Dr. Adi Jaffe, Ph.D. is a #1 best-selling author (The Abstinence Myth) and a nationally recognized expert on mental health, addiction, relationships and shame. He lectured in the UCLA Psychology department 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.
His passion and philosophy aim to greatly reduce the stigma of addiction and mental health. Dr. Jaffe is a firm believer that people need guidance and understanding, not judgment and stigma.
Dr. Jaffe attended UCLA, graduating with a B.A. in psychology. It was during his undergraduate career that he began struggling with drug issues himself, eventually leading to a 4 year hiatus from studies and into the Los Angeles drug-dealing world. Following a year-long jail sentence, Dr. Jaffe began rebuilding his life. 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