Podcasts about unbroken brain a revolutionary new way

Maia Szalavitz is an acclaimed journalist and author renowned for her expertise in neuroscience and addiction. With a career spanning over three decades, she has become one of the most prominent voices in the field, advocating for evidence-based approaches to addiction treatment and policy. Szalavitz's career as a journalist began in the late 1980s. Her work has appeared in numerous prestigious publications, including The New York Times, Time Magazine, The Washington Post, and Scientific American. She has reported extensively on topics ranging from addiction and mental health to neuroscience and public health. Maia Szalavitz is the author of several influential books that have reshaped the public's understanding of addiction and recovery: "Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled-Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids" (2006): This groundbreaking book exposed the harmful practices within the troubled-teen industry, advocating for reforms and better oversight. "Born for Love: Why Empathy Is Essential—and Endangered" (2010), co-authored with Dr. Bruce Perry, explores the science of empathy and its critical role in human development and society. "Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction" (2016): This seminal work challenges conventional views on addiction, presenting it as a learning disorder rather than a moral failing or purely biological disease. The book has been lauded for its compassionate and scientifically grounded approach. "Undoing Drugs: The Untold Story of Harm Reduction and the Future of Addiction" (2021): In this book, Szalavitz chronicles the history and development of the harm reduction movement and advocates for humane and effective drug policies. Maia Szalavitz is a fierce advocate for harm reduction, a set of practical strategies aimed at reducing the negative consequences associated with drug use. Her work has significantly influenced public policy, contributing to a broader acceptance of harm reduction measures such as needle exchange programs, safe consumption spaces, and medication-assisted treatment. Through her writing and public speaking, Szalavitz continues to challenge stigmatizing narratives around addiction, emphasizing the importance of empathy, compassion, and science-based interventions. She has received numerous awards for her journalism and public health contributions, including the American Psychological Association's Award for Excellence in Reporting on Addiction. In this episode, we talk to Maia about: How her personal journey influenced her professional work and views on addiction Key misconceptions about addiction that persist in society today The role of trauma and mental health issues in the development and perpetuation of addiction Addiction as a learning disorder Harm Reduction and Radical Empathy The future of addiction treatment and the evolution of harm reduction in the next 10 to 20 years Signature Question: If you could tell a younger version of yourself something about addiction and/or Harm Reduction - what would it be?   Follow Maia: Website: https://maiasz.com/ Twitter (X): https://x.com/maiasz Books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B001ILFON8   The content of our show is educational only. It does not supplement or supersede your healthcare provider's professional relationship and direction. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified mental health providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition, substance use disorder, or mental health concern.

New York Times best selling author Maia Szalavitz talks about her most recent book, “Undoing Drugs: How Harm Reduction Is Changing the Future of Drugs and Addiction” and the future of drug treatment and policy. Maia's previous New York Times bestseller, Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction wove together neuroscience and social science with her personal experience of heroin addiction. It won the 2018 media award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. She is a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times and has written for numerous other publications, including TIME, Wired, Elle, the Nation, and Scientific American. Maia's many works and contact information can be accessed at Maia Szalavitz. The views and opinions of the guests on this podcast are theirs and theirs alone and do not necessarily represent those of the host, Westwords Consulting or the Kenosha County Substance Abuse Coalition. We're always interested in hearing from individuals or organizations who are working in substance use disorder treatment or prevention, mental health care and other spaces that lift up communities. This includes people living those experiences. If you or someone you know has a story to share or an interesting approach to care, contact us today! Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Subscribe to Our Email List to get new episodes in your inbox every week!

