Today I have the opportunity to interview Howard Samuels, Psy.D., author of “Alive Again: Recovering from Alcoholism and Drug Addiction” on the topic of managing addiction, stress, and anxiety during the holidays. Dr. Samuels is the founder and president of the prestigious The Hills Treatment Center in Los Angeles. He is an internationally renowned recovery expert...

By the time Christmas carols play on three radio stations and the windows of department stores are dressed with red and green glitter, a majority of the human race will have elevated Cortisol levels, the stress hormone that does a good job of preserving us from life-threatening events, but can disrupt almost all of the...

Sticks and stone may break your bones, but words can change your brain. That’s right. According to Andrew Newberg, M.D. and Mark Robert Waldman, words can literally change your brain. In their book, “Words Can Change Your Brain,” they write: “a single word has the power to influence the expression of genes that regulate physical...

Mason Cooley once wrote: “The cure for an obsession: get another one.” That’s about as good advice as any that I’ve heard on how to quiet the annoying voices inside your head. They nag, persist, harass, and endure longer than your patience or composure. I haven’t been very successful at managing mine, as I’m usually...

Thanksgiving is a time when even the most begrudging among us stops to name those things for which he is grateful. Gratitude and appreciation are two weapons we can use against depression and anxiety. In fact, Dan Baker writes in his book, “What Happy People Know” that it is impossible to be in a state...