By Catherine Auman, MFT Steven is remembering the active days of what he calls his sex addiction: “I was at a party and noticed this overweight, not-so-beautiful woman across the room who was obviously attracted to me.” He drums his fingers on the table. “I did my number on her and got her to go [...]

Today’s addict has an ally. The new drug pushers aren’t pimps hanging out in schoolyards or villains in an episode of Law & Order. They are our pharmaceutical companies. They are the pharmacies that distribute their wares. They are the doctors that prescribe these medications to their patients without a true understanding of addiction and [...]

The spectrum for addiction is varied and long. As the world evolves, so does the list of potential addictive substances. The question arises of what seemingly harmless activities can turn into devastating addictions? How can this behavior be curbed before it becomes out of control? And what is the major underlying facet that contributes to [...]

With all the skepticism about whether sex addiction really exists, it seems people are even more reluctant to accept that women could be capable of being addicted to sex. After all, aren’t women biologically wired to be choosy about their partners? Don’t women suffer, instead, from too little interest in sex? If anything, aren’t women [...]

As a specialist in the field of pain medicine since the 1970s (Dr. Gagné), and a clinical psychologist treating chemical dependency and personality and mood disorders since 1980 (Dr. Weedn), it’s hard not to be amazed how far the field has come and yet how perplexing it remains mired in its central conundrum: the tendency [...]

A frantic mother of a 15-year-old girl in a local suburban neighborhood tells her therapist that her daughter has quit the cheerleading squad, no longer dreams of college and becoming a lawyer, and her childhood friends have been replaced with friends she has never met. Her daughter has been isolating, reading all the latest celebrity [...]

Let us begin with definitions: Sanctuary: A place of refuge, safety, protection and asylum; a holy, consecrated spot The notion of sanctuary dates back to ancient times. Many civilizations provided the persecuted with impunity if they reached a recognized sanctuary. Western culture later adopted this concept where during times of battle, troops could retreat to [...]