Our SOBERLEBRITY guest on Sober Podcast is Maia Szalavitz. She's a neuroscience journalist, and has authored several books including: New York Times bestseller, Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction, Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids, and her most recent publication - Undoing Drugs: The Untold Story of Harm Reduction and the Future of Addiction.With over 35 years of recovery, Maia is here to share her experience with seeing harm reduction grow over several years and how she views addiction as a learning disorder. We learn that when we focus on stopping people from getting hurt rather than stopping them from getting high, the statistics show that more lives are saved. When she first found sobriety in 1988, the AIDS epidemic was at an all-time high, people were dying. She shares on witnessing many being against supplying clean needles to IV substance users, which was right around the time that needle exchanges started to appear. Total abstinence was the only way to treat addiction Don't miss out on this mind-boggling interview based on several statistics that prove, when it comes to treating addiction, harm reduction is one of our most effective tools!Sober Podcast works on defining recovery one story at a time. We are an addiction podcast and sobriety podcast focused on giving recovery a voice and bringing you enlightening messages of hope every Saturday! Tune in to hear the full interview and find more interviews on www.SoberPodcast.com. If you'd like to reach out to Maia personally, please find her on the following platforms: Twitter: @maiaszWebsite: https://maiasz.com To get in touch with our host, Jamie Brickhouse please find him and his critically acclaimed book, ‘Dangerous When Wet: A Memoir of Booze, Sex, and My Mother on the following outlets:TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jamie_brickhouseFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/jamiebrickhousestoryteller Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamiebrickhouse/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jamiebrickhouse Website: https://www.jamiebrickhouse.com/ Support our host, buy his book: https://linktr.ee/Jamiebrickhouse Visit ‘All Things Sober' on www.SoberVerse.com Support the showContact Sober Podcast: Follow on Instagram: @sobervers Twitter: @soberverse Like us on Facebook! Follow on TikTok: @soberverse Email us at: info@sobernetwork.com www.SoberPodcast.com Thanks for your support! Catch a new Soberlebrity guest every Saturday.

Episode 16 features my interview with "Sam," a heroin addict with an incredible story and an outside the box approach to recovery...that is definitely working for her. Sam also happens to be a former student of mine, and was once the best friend of someone whose story I included in my book. It's powerful and inspiring. And there is good news and gratitude galore, as always. Check it out. You will certainly have something to think about and discuss. Also, don't forget to check out all of the sobriety resources available at The Sober Library. https://soberlibrary.com/ And this is the book recommendation from Sam... Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction https://www.amazon.com/Unbroken-Brain-Revolutionary-Understanding-Addiction-ebook/dp/B014PF3P84/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1665175337&sr=8-1 --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/jay-lind4/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jay-lind4/support

Maia Szalavitz is an award-winning, best-selling author and opinion writer, whose focus is on changing the narrative of addiction and recovery. Two of her books Undoing Drugs: The Untold Story of Harm Reduction and the Future of Addiction and Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction, are among a long list of publications that address this issue. In this podcast, she talks about: Her New York Times opinion piece about Oregon decriminalizing drug possession How external force undermines internal motivation How the Black Lives Matter Movement shows the racial disparities in the justice system That criminal drug laws aren't based on science and how emotions are decision algorithms The debate over decriminalization is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of what actually works Explaining the analogy of addiction to that of falling in love or having a baby; people do crazy things People with addiction are not lazy, they are hurting Trying to punish our way out of addiction is not the answer Why it's important to meet people where they are and welcome them to treatment Not calling doctor prescribed medication Medically Assisted Treatment (MAT) Why we need more expansive definitions of recovery How chronic pain patients are being negatively affected by the opioid epidemic

Maia Szalavitz was introduced to the concept of harm reduction while using illegal drugs in her 20s. A friendly woman advised her to clean the needles with bleach. She claims that kind gesture saved her life even though it was a few years before she kicked the drug habit. Harm reduction has evolved in the last 40 years. New York City just opened the first government-sanctioned supervised injection sites in the country. Can you accept somebody as they are without enabling their harmful behavior to continue? Are they mutually exclusive? Guests: Maia Szalavitz - author of Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction Dr. Leslie Suen - addiction medicine specialist, UCSF Darwin Fisher – Program Manager, Insite Keith Humphreys - addiction researcher, professor, Stanford University School of Medicine David Murray - co-director for the Center for Substance Abuse Policy Research, Hudson Institute Brendan Cox - Director of Policing Strategies, LEAD National Support Bureau

Maia is the author of "Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction," and her latest book, "Undoing Drugs," which we cover in this episode. Much of her reporting and research on harm reduction is informed by her own history of drug addiction, including heroin, which we discuss in detail. She makes a strong case, and the episode is a good complement to the recent one we had with Michael Shellenberger. Get full access to The Weekly Dish at andrewsullivan.substack.com/subscribe

"Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction" Maia Szalavitz, Freelance journalist for the New York Times, TIME.com, VICE, and Scientific American joins The Morning Show with Nikki Medoro to discuss her best selling book.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Maia Szalavitz is among the most brilliant thinkers and writers about psychoactive drug use, addiction, treatment, altered states of consciousness and neuroscience. Her book, Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction, was widely acclaimed for its analysis of addiction as not a crime but a learning disorder. Her latest book, Undoing Drugs, gave us an opportunity to talk about the pioneers in the United States, England and elsewhere who challenged conventional thinking about drug users and addiction, started life-saving programs to prevent HIV transmission and overdose fatalities, and initiated a harm reduction movement that has shaped US and global drug policy.Listen to this episode and let me know what you think. Our number is 1-833-779-2460. Our email is psychoactive@protozoa.com. Or tweet at me, @ethannadelmann. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, author Maia Szalavitz breaks down the helpful and not-so-helpful approaches to drug addiction. She discusses her own journey with addiction, the problems with "tough love," why shame and humiliation don't work, harm reduction, and how other countries have compassionately solved addiction. Plus, Maia and Matthew discuss "pandemic shaming" and the parallels between shaming addicts and “anti-maskers/vaxers” into changing their behavior (hint: shame doesn't work). Maia Szalavitz is the author of the New York Times bestseller, Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction, which is widely recognized as an important advance in thinking about the nature of addiction and how to cope with it, personally and politically. Her book, Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids was the first to expose the damage caused by the “tough love” business that dominates adolescent addiction treatment. She has written for numerous publications from High Times to the New York Times, including TIME, the Washington Post, the Guardian, VICE, Scientific American, and the Atlantic— and she is author or co-author of five other books. With Bruce D. Perry, MD, PhD, she co-wrote the classic work on child trauma, The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog and also Born for Love: Why Empathy Is Essential—And Endangered. She has won awards from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Drug Policy Alliance, the American Psychological Association and the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology for her 30 years of groundbreaking writing on addiction, drug policy and neuroscience. Her new book is Undoing Drugs: The Untold Story of Harm Reduction and the Future of Addiction. Find Maia's collection of books here. Matthew S. Goodman, Ph.D. is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist (PSY32423) and Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences in the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. He is also a writer and filmmaker. Follow his work here: http://matthewgoodmanphd.com or here: https://matthewgoodmanphd.medium.com Watch The Middle Way podcast interviews on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmga5Z4JdHziQjtCdnVhYuw If you enjoy this content, do us a favor and rate, review, and share the podcast with a friend! : ) --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/matthewgoodmanphd/support

This week on Talk Recovery Radio Maia Szalavitz author of “Undoing Drugs: The Untold Story of Harm Reduction and the Future of Addiction” joins the show for a full hour on Co-op Radio and live on Facebook from 12-1pm PST. “Undoing Drugs: The Untold Story of Harm Reduction and the Future of Addiction” About the book: Drug overdoses now kill more Americans annually than guns, cars, or breast cancer. But the United States has tried to solve this national crisis with policies that only made matters worse. In the name of “sending the right message,” we have maximized the spread of infectious disease, torn families apart, incarcerated millions of mostly Black and Brown people—and utterly failed to either prevent addiction or make effective treatment for it widely available. There is another way—one that is proven to work. However it runs counter to much of the received wisdom about substances and related problems. It is called harm reduction. Created by a group of people who use drugs and by radical public health experts, harm reduction offers a new way of thinking—one that provides startling insights into behavioral and cultural issues that go far beyond drugs. When someone reads Maia's book they get to learn about the history of harm reduction and this is one of the first books about that topic. It talks about first stopping drug users from getting hurt which ultimately does not stop them from getting high. Harm reduction focuses on harm does not focus on use. Maia talks about the origins of harm reduction and how she visited Liverpool where the people created harm reduction almost as a movement. Maia Szalavitz About the Author: Maia Szalavitz is the author of the New York Times bestseller, Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction, which is widely recognized as an important advance in thinking about the nature of addiction and how to cope with it, personally and politically. Her book, Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids was the first to expose the damage caused by the “tough love” business that dominates adolescent addiction treatment. She has written for numerous publications from High Times to the New York Times, including TIME, the Washington Post, the Guardian, VICE, Scientific American, and the Atlantic— and she is author or co-author of five other books. With Bruce D. Perry, MD, PhD, she co-wrote the classic work on child trauma, The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog and also Born for Love: Why Empathy Is Essential—And Endangered. She has won awards from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Drug Policy Alliance, the American Psychological Association and the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology for her 30 years of groundbreaking writing on addiction, drug policy and neuroscience. Maia speaks on the science and research behind medication which is if you stay on it for a long time, you have a 50% reduction in your death rate of all causes, not just overdoses. Maia says that does not mean everyone should be on methadone or suboxone, it means this is the only 2 things that we have proven to reduce mortality and it is very important when society knows about the supply of fentanyl and other synthetic drugs. Maia says some people may not find the right dose for them, or some may not want to deal with the hassle it takes for some people to get their medication daily. Maia says everyone needs to make their own decision, but they need to make an informed decision. Maia explains harm reduction and the purpose of it is to meet someone where they are at. Maia is a person in recovery, who has attended an abstinence-based treatment centre says she was extremely opposed to methadone and suboxone. Maia says that this is an issue very close to her heart but she really feels like she has to look at the data, but this can not be a one size fits all topic, she says people can not be forced onto medication and people need to have options. Maia says there is many ways to become addicted so there needs to be many ways out of addiction as well. Maia says treating people poorly does not help them when they are in need, locked them up does not help them Maia also says coerced treatment does not help people, she says when you have a group of people talking about their trauma as a child and half the room does not wan to be there Maia says it is not a very conducive therapeutic environment. Talk Recovery Radio is powered by New West Recovery, Last Door is a non-profit organization that has been in operation since 1984. www.TalkRecoveryRadio.com If you'd like to learn more about our work and approach, get in touch with us online or by phone at: Website: https://lastdoor.org/ Email: info@lastdoor.org Help line: 1-855-465-2851

