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.

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In This Interview, Maia Szalavitz and I Discuss…

• Her book,  Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction
• That your brain becomes what it does – that the more you repeat an activity, the easier it becomes
• How addiction is a developmental disorder and how learning is critical to addiction
• The problems with discussion about addiction as a disease
• Arguing that addiction is a disease and then treating it like a moral failing
• Addiction resets your priorities and causes one to make different decisions
• Addiction = compulsive behavior that continues despite negative consequences
• How illogical it is then to try and address addiction by focusing on implementing additional negative consequences
• The complexity of addiction, genes + culture + timing
• The developmental history that gets you to addiction
• How the drug isn’t the problem and our efforts to get rid of it isn’t a helpful solution
• Addiction as a learning disorder that is characterized by a resistance to punishment
• The 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 recovery
• How addicts keep using because they can’t see how they can survive any other way
• Recovery begins when you start to see that there are other options
• People with addiction are living at a point of learned helplessness
• The role of hope and other ways of managing their life
• Addiction as a coping mechanism
• The pleasures of the hunt vs the pleasures of the feast
• Wanting vs Liking
• Different motivational states
• Addiction as escalating wanting
• Stimulants and chasing that satisfaction
• The effectiveness and usefulness of 12 Step Programs
• The role of medicine in a developmental disorder
• Looking 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.com

Twitter 

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Eric Tivers is a licensed clinical social worker, coach, podcaster, speaker, consultant, and entrepreneur. He specializes in ADHD and has worked extensively with individuals on the autism spectrum. His podcast is ADHD reWired and in this episode, Eric and Eric talk about the experience of being an Adult with ADHD.

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, Eric Tivers and I Discuss…

• How he separates “mind” and “brain”
• ADHD in Adults
• Impulsivity and Hyperactivity
• Inattention and Distractibility
• How people with ADHD aren’t lazy – according to brain scans
• The diagnostic criteria for ADHD
• The multimodal treatment approach for ADHD
• His experience with Adderall
• The lie of “I’ll remember that”
• Time wisdom
• The importance of Exercise, Sleep 
• Separate decision from action
• The wisdom in flipping a coin
• A disorder of self-regulation
• Accountability
• The anatomy of a to-do list
• Vision verbing
• Why cue
• Life on hard mode – but we can do hard things

Eric Tivers Links:

ADHDreWired.com

Twitter

Facebook

YouTube

Blinkist – Do you have an ever-growing list of books to read? Blinkist can help! With thousands of non-fiction books distilled down to their most salient points that you can consume in 15 minutes or less go to www.blinkist.com/wolf for a 7-day free trial.

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Adyashanti is an American born spiritual teacher devoted to serving the awakening of all beings. His teachings are an open invitation to stop, inquire, and recognize what is true and liberating at the core of all existence. Adyashanti also runs the Omega retreat which Eric has taken part in many times. In this episode, Eric and Adya talk about his latest book, The Most Important Thing: Discovering Truth at the Heart of Life.

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, Adyashanti and I Discuss…

• His book, The Most Important Thing: Discovering Truth at the Heart of Life
• Attention and Intention
• The inquiry at any given time: Where are we giving our attention to?
• Considering the question: What is worthwhile orienting your life around?
• The limitations that come with aging 
• How the definition of happiness changes as we age
• Wholeness of being
• Life as it is rather than the image of life
• Two interpretations of the fact that sometimes those who are the most unhappy tend to be seeking happiness the most
• Shooting for meaning rather than happiness
• How meaning is an experience of being
• The inquiry: What am I in service to?
• That we don’t seem to do well as human beings when we live exclusively for ourselves
• What does it mean to really serve what you realize (rather than trying to realize more and more)
• The mistaken thinking that an act of service must be grand in scale or scope or must be visible to really count or matter
• How it’s easy to be noble when you are noticed but in most of our lives that’s not what’s taking place
• That giving time and attention when someone needs it can make for transformative moments
• Seeing the importance of the things you do in your life now that are in service
• That you can’t make yourself awaken but what you do DOES have an impact – it’s just indirect
• The yearning itself comes from the very thing we’re yearning for (in terms of awakening)

Adyshanti Links:

adyashanti.org

Twitter

Facebook

Instagram

Daily Harvest – they deliver absolutely delicious organic, carefully sourced, chef-created fruit and veggie smoothies, soups, overnight oats, bowls and more! To get 3 cups free in your first box, visit www.daily-harvest.com and enter promo code: FEED

FabFitFun is a seasonal subscription box delivered 4 times a year with full-sized beauty, fashion, home, fitness, and wellness products for just $49.99 a box – though the box is valued at more than $200. The summer box is valued at over $400! Eric’s girlfriend absolutely loved the box they sent and has already signed up to receive their fall box. Use the code FEED to get $10 off your first box at www.fabfitfun.com

Phlur makes stunning, non-toxic perfumes, listing every ingredient and why it’s there. Visit www.phlur.com and enter promo code WOLF to get 20% off first custom sampler set

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Donna Hylton is a women’s rights activist and criminal justice reform advocate. Donna speaks publicly about the issues facing incarcerated women and girls and the significant impact the significant increase in the female prison population is having on families, children and our communities.   Her book,  “A Little Piece of Light:  A Memoir of Hope, Prison, and a Life Unbound” tells the story of the childhood abuse she endured, the spiral of events that lead to her incarceration and how she learned to live, love and trust all over again.  In this episode, Donna shares some deeply personal stories of her traumatic past and how she found her voice to help other victims of violence and abuse.   

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, Donna Hylton and I Discuss…

• Donna Hylton’s book, “A Little Piece of Light:  A Memoir of Hope, Prison, and a Life Unbound”
• Navigating the good times and bad times of her early childhood and finding the courage to ask for help.
• Talking about these painful stories helps get to the root causes.
• Believing we don’t have value can be reinforced by those around you.
• Dealing with the difficult relationship with her daughter, who was the result of rape 
• Years of therapy and healing helped find that place of light inside herself.
• The importance of facing and talking about your trauma helps to release the pain instead of holding on to it.  
• When you’re young, you believe that what happens around you is your fault and therefore often make the same mistakes because you don’t know how to rationalize what is happening.   
• Her experience of becoming a wounded healer and how she started healing and forgiving herself when she went to prison.  
• Becoming an advocate for the sick women in prison after losing a close friend and realizing she could no longer stand by or stay silent when something bad happened to others.
• How she helped bring counseling, educational and other care programs into the prison system.
• Saying goodbye to the little girl inside who was silent and embracing the little girl inside who found her voice
• How we are not the worst moment in our lives, we’re not our mistakes
• Being part of the newly passed Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act (DVSJA) which considers alternative sentencing or intervention for those convicted who have been victims of severe abuse.
• When a body is put under pressure, it’s going to react and do whatever it takes to survive
• Her source of unconditional love and truth, Sister Mary, who helped her to become the activist she is today.
• How “we can connect deeply with humanity if we look through the eyes of love and compassion”
• We were created in love and beauty is all around us if we can just recognize it.  

Donna Hylton Links:

donnahylton.com

From Life to Life Foundation

Twitter

Facebook

Peloton – Looking for a new way to get in your cardio?  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!

The Upper Room – a global ministry where you can join a worldwide community of Christian believers in daily prayer and devotional practice. Go to www.upperroom.org/welcome to get a free 30-day trial.

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