This week I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing Jackie Flynn, who is a licensed play therapist and producer of the podcast Parenting In the Rain.  I had such a great time talking with her about the ways that trauma and divorce can effect kids and how mindfulness can really be integrated to create a holding space for them.  Jackie is currently producing a class on parenting through divorce.  Signup for her free resources and course are here: http://jackieflynnconsulting.com/class/ Below are ... Continue Reading

Yes we are addicts. But that's not all we are. We are also amazing, miraculous creations with some very definite value. In this episode we define those miraculous qualities our creator endowed us with and begin to redefine who we are based on these inherent qualities to begin turning away from the negatives of living in the addiction and into the positives of living in our recovery. Honoring our true selves and stepping fully into our recovery and future. Read more at ... Continue Reading

This week we focus on learning to sit with the fear and pain that can create triggers and anxiety and simply face it with courage. We talk about the real meaning of courage in trauma and addictions and learning to pull those scary places from inside of us, sit with them and learn from them. Taking the power out of our scary monsters so that we can move forward past the fear and anxiety. A mindfulness exercise to help with this skill is included this week as well. Read more at ... Continue Reading

Often recovery from addiction means we have to let go of the people and places we have known because they become triggers for poor choices and pain in our lives. If all we have known is addiction it can be difficult, even painful, to begin identifying ourselves outside of that. In this episode we explore the space between the old life full of pain we have left behind and the new being we are moving towards in the future. We begin to visualize ourselves in the cocoon stage and think about ... Continue Reading

This episode goes deeper into guided meditation and mindfulness experience by putting together exercises we have done in the past to bring a fuller experience to your mindfulness and recovery practice. We work here on being able to observe our anxiety and anxious thoughts without attaching to them. With the background music I think you will find this a new level of mindful experience. Read more at http://mindfulrecoverypodcast.libsyn.com/page/1/size/25#iombJmQfOBiqU911.99 ... Continue Reading

This week I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Nazanin Moali who is a practitioner in the LA area specializing in the treatment of adolescent addictions, especially eating disorders.  Her approach is to integrate the family in supporting and motivating the individual and I found her informative and refreshing as I’m sure you will.  Her website is:  http://oasis2care.com/ .  Naz also produces a live internet show that is done in Farsi (her native tongue) and you can find that show here: ... Continue Reading

Becoming the observer is the next step in our mindfulness journey. It involves non-judgementally viewing of our own emotions and places of vulnerability so that we might find where they are rooted and begin to released their hold over us. When we can look at our emotions and behaviors without judgement then we can begin to determine how we would like to act on the world around us rather than reacting to it without thought. We move from judgement and reaction to acceptance and reasoned action. ... Continue Reading

 This week’s guest is Duane Osterlind, LMFT, CSAT who specializes in the treatment of porn and sexual addictions.  This is a burgeoning area in addictions and is often rooted in severe abuse and trauma issues.  Although I have an understanding of process addictions like sexual addiction, gambling addictions, etc I was very excited to be able to sit and speak with Duane who specializes in this area.  The scope of his knowledge is extensive.  You can find his website ... Continue Reading

Opiate addictions are the fastest growing segment of addiction even among the elderly. Too often pain management can lead to relapse and/or to heroin use, which is one of the reasons underlying the increase of heroin use in the U.S. More and more research is beginning to indicate that physical pain is often related to emotional trauma and stress. The body holds on to this trauma and stress triggers pain as a way of signaling us that something is wrong. Research is also indicating that ... Continue Reading

In this episode we look at cravings and triggers. Feel free to download the file about how drugs actually hijack the brain and the craving mechanisms that occur from Harvard Medical school from my website as an additional informational resource. Often addiction and cravings can come on quickly and be rooted in trauma. We also look at the intensity of cravings and try to educate families and loved ones about how this feels for the addict and the amount of courage it can take to resist. Then we ... Continue Reading