Distorted Love: Adult Attachment Styles and Love Addiction

By Alexandra Katehakis, Ph.D.(c), MFT, CST-S, CSAT-S, Former Senior Fellow at The Meadows For decades, researchers have struggled to define the unconscious processes of irrational love paramount in myths and fairy tales. Lovers in these stories are portrayed as love-struck, driven to tantrums or immature behavior, wholly bewitched by the… Read More

Love, Relationship, Sex Addiction: What’s the Difference?

By Dr. Stefanie Carnes, Ph.D., CSAT-S, Senior Fellow at The Meadows Women who seek treatment related to their out-of-control romantic and/or sexual behaviors are sometimes unsure about how to label their issues. They ask, “Am I a love addict, a relationship addict, or a sex addict?” Generally, their confusion stems… Read More

Codependency: What’s It All About?

By Tian Dayton, Ph.D. The word codependency touched a nerve when it first plowed its way into our everyday vernacular. Initially, it grew out of the twelve-step term co-addict, which was a way of describing the spouse of the addict; however, as it didn’t tell the right story, it… Read More

Healing the Roots of Women’s Sexual and Relational Struggles

Delicate Dynamics of Intimacy: The Effects of Early Relational Trauma

Tune or out of tune with those who bring us into this world from conception onwards. Our nervous systems are fashioned by nature to resonate with the nervous systems of others to achieve a sense of balance and connection (Schore, 1999), and these early interactions become the neurological templates upon… Read More

Relationships Can Be Difficult But There Is Help for Healing

Relationships are hard. There’s no getting around it. Put more than one person in the same place for long enough and you’re sure to have problems. It’s as certain as death, taxes, and computer problems. In his book Your Brain on Love, Dr. Stan Tatkin says that “there really is nothing more difficult on the planet than another person…nothing.” I tend to agree with him. My personal history with relationships and my work as working as a Marriage and Family Therapist seem to confirm that there’s nothing that will complicate your life more than another human. As much as we desire and need other people in our life, we simply cannot avoid the pain and conflict that inevitably comes when we enter a relationship. It’s a catch-22 of the human condition. Read More

Being Greek, Food Rituals Were Everything

My father’s and my favorite dish was lamb and green beans, “arni fasolia” in Greek which is what we called it. My father would take me into the kitchen if he’d made it and give me a spoon to taste immediately, we always thought it was our best try ever. Read More

Hooked on Love

By Jill Vermeire, MFT, CSAT-S, Willow House at The Meadows Program Director You might be a love addict if: You always fall for toxic or unavailable peopleYou would rather be in a bad relationship than be aloneYour life falls apart after every break up Who Doesn’t Want to Be in… Read More

How to (Finally) Find Love in the New Year

By Tracy Harder, MSC, LAC, Workshop Therapist and Andrea Sauceda Do you find yourself ending up in one painful, damaging, and disastrous relationship after another? Do you feel like a failure because you haven’t yet found true love? Do you want to know the secret to finding your soul mate?… Read More

Couples Recovering from Sex Addiction Can Reconnect

By: Dr. Georgia Fourlas, LCSW, LISAC, CSAT, Rio Retreat Center Lead Therapist There is an indescribable beauty in watching participants move into a deeper level of intimacy after struggling through the destruction of sexual addiction. Read More