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Treatment

The Dark Side of Fake Sugar

It doesn’t take much effort to see that there is a myriad of “sugar-free” food products available to consumers today. In fact, for many of the regular food items available, there is likely an alternative option that is sugar-free. In addition, all your favorite drinks, including teas, coffees, sodas, even… Read More

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

What I Wish I’d Known as a Teenager

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Sexual violence can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance use disorder, depression, and other trauma-related problems. What I know now: if you have to ask yourself whether sex was consensual, it wasn’t. By definition, the idea of consent means that you would know. This is a message many of my friends and I desperately needed to hear. If I had, when I experienced sexual assault with a boyfriend in my late twenties, I might have known to call it what it was. I believe that we should take the “date” off “date rape” because it seems to minimize the assault. I’d later develop PTSD as a result. 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

Colorful Foods Improve Health and Well-Being

By Kristin Kirkpatrick, MS, RDN, Senior Fellow of Meadows Behavioral  Last month, I celebrated National Nutrition Month by asking each of you to dedicate more than just 31 days to get your diet back on track. To truly feel better, you should focus on well-balanced eating year-round. This month, we… 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

Somatic Experiencing: Resilience, Regulation, and Self

Note: This article was originally published in the Summer 2005 edition of Cutting Edge, the online newsletter of The Meadows. Somatic Experiencing: Resilience, Regulation, and SelfBy Peter A. Levine, Ph.D., Clinical Consultant for The Meadows and Mellody House My life’s work, encompassing nearly four decades, as a stress researcher and… Read More