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

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

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

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

Signs That You Need Help for Sex Addiction

By Dr. Georgia Fourlas, LCSW, LISAC, CSAT Clinical Director of Rio Retreat Center Workshops at The Meadows “Are my sexual behaviors really a problem?” Some people addicted to sex know the answer to that question, even if they refuse to admit it. Other people aren’t so sure. Sometimes, sexual behaviors… Read More

How We Shortchange Men in Trauma and Addiction

By: Dan Griffin, MA When I went to school to learn how to work with people with addictive disorders, I got a lot of great guidance: Brain science. Internal family systems. Motivational Interviewing. Models of change. Working with the criminal justice population. Working with women. Cultural influences on addiction and recovery. Read More

The Link Between Empathy and Addiction

By Kevin McCauley, MD, Senior Fellow at The Meadows I make this shocking statement in my lectures sometimes: “Heroin addicts are sweet people.” I partly say this because I’m an addict and tend to make hyperbolic statements for their emotional impact—which isn’t my best quality. I also do it to… Read More

Michael Phelps Continues to Share His Story

Laying your personal struggles out for the world to see cannot be easy for anyone, but we applaud those who face their issues and seek help for recovery. Michael Phelps has been nothing short of heroic in his swimming accomplishments as well as his ability to be open about the… Read More

Webinar Recap: Addiction Interaction Explained

Dr. Erica Sarr, primary therapist at Gentle Path at The Meadows, facilitated an educational webinar titled Addiction Interaction in Young Adults: Drugs, Sex & Tech for clinical professionals on August 24, 2017. Dr. Sarr, who specializes in the intersection of sexuality, mental health, and technology, touched on topics such as… Read More

Why Seek Drug Addiction Treatment at The Meadows?

For many what starts as recreational or experimental drug use, can rapidly turn into a compulsive and unstoppable dependency. Drugs are chemicals that alter the brain’s reward system by flooding the circuit with dopamine and can drive the compulsive drug abuse that marks addiction. Drug addiction affects the lives of… Read More