Harm Reduction is exactly what it sounds like, the desire to reduce harm. If you are not actively wanting to do harm there is no reason to oppose the ideas around harm reduction. We are looking to have a system that treats people with more respect than it currently does. Does that mean when we get you to treat people better, we will stop, no it doesn't. Because when you treat people a little better, we will ask you to once again reevaluate and treat people even better than that. Maia mentions in this episode 2 things I want to point to specifically. 1. That to practice harm reduction we have to look at risks in context and identify what harms we are looking to reduce. 2. If you are treating someone with respect and dignity you are practicing harm reduction. Maia Szalavitz is the author of 3 books Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids, Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction, and her latest from Hachette Go Undoing Drugs: The Untold Story of Harm Reduction and the Future of Addiction. Maia Szalavitz is the author of 3 books Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction and her latest from Hachette GoUndoing Drugs: The Untold Story of Harm Reduction and the Future of Addiction Questions for treatment center groups 1. What are the rules you have around for yourself around using your DOC? How do those rules affect how you have treated others in respect to relationships similar to that which you have to your DOC? Can you approach that in a more respectful way? 2. What are the rules of your treatment center around intoxication? How does that affect your relationship with your treatment center? 3. How have you been treated on your journey into recovery? What aspects of that were most helpful? Least helpful? Why? o Patreon https://www.patreon.com/RecoverYourself o Instagram https://www.instagram.com/martinjon/ o Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MartinJonRecoveryMentor o LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/martinjonarts/ o Anchor https://anchor.fm/martinjon o Pandora https://www.pandora.com/podcast/description/recover-yourself/PC:29611 o Apple Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/recover-yourself/id1465440178 o Amazon https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/93c9f241-bbaa-45ff-80ea-7e6d6cc6f2b2/Recover-Yourself o Link Tree https://linktr.ee/martinjon o Venmo: MartinJon_Garcia --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/martinjon/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/martinjon/support

Hollywood feeds viewers a lot of problematic stereotypes regarding drug use, perhaps none as misleading as the notorious speedball. Users who combine heroin with a stimulant like methamphetamine or cocaine to create a single injectable liquid are said to be "speedballing," and when it is depicted on television or in books, it is used as the proverbial rock bottom of addiction, the final stop along the train of illogical and uncontrollable drug use. But injectable speedballs are actually pretty uncommon in the drug world. The ways these drugs are prepared and the way the work in the body usually makes combining them a hassle most of us don't bother with; we just shoot them up one-after-the-other.But there are also a lot of reasons why we are tempted to use these drugs together. The chemicals which compose the individual parts of the speedball concoction compliment one another in ways that entice users. They fill the gaps in each other's affects; they both have properties which the other lacks.Check out the research mentioned in this episode here: Kent Berridge & Terry Robinson, "Liking, Wanting & the Sensitization Theory of Addiction."Kent Berridge, "The Debate over Dopamine's Role in Reward: The Case for Incentive Salience." Kent Berridge, "Evolving Concepts of Emotion and Motivation." Maia Szalavitz, Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction. For Donald Klein's ideas about the Thrill of the hunt/feast, see Peter Kramer, Listening to Prozac

