Dr Tian Dayton is the author of Emotional Sobriety: From Relationship Trauma to Resilience and Balance and twelve other books and numerous articles.She has been a national speaker for twenty years doing keynotes on a variety of subjects related to addiction, psychology and psychodrama.Her work in psychodrama has been featured on film, TV ad documentaries. She is the director of The New York Psychodrama Training Institute. For more information on Dr. Dayton log onto tiandayton.com.

Dr. Tian Dayton, has a doctorate in clinical psychology, an M.A. in educational psychology, and is a fellow and "Scholar's Award" recipient from the American Society of Psychodrama, Sociometery, and Group Psychotherapy.SHe taught psychodrama at NYU for eight years and is a regular guest expert on TV and radio appearing on MSNBC, CNN, CBS, John Walsh, Ricki Lake, Montel and Geraldo.

Blog Entries by Dr. Tian Dayton

Dianne Schuler: When Denial Costs Lives

Posted November 9, 2009 | 04:29 PM (EST)


Denial is a dangerous thing, it can leave families shattered and broken, make perfectly good lives sail off track and in the case of Dianne Schuler, it can be the direct cause of eight deaths.

In the case of Dianne Schuler the denial is apparently over. A New York...

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Laughter Yoga? Can We Laugh Our Way To Fitness?

Posted October 30, 2009 | 04:21 PM (EST)



Laughter is inner jogging
Norman Cousins

We love the people who make us laugh. Whether it's the class clown the funny guy at the office or a favorite, zany old Aunt, we value humor so highly that we forgive those who tickle our...

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The Growing Problem of Adolescent Addiction: NYC Wants to Create a "Recovery High School"

1 Comments | Posted October 16, 2009 | 04:47 PM (EST)


How are these for some chilling statistics?

The number of teens entering treatment for addictive disorders has jumped 65% since 1992.

And if that's not disturbing enough, the average age of teens needing treatment is currently 15 years old. By 15, these kids lives are seriously threatened and...

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6 Year Old Zachary Christie Sentenced to 45 Days in Reform School for Bringing Camping Knife to School ... to Eat Lunch With

23 Comments | Posted October 13, 2009 | 10:01 AM (EST)


Those of us who are parents, who raised little boys who wanted to be Daniel Boone foraging through the wilderness, independent, capable and ready for adventure, have chills running down our spines. What if our little boys had slipped their cherished Swiss Army Knives into their pockets and wound up...

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Why Do Some ACOAs Thrive in Spite of the Odds?

1 Comments | Posted October 1, 2009 | 10:12 AM (EST)


In my previous blog we outlined the problematic qualities that can develop when growing up with addiction. But ACOA's can also often develop powerful strengths from facing and overcoming childhood challenges. This a good thing for all of us as several of our recent presidents, e.g. Reagan, Clinton and Obama...

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Adult Children of Alcoholics ACoAs: Qualities and Traits

12 Comments | Posted September 25, 2009 | 06:35 PM (EST)


September is national recovery month so I thought I'd blog about a population most dear to my heart, ACoAs.

Shows like Intervention along with celebrity after celebrity photographed in sunglasses entering various treatment centers..... has gone a long way to break down walls when it comes to looking at the...

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How We Learn Emotional Coping Skills

1 Comments | Posted September 19, 2009 | 08:30 AM (EST)


Once the idea of dysfunctional families took hold in the eighties and we began to examine our childhoods for sources of our problems today, the line between dysfunctional and healthy families got pretty blurred. People began to identify in droves with "dysfunctional families". But understanding the limited brain development...

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Tough Guy Soprano Joey Pantoliano Goes to Iraq

2 Comments | Posted September 5, 2009 | 08:58 AM (EST)


Many of you know Joey Pantoliano (or Joey Pants) as the tough guy Ralph from The Sopranos or the sharp and capable Cosmo, assistant to Tommy Lee Jones, from the popular movies The Fugitive and U.S. Marshals. But today at noon Joey will be broadcasting from Iraq on nkm2.org,...

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Creating A False Self: Learning To Live A Lie

24 Comments | Posted August 26, 2009 | 08:20 AM (EST)


Why Would Someone Create a False Self?

