Gaming: The Addiction for a New Generation

Video games are great escapes from the world. If as a young adult you struggle with real-life relationships, feel pressure from unrealistic expectations, feel powerless, or defeated and inadequate, games are hypnotizing, allowing you to dissociate from real-life stresses at home, school, and work. Gaming offers many rewards, from escape from… Read More

Financial Porn

In an age of round-the-clock news dispatches akin to hearing it before it even happened, it’s no wonder those affixed to their personal electronic BFF can appreciate what life was like before the realm of mobile devices, the internet, and social media. It’s also any wonder that intimacy in relationships… Read More

The Connection Between Love Addiction and Love Avoidance

By Jean Collins LCSW, LISAC, CSAT, Executive Director of Rio Retreat Center at The Meadows What are love addiction and love avoidance, and what do they have to do with love? Things can get very muddy for women who struggle with self-defeating relationship patterns. Fortunately for women whose lives… Read More

Alcohol Awareness Month: Changing Attitudes on Rite of Passage

The National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence (NCADD) is promoting its 32nd Annual Alcohol Awareness month this April. The theme for this year encompasses the idea of drinking as a rite of passage.  This immediately makes me think of a case that I have been following regarding a fraternity at Penn State and the alcohol-induced death of one of its pledges. While there are many issues in this case that can be picked apart and examined, I feel that alcohol, as a rite of passage is central to what occurred. Read More

Healing the Shame of Sexual Addiction

As humans, some of the most shameful experiences we have are those that involve our sexual selves. A single sexual event can bring such shame that it holds a person captive for a lifetime. It can deliver a devastating blow to a person’s sense of value and evoke tremendous pain… Read More

Mutual Respect and The Power of Intimacy

By Dan Griffin, MA, Senior Fellow at The Meadows Power is a fascinating phenomenon. I remember having numerous conversations about the complex intersection of power and relationships in graduate school. There was a lot of confusion as to what exactly power even is. Read More

Celebrity Addiction: Part One

A frantic mother tells her therapist that her 15-year-old daughter has quit the cheerleading squad, no longer dreams of going to college to become a lawyer, and has replaced her childhood friends with friends Mom has never met. Her daughter has been isolating, reading the latest celebrity gossip magazines, and… Read More

Partners of Sex Addicts Struggle with Loneliness and Isolation

By: Dr. Georgia Fourlas, LCSW, LISAC, CSAT, Clinical Director of Rio Retreat Center Workshops Partners of sex addicts often find themselves feeling alone and isolated. First, the feelings of loneliness come when the addicted partner acts out. Although the partner of the sex addict is not always able to… Read More

The Unconscious and Sexual Acting Out

The Use of Psychodrama in Treating Sexual Addiction By Tian Dayton Ph.D., TEP Note: This article originally appeared in The Huffington Post. It is the body’s natural mandate to act; we are beings designed for movement and expression. It’s how we get around the world, communicate our feelings and… Read More

Is My Porn Use Normal?

The question of whether any amount of porn use is acceptable is a divisive topic in our culture. It’s difficult to answer with any level of certainty. How much porn use is “safe” or “healthy” depends largely on a person’s individual circumstances, beliefs, and choices. A… Read More