Roughly 35 years ago, harm reduction saved Maia Szalavitz's life. It was 1986 in the East Village, and though Maia was an Ivy League kid who read two newspapers a day, she had no idea that her regular intravenous heroin use put her at risk for HIV. Thanks to a chance encounter, though, Maia learned about some simple harm reduction practices that helped her stay alive through that deadly epidemic.In the years since, Maia has become an award-winning author and journalist well-known for covering addiction, neuroscience, and harm reduction. Her most recent book, Undoing Drugs, is a sweeping, ambitious, yet tightly plotted and fast-paced history of harm reduction, ranging across the globe to tell a vivid history of harm reduction as a revolutionary movement. I was lucky to have her on the podcast to talk about the story of harm reduction, the elements that she argues makes it a truly revolutionary paradigm, and how her own lived experience with addiction and a drive for justice has motivated her work.Maia Szalavitz is the author of the New York Times bestseller, Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction, which received the 2018 media award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Her earlier book, Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids, was the first to expose the damage caused by the “tough love” business that dominates youth treatment and helped spur Congressional hearings on the matter. She has also authored or co-authored six other books, including the classic on child trauma, The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog (with Bruce. D. Perry). Her numerous essays and features have appeared from High Times to the New York Times. Her latest book, Undoing Drugs: The Untold Story of Harm Reduction and the Future of Addiction, is available now. Her website is https://maiasz.com/ and you can find her on TwitterIn this episode: - A simple yet powerful indictment of our current situation: “You can't criminalize and destigmatize something at the same time"- Her definition of harm reduction, and how harm reduction goes beyond concrete practices to notions of justice.- How to think about coercion in addiction treatment, and how her own experience showcases the excesses and harms of the criminal legal system today. (See also her piece on the history of “tough-love” and its roots in a bizarre cult from decades ago)  - How harm reduction is not in conflict with traditional 12-step recovery, and her stories of early harm reduction pioneers who were also active in 12-step recovery. (see also this oral history with Richard Elovich, as well as “25 years of AIDS”, a great panel discussion from 2006 featuring Allan Clear and several others—including Larry Kramer sparring with Tony Fauci)- The need for an ACT UP for people with addiction- The ways activism is part of flourishing in recovery: “"you have less space in your head to be obsessing about the drugs all the time when you're working on the activism" (about VANDU, the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users)- What the Biden administration is getting right about harm reduction, and what it's missing. Sign up for my newsletter for regular updates on new material and other writings.

This month we are debunking the myth "once a junkie, always a junkie." This episode is a discussion between our host, Tim Light, and featured guests Maia Szalavitz, journalist and best-selling author of " Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction, " and Savannah Eley, Opioid Prevention Specialist for Southeastern Utah Health Department.

The following is a conversation between Maia Szalavitz, Author of Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction, and Denver Frederick, the Host of The Business of Giving. Drug overdoses now kill more Americans annually than guns, cars, or breast cancer. Yet despite this, our understanding of addiction is stuck with ideas from a bygone era. My next guest has explored new ways to understand addiction from viewing it as a learning disorder, as she did in her groundbreaking book Unbroken Brain, to the idea of harm reduction, which will be central to her new book coming out next year titled Undoing Drugs. She is Author and Neuroscience Journalist Maia Szalavitz, who's with us now.

Featuring Maia Szalavitz (@maiasz), Award-Winning Neuroscience Journalist; and Author of Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction; Leana S. Wen, MD, MSc, (@DrLeanaWen) Visiting Professor of Health Policy and Management, Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University; and Distinguished Fellow, Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity; moderated by Jeffrey A. Singer, MD, Senior Fellow, Cato Institute.Related Content: Americans Have Always Politicized Public Health See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode I interview Maia Szalavitz, author of Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction. In these pandemic times, problematic drug use is on the rise. Alcohol sales are skyrocketing, and more than ever we need to understand the root causes of addiction and how to help those who are suffering.

