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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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.