dradijaffe

In this episode…

What's keep ing you from reaching your goals? Why are you letting that stand in your way?

In this episode of An Unconventional Life, Dr. Adi Jaffe and Dr. Russell Strickland blow the doors of your excuses. Dr. Jaffe was an addict, drug dealer, and convicted felon when his doctoral journey began. He went from graduating with his bachelors degree on a technicality, to convincing his master-level professors to go to bat for him when he applied for doctoral studies. Clearly, Dr. Jaffe had all of the excuses one could ever need to not earn his doctor degree and make a positive impact on the world. But, he completely wasted all of these excuses, instead becoming a doctor, an author, interviewing with Larry King, and building an amazing community to support addiction recovery.

So, don't worry that you aren't completely comfortable with what you're doing. In fact, Dr. Jaffe said, "I actually urge you to put yourself in more places where you have imposter syndrome." That's how you make a dent in the world!

Adi Jaffe, Ph.D. is a nationally recognized expert on mental health, addiction, relationships and shame. He was a UCLA lecturer in the Psychology department at UCLA for the better part of a decade and was the Executive-Director and Co-Founder of one of the most progressive mental health treatment facilities in the country - until he started IGNTD. Dr. Jaffe's work and research focus on changing the way Americans think about, and deal with mental health issues. He is passionate about the role of shame in destroying lives and aims to greatly reduce the stigma of mental health in this country. In this context, Dr. Jaffe has used his personal experience as an incredibly effective inspirational and motivational tool. Dr. Jaffe attended UCLA, graduating with a B.A. in psychology. It was during his undergraduate career that Adi began struggling with drug issues himself, eventually leading to a 4 year hiatus from studies and into the Los Angeles drug-dealing world where he became quite successful. During that period of his life, Adi's days looked more like a re-enactment of a beatnik novel or a Quentin Tarantino film than the life of an upper-middle class suburban kid. Following a SWAT team arrest in his apartment, and extended court case and a year-long jail sentence, Adi began rebuilding his life. This eventually led to his attainment of a Ph.D. from UCLA's top-rated doctoral program in psychology, where he graduated with honors. Even before he graduated Dr. Jaffe’s name had become known through his online and academic writing. His views on addiction and his research on the topic have been published in dozens of journals and online publications and he has appeared on numerous television shows and documentaries discussing current topics in addiction and the problem of addiction as a whole. Dr. Jaffe now writes a blog on Psychology Today, and several other online and print sources. His goal is to bring the latest knowledge about addiction to the people who could benefit from it most – those who are suffering because of it. His writing combines personal experience with a decade’s worth of fine-detail research regarding the mechanisms involved in the addictive process.

Dr. Adi Jaffe:

An out-of-the-box thinker who isn't afraid to challenge the status quo to get results. Dr. Jaffe brings vision, the ability to incorporate information from different fields, leadership, tenacity and the ability to cut through to the truth in every project. He learns quickly and acts decisively and have been privileged to do this with some of the world's best.

Check out his new book - www.theabstinencemyth.com

His professional experience is broad and includes:

✅ Speaking - TEDx, professional organizations, public associations, keynotes.

✅ Organizational management - Consulting with startup on staffing needs, culture and mindset.

✅ Professional counseling - Addiction and mental health counseling (group and individual) using CBT, Humanistic principles, Motivational Interviewing and more. Focused on non-judgmental harm-reduction and inclusion.

✅ University-level lecturing - UCLA and California State University teaching everything from addiction to neuroscience to research methods and statistics. He brings engagement and fun to every topic he teaches.

✅ Coaching - Life, executive and mental health coaching, including for some of the world's biggest names and personalities. I succeed where other coaches fail in driving behavior change and buy-in even from the most resistant and skeptical clients.

✅ Writing - Dr. Jaffe has written for CNN.com, Huffington Post, Psychology Today and dozens of other publications and websites. His focus is on challenging the status quo and bringing about change that improves lives.

✅ Research and project development - Through graduate school and post-doc work, he learned to always look for data to guide his decision making.

Dr. Adi Jaffe's main focus is on using his skills and connections to reduce the shame experienced by millions and increasing the reach of treatment for mental health issues. Through this work, he improves work conditions, life-experience and general well-being.

To learn more about Dr. Jaffe, visit https://www.igntdrecovery.com/igntd-recovery-opt-in-fshame

To learn more about Rob Lohman, visit www.TheAddictionRecoveryHub.com