Maia Szalavitz is an American reporter and author who has focused much of her work on the topic of addiction. She is the co-author of Born for Love and The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog, both with Dr. Bruce D. Perry. Her latest book is Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction In this paradigm-shifting interview, Maia Szalavitz explains that addiction is a learning disorder, a developmental disorder, which is a different way of thinking of addiction than it being a disease or a moral failing.Need help with completing your goals in 2019? The One You Feed Transformation Program can help you accomplish your goals this year.But wait – there’s more! The episode is not quite over!! We continue the conversation and you can access this exclusive content right in your podcast player feed. Head over to our Patreon page and pledge to donate just $10 a month. It’s that simple and we’ll give you good stuff as a thank you!In This Interview, Maia Szalavitz and I Discuss…Her book, Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding AddictionThat your brain becomes what it does – that the more you repeat an activity, the easier it becomesHow addiction is a developmental disorder and how learning is critical to addictionThe problems with discussion about addiction as a diseaseArguing that addiction is a disease and then treating it like a moral failingAddiction resets your priorities and causes one to make different decisionsAddiction = compulsive behavior that continues despite negative consequencesHow illogical it is then to try and address addiction by focusing on implementing additional negative consequencesThe complexity of addiction, genes + culture + timingThe developmental history that gets you to addictionHow the drug isn’t the problem and our efforts to get rid of it isn’t a helpful solutionAddiction as a learning disorder that is characterized by a resistance to punishmentThe problem with “rock bottom” is it’s not helpful scientifically, and it implies a moral component of having to reach a point of extreme degradation before you can stop.What the motivation is that turns people to recoveryHow addicts keep using because they can’t see how they can survive any other wayRecovery begins when you start to see that there are other optionsPeople with addiction are living at a point of learned helplessnessThe role of hope and other ways of managing their lifeAddiction as a coping mechanismThe pleasures of the hunt vs the pleasures of the feastWanting vs LikingDifferent motivational statesAddiction as escalating wantingStimulants and chasing that satisfactionThe effectiveness and usefulness of 12 Step ProgramsThe role of medicine in a developmental disorderLooking at addicts as students who need to learn better coping skills rather than sinners who need to be forced to repent.Maia Szalavitz Links:maiasz.comTwitter Calm app – Reduce your anxiety and stress and help you sleep better. Meditations for anxiety, adult bedtime stories, soothing music, calm masterclasses with many One You Feed Guests. Visit www.calm.com/wolf for 25% off a Calm Premium SubscriptionPeloton – Looking for a new way to get your cardio in? The Peloton bike will make you rethink the way you look at cycling classes! Visit onepeloton.com and enter Promo code “WOLF” to get $100 off of accessories with purchase of a bike. Westin – Westin resorts have wellness offerings that are curated just for you to help you eat, move and sleep well. Explore at westin.comIf you enjoyed this conversation with Maia Szalavitz, you might also enjoy these other episodes!Dr. Gabor Mate’Judson Brewer

Pete is stuck in the meta-cognitive gap while Tommy saves a listener from sweet, sweet perfection. This week's tune: Slide by Simon Osterhold Sponsor: This week's show is brought to you by Audible. Get a free audiobook to spice up your morning shower at AudibleTrial.com/ScentofaPodcast. From there, search for Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction by Maia Szalavitz! Or any book you please! Whatever you pick, you can sleep well knowing that you’re supporting the show … also, did you leave the stove on this morning?

Maia Szalavitz is the author of the New York Times bestseller, Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction, which is widely recognized as an important advance in thinking about the nature of addiction and how to cope with it, personally and politically. Her book, Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids was the first to expose the damage caused by the “tough love” business that dominates adolescent addiction treatment. She has written for numerous publications from High Times to the New York Times, including TIME, the Washington Post, the Guardian, VICE, Scientific American, and the Atlantic— and she is author or co-author of five other books. With Bruce D. Perry, MD, PhD, she co-wrote the classic work on child trauma, The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog and also Born for Love: Why Empathy Is Essential— And Endangered. She has won awards from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Drug Policy Alliance, the American Psychological Association and the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology for her 30 years of groundbreaking writing on addiction, drug policy and neuroscience.

Maia Szalavitz is the author of the New York Times bestseller, Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction, which is widely recognized as an important advance in thinking about the nature of addiction and how to cope with it, personally and politically. Her book, Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids was the first to expose the damage caused by the “tough love” business that dominates adolescent addiction treatment. She has written for numerous publications from High Times to the New York Times, including TIME, the Washington Post, the Guardian, VICE, Scientific American, and the Atlantic— and she is author or co-author of five other books. With Bruce D. Perry, MD, PhD, she co-wrote the classic work on child trauma, The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog and also Born for Love: Why Empathy Is Essential— And Endangered. She has won awards from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Drug Policy Alliance, the American Psychological Association and the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology for her 30 years of groundbreaking writing on addiction, drug policy and neuroscience.

