and baffling illness. All too often it becomes a family legacy that gets passed from generation to generation. Where does it stop? Children’s [...]