Don’t Carry Shame Into the New Year

By Caileigh Smith, MC, LAC Have you ever sent the wrong text message to the exact wrong person? I have. In fact, I did it recently. I sent a message about a person TO THAT person—the horror! The consequence? Well, besides being cut from that person’s Christmas card list, I… Read More

Four Ways to Practice Mindfulness Every Day

By Joyce Willis, MC, LPC, Therapist, The Meadows What is mindfulness? The great leaders of mindfulness, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Jack Kornfield, tell us that mindfulness is the art of paying attention to what you are doing and what is going on around you in the present moment. Read More

Dr. Bessel Van der Kolk on Veterans and PTSD

Meadows Senior Fellow Dr. Bessel van der Kolk is world-renowned for his work pertaining to the treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), childhood trauma, and abuse. In a video interview, Dr. van der Kolk explains how the emotional and relational difficulties faced by war… Read More

Suicide Prevention: Getting Help and Finding Hope

September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. Alarmingly, the CDC recently reported that the number of suicides in the United States has been on the rise since 1999 among both men and women and in all age groups, and is the 10th leading cause of death. Suicide and suicidal… Read More

No One Is Immune to Depression or Addiction

You often hear people say that Americans live in a celebrity-obsessed culture. We tend to view being famous— or even just generally well-known— as the height of achievement. We sometimes also assume that you leave all “regular people” problems behind once you’ve reached the height of fame. “If you’re a… Read More

Is Pokémon Go Really the Best Medicine for Depression?

If you spend any time at all on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Tumblr, the chances are that you’ve heard of Pokémon Go, the smartphone-based augmented reality game that is taking the world by storm. You’ve probably seen many exclamatory posts from players of that game about snagging “gyms” and hitting… Read More

Inpatient, Outpatient, or IOP?

Inpatient, Outpatient, or IOP? Most psychiatrists and behavioral health professionals agree that addiction is a complex disorder caused by a combination of genetic, environmental, and behavioral factors. It can also vary in intensity; The DSM-5 defines addiction as a spectrum disorder that can be categorized as “mild,” “moderate,” or “severe.”… Read More

Healing Heartache: A Grief And Loss Workshop

When you’ve experienced a loss ─ the death of a loved one, the loss of your health, the loss of a relationship, the loss of an opportunity, etc.─ it can be helpful to take time out to lean into your grief. It’s often difficult, if not impossible, to initiate the… Read More

War “Exists in an Outside Moral Universe”: An Iraq Veteran Explains Moral Injury

At The Meadows, we are honored to provide behavioral health and substance abuse inpatient services, with an emphasis on trauma, PTSD, and addictive disease disorders, to active duty military members, retirees and dependents of the TRICARE West Region. In the interview below, US Army infantryman Alex Horton… Read More

The Dangers of Undiagnosed Bipolar Disorder

By Stephen Brockway, M.D.Former Staff Psychiatrist for Inpatient and Outpatient Services at The Meadows A college student whom we’ll call Jim is experiencing a profound sense of despair. Dragging himself out of bed is becoming increasingly more difficult. Brushing his teeth is a tall order. Fixing himself a sandwich seems… Read More