Maia Szalavitz is the author of the New York Times bestseller, Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction, which is widely recognized as an important advance in thinking about the nature of addiction and how to cope with it, personally and politically. Her book, Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids was the first to expose the damage caused by the “tough love” business that dominates adolescent addiction treatment. She has written for numerous publications from High Times to the New York Times, including TIME, the Washington Post, the Guardian, VICE, Scientific American, and the Atlantic— and she is author or co-author of five other books. With Bruce D. Perry, MD, PhD, she co-wrote the classic work on child trauma, The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog and also Born for Love: Why Empathy Is Essential— And Endangered. She has won awards from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Drug Policy Alliance, the American Psychological Association and the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology for her 30 years of groundbreaking writing on addiction, drug policy and neuroscience.

The CFHA (Collaborative Family Healthcare Association) podcast team gets off to a rocking start with team introductions and our first "In The News" segment where we riff off of the latest news impacting the world of healthcare and integrated care. Show notes are below! News Articles: Neftali - https://www.samhsa.gov/health-information-technology/laws-regulations-guidelines Jeff - https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-study-shows-steep-increase-rate-alcohol-related-er-visits Grace - https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/891504 Deepu - https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/what-ive-learned-from-my-tally-of-757-doctor-suicides/2018/01/12/b0ea9126-eb50-11e7-9f92-10a2203f6c8d_story.html Pamela Wible's Ted Talk: https://www.tedmed.com/talks/show?id=528918 Other resources referenced: Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction by Maia Szalavitz Author's website: http://maiasz.com/books/unbroken-brain/ NPR Fresh Air feature: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/07/07/485087604/unbroken-brain-explains-why-tough-treatment-doesnt-help-drug-addicts The Heart and the Bottle by Oliver Jeffers Author's website: http://www.oliverjeffers.com/picture-books/heart-and-the-bottle A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of a Course in Miracles by Marianne Williamson Author's website: https://marianne.com/a-return-to-love/

This week, the girls talk to Maia Szalavitz; a neuroscience journalist and author of the New York Times bestseller, Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction. Maia specializes in covering the intersection between brain and behavior and how social factors like inequality get under the skin. She is the author or co-author of six other books and writes for major publications including the Guardian, TIME, the New York Times, Scientific American Mind, the Washington Post, VICE and Pacific Standard.

Maia Szalavitz is an American reporter and author who has focused much of her work on the topic of addiction. In this paradigm-shifting interview, she explains what she means by claiming that addiction is a learning disorder, a developmental disorder. It's a different way of thinking of addiction than it being a disease or a moral failing. As a result, it has different implications for how it should then be treated. Some of what Maia has to say is polarising and some will immediately make intuitive sense and you'll ask yourself why you haven't thought that way before. Take a listen to what she has to say and let us know what you think.Maia Szalavitz is one of the premier American journalists covering addiction and drugs. She is co-author of Born for Love and The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog, both with Dr. Bruce D. Perry. Her book, Help at Any Cost is the first book-length exposé of the “tough love” business that dominates addiction treatment. She writes for TIME.com, VICE, the New York Times, Scientific American Mind, Elle, Psychology Today and Marie Claire among others.Her latest book is Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction In This Interview, Maia Szalavitz and I Discuss...The Wolf ParableHer book, Unbroken Brain: Why Addiction is a Learning Disorder and Why it MattersThat your brain becomes what it does - that the more you repeat an activity, the easier it becomesHow addiction is a developmental disorderThat learning is critical to addictionThe problems with discussion about addiction as a diseaseArguing that addiction is a disease and then treating it like a moral failingHow addiction resets your priorities and therefore you'll make very different decisionsAddiction = compulsive behavior that continues despite negative consequencesHow illogical it is then to try and address addiction by focusing on implementing additional negative consequencesThe complexity of addiction, genes + culture + timingThe developmental history that gets you to addictionHow the drug isn't the problem and our efforts to simply get rid of it isn't a helpful solutionAddiction as a learning disorder that is characterized by a resistance to punishmentThe problem with "rock bottom" is that it can only be identified retrospectively, it's not helpful scientifically, and it implies a moral component of having to reach a point of extreme degradation before you can stopWhat the motivation is that turns people to recoveryHow addicts keep using because they can't see how they can survive any other way and recovery begins when you start to see that there are other optionsThat people with addiction are living at a point of learned helplessness, so the role of hope and other ways of managing their life is critical to recovery and it can start before they quit their drug(s) of choiceAddiction as a coping mechanismThe pleasures of the hunt vs the pleasures of the feastWanting vs LikingDifferent motivational statesAddiction as escalating wantingStimulants and an escalating cycle of never being satisfied and chasing that satisfaction12 Step Programs: are they effective? are they useful?The role of medicine in a developmental disorderLooking at addicts as students who need to learn better coping skills rather than sinners who need to be forced to repentThat people who are addicted are PEOPLE and we need to treat them that way

