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Thomas Hedlund LMFT
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Saturday, March 17, 2007

Addiction as Attachment Disorder, the new science

Talk on Addiction and Attachment Disorder for Azure Acres


Demystifying Addiction: Understanding Addiction as Attachment Disorder

by Thomas Hedlund, LMFT

Best selling author John Bradshaw calls Thomas Hedlund one of the select few therapists who I know that thoroughly understands the dynamics of emotional healing.

Addiction effects brain function including judgement and self control centers which create what is now called the biochemical personality. The progressive destructive nature of this process helps us to understand the erratic, irrational and denial based behavior associated with advanced addiction.

New breakthroughs in the neuroscience of affect regulation and attachment theory have proven that addiction is a brain disease rooted in early emotional development. These recent breakthroughs in attachment and affective neuroscience also help explain how early life survival and adaptive mechanisms become barriers to flexibility and change in adult life.

Hope for recovery and wellness occur when examples are discussed about the brains recovery process when abstinence is obtained and the vulnerability to relapse can be understood through using illustrations of the significant changes in brain function that are caused by addiction. Treatment options and recommendations can be made more effective through the use of the guiding science behind both the disease and recovery process.



Thomas Hedlund
Biographical Information

Thomas Hedlund is a marriage family therapist, workshop leader and educator from Santa Rosa, Ca. In private practice for 29 years, he specializes in recovery related issues including addiction, compulsive behavior and the healing of trauma, shame and abuse. He also works as a communications, addiction, and family systems consultant for The Family Intervention Institute. His trainings and seminars are in demand at treatment centers across the United States, United Kingdom and Australia.

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