These articles are written by the family members of Mississippi lawyers lost to suicide. But for the Grace of God these stories could be about anyone of us affected with these illnesses. Rodney, Robert, and Portrait were real people, loving fathers, husbands, and lawyers. Often our culture focuses on “the suicide.” With these stories we […]
Alcoholism is a brain disease. Brain research in the past several years has taught us much more than we have ever known before about the mechanics of how alcoholism affects us. At the same time, it has reaffirmed older wisdom about alcoholism that has too often been neglected. Seneca, the Roman poet, observed that some […]
One morning I went to a place beyond dawn. A source of sweetness that flows and is never less. I have been shown a beauty that would confuse both worlds, but I won’t cause that uproar. – ‘Rumi No matter how we grow up -wealthy or poor, well loved or forsaken – we form a view of life. […]
” . . . [H]appiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue as the unintended side-effect of one’s personal dedication to a course greater than oneself.” – Victor Frankel Thomas Jefferson’s phrase has long resonated in the minds of Americans. But only recently has there been extensive research on what makes people happy. For many years, […]
A lawyer comes in to talk recently. He expresses that he is burned-out with the profession. It is hard to come into work: he hates returning calls. His relation with his spouse is poor and his child is acting out in school by skipping classes and smoking pot. All of these are signs of possible […]
Recently, I had a professional appointment with a surgeon friend and we got into an interesting discussion about self-esteem. My friend made the statement that self-esteem had to be earned. He shared a personal example that when he plays tennis with his teenage son, he never lets his son win, ignoring his wife’s idea that […]
The surprising part of living with addiction, for many of us in the late 1970s and early 1980s, was the discovery we made that even when we left home, we carried home inside of us. That whatever had happened to us growing up was not left behind but followed us into our adult relationships. And […]
Since about 1980, there has been a phenomenal interest in and writing about shame, a topic that had received little prior attention. We have more understanding of the results of childhood neglect and abuse, and how that relates to addiction, the self’s inner relationship with the self, and the significance of shame. We now have […]
Co-dependency refers to an emotional and mental dysfunction which, just like addiction, can cause disastrous effects on the quality of life. Almost everyone knows how substance abuse can destroy careers, families, reputations and finances. Yet what is much more insidious and harder to decipher are the effects of co-dependency. The best definition of co-dependency which […]