We all, to some extent, cultivate a false self for protection, but most of us are aware of it, we know we're putting on a bit of an act in certain situations. But those whose false self functioning has become compulsive and unconscious...

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Diane Schuler: The Heartbreak of Denial

8 Comments | Posted August 15, 2009 | 07:48 AM (EST)


An August 13th, New York Post article Blood is not Thicker than Alcohol reports that, "William Hance, was enraged not just that his sister, Diane Schuler, had guzzled vodka and smoked pot while driving his kids -- but that her husband, Daniel, concocted bizarre medical excuses to try to explain...

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Diane Schuler: Further Discussion

5 Comments | Posted August 9, 2009 | 08:56 AM (EST)


The Chinese have a saying .........

"First the man takes the drink, then the drink takes the drink, then the drink takes the man."

These eighteen words tell the story of addiction.

It is not about blame, blame doesn't help. It is not about moral weakness even, the...

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Diane Schuler: The Sad Legacy of Alcohol and Drug Abuse

49 Comments | Posted August 5, 2009 | 12:25 PM (EST)


On July 26, Diane Schuler entered a busy upstate highway going the wrong direction with her 2-year-old daughter and three young nieces, ages 8, 7 and 5, in the car with her. All were killed when she collided with a SUV, going the right way down the same highway. The...

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Narcissism In A Bottle: The Self-Centeredness Of Addiction

20 Comments | Posted August 2, 2009 | 08:09 AM (EST)


Over the years I have listened to a sort of running monologue from clients who grew up with an addicted parent. It goes something like this: "I felt like it was all about them, like what was going on inside of me was sort of invisible, like what they wanted...

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Codependency Pt 2: An Incomplete Sense of Self

2 Comments | Posted July 26, 2009 | 07:21 PM (EST)


To Review: In my previous blog The Biology of Codependency we discussed that.... In high states of fear the prefrontal cortex (read: our thinking brain) temporarily shuts down while our limbic (read: feeling/sensing brain) goes on high alert. This means that we retain our ability to scan our environment...

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The Benefits To This Recession

1 Comments | Posted July 18, 2009 | 12:23 PM (EST)


Some friends and I were sinking into that backdrop of twilight sky, flickering lights and people in motion that make eating outside in this city so strangely cozy and entertaining...and we got to talking. There are some benefits to this recession when it comes to returning New York City to...

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Why New York City is Good for the Brain

2 Comments | Posted July 10, 2009 | 03:28 PM (EST)


Our brains love to be challenged and stimulated. Tourists and settlers alike, seeking adventure, culture and business are ever flooding this city because something about New York does just that, challenges and stimulates us...and our brains.

It's "use it or lose it" when it comes to building brain fitness,...

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The Biology of Codependency

3 Comments | Posted July 4, 2009 | 06:52 AM (EST)




Joke:
If heaven has two doors one saying "Heaven" and one saying "Lecture on Heaven" the codependents are the ones lined up in front of the "lecture on heaven".
Codependents tend to be unsure of their own minds, they have put...

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Money Addiction

1 Comments | Posted June 28, 2009 | 07:07 AM (EST)



Money, like a genie in a bottle, has the ability to morph into any shape and help us make our most startling dreams come true. Money can buy stuff, status and sometimes even people.
Let's face it, money makes you feel special. The red carpet treatment can...

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Take a Cue in Life from Angela Lansbury

1 Comments | Posted June 18, 2009 | 09:35 AM (EST)


I would have gladly gone to The Shubert Theater to see Noel Coward's "Blithe Spirit" last month just to see Angela Lansbury take her curtain call. Her absolutely infectious and charming rendition of Madame Arcati was a complete pleasure if not honor to witness, but it was her eyes that...

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Six Proven Ways to Feel Better

Posted June 1, 2009 | 06:34 AM (EST)


Want to smooth out those frayed edges, lower your stress level the natural way or just plain feel good? Try these research proven ways to bring both your body and mind into balance, find out which ones work for you and make them part of your weekly emotional fitness regime.

...
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