Maia Szalavitz, reporter and author, joins us to talk about her new book "Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction". In addition to arguing that "drug laws are historical accidents", Szalavitz takes the position that more people than ever before see themselves as addicted to, or recovering from, addiction, whether it be alcohol or drugs, prescription meds, sex, gambling, porn, or the internet. But despite the unprecedented attention, our understanding of addiction is trapped in unfounded 20th century ideas, addiction as a crime or as brain disease, and in equally outdated treatment. Join us for our exclusive interview with Maia as she works to break the mold and bring society's understanding of addiction up to date.

Today we travel to a future where all drugs are legal. Just roll up to the store, and get yourself some cocaine!    We start with some history: for centuries a world without drug laws existed. Mark Kleiman, a professor at NYU who studies drug policy, explains that fear of drugs, and the desire to regulate them, really started in the last 1800’s. The rise of industry, advances in chemistry, and the invention of the hypodermic needle all fueled a rise in drug use and in drug fears.     Today, of course, some drugs are legal and others aren’t. Alcohol, tobacco, caffeine and pharmaceuticals are all legal. You probably already know what’s not.     But why are certain drugs legal in the United States and others not? The answer isn’t really science or public health research, but rather historical precedent and racism. Maia Szalavitz, the author of a book called Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction, walks us through some of the racist campaigns against drugs that linked most of them with “violent” people of color. Take this New York Times story from 1914, headlined ““Negro Cocaine ‘Fiends’ Are a New Southern Menace: Murder and Insanity Increasing Among Lower Class Blacks Because They Have Taken to ‘Sniffing Since Deprived of Whiskey by Prohibition.’” White people said that drug use would make white women sleep with black, asian and latino men. That cocaine made black men impervious to bullets, and make them murder whites at the slightest provocation.     Today, the legacy of those racist ideas is still with us in the form of both drug laws and stereotypes about what a drug user looks like. Which impacts who goes to jail for drugs and who doesn’t.     Here are some statistics: in America, white people and black people are equally likely to use drugs. But black Americans are arrested at twice the rate of white americans for drug crimes. Not only that, but black Americans are more likely to be offered a plea deal that involves prison time than whites are for the same crimes, and are more likely to serve longer sentences than white Americans for the same offense.     Here’s another way to look at it: Black Americans represent 12% of monthly drug users, but comprise 32% of persons arrested for drug possession. And when we’re looking at drug arrests, it’s a huge number of people. Between 1993 and 2011 there were 30 million arrests for drug crimes in the United States, and 24 million of those were for possession of drugs, not selling them.     And while Mark and Maia disagree on a lot of things regarding drug policy, this was one thing they actually agreed on: they both think that possession of small amounts of drugs should be decriminalized.     And I talked to a third person for this episode who agrees. And he’s not someone you’d expect to do so. Officer Tim Johnson, a retired cop. Tim is part of a program called LEAP, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. He joined as soon as he retired, because despite making a whole lot of drug arrests while he was a cop, he didn’t feel like they were actually making a difference. And there’s data to support that feeling. Studies have shown that while we’ve arrested a whole lot of people for drug possession, the rate of drug abuse hasn’t gone down. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Maia Szalavitz is an author and award-winning journalist specializing in science, public policy, and addiction treatment. Most famous of her several books was her 2006 exposé, Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled–Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids. Her latest book is Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction.   As a recovering addict herself, Szalavitz knows about the stigma of addiction first hand. She spent much of her teen and young adult life addicted to drugs like heroin and cocaine, but now with over 20 years of sobriety under her belt she’s dedicated a large portion of her career to investigating and reporting addiction treatment. Szalavitz’s research suggests that addiction is actually an emotional learning disorder, which, if true, could revolutionize not only the way we treat addiction but also the way we perceive addiction treatment.   

Maia Szalavitz is an award-winning neuroscience journalist who knows addictions research and policy inside out. But she has also struggled with addiction to cocaine and heroin, a journey that took her from dealing drugs in glamourous nightclubs in the 1980s to jail to rehab to getting kicked out of college. The result of her remarkable story is a one-of-a-kind perspective and a groundbreaking new book: Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction. This week: Savvy Psychologist Dr. Ellen Hendriksen and author Maia Szalavitz in conversation. Read the full transcript here: http://bit.ly/23GdJfe