“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson What lies within us are all the experiences, interactions, emotional styles, physicality, nervous system responses, generational memories, styles of behavior, values and beliefs of our primary caregivers – our families. As more and more [...]

In a world where the Dr. Drew-like rehab shows flood the airwaves with visuals of the craziness of chemical imbalances, America has become inundated with the perils of drugs and alcohol. Certainly, the pain is horrible for those suffering and their loved ones. But from a neuroscience angle, I am most curious about what predisposes [...]

James Hillman once said in his provocative book of the same title, “We’ve had a hundred years of psychotherapy and the world’s getting worse.” Though many would take issue with this satirical, yet telling title, one does begin to wonder how well we are doing in the grand scheme of things related to reducing pain [...]

As appeared on BehavioralHealthCentral.com, May 4, 2010 In this thought-provoking series, I will share the stuff of addiction that is in between the lines — the afterhours thoughts, if you will, the bubbles above our heads. Not that training, education and all sorts of counseling are not helpful. Of course they are. But in the [...]

Once a month I set aside a day to read the latest research about addiction in the leading medical journals. For the last ten years I’ve watched this knowledge expand. What was once a trickle, then a stream, is now a flood, and the research is pouring out so fast that it is difficult to [...]

Substance abuse behavior appears to have multiple interrelated causes.  Predisposing genetic and neurobiological factors interact with family environment dynamics and early trauma to create a personal internal milieu that is primed and sensitized for craving and addictive behaviors.  This is compounded by frequent concurrent psychiatrically significant diagnoses resulting in what is referred to as dual [...]

Using Neuro-Imaging Techniques and a Biopsychosocial Model for Healing The focus of this article is to explore and introduce recent work in the field of addiction recovery as it relates to the neuro-cognitive dimension. This article is the first of a series of articles focused on identifying and then developing a treatment program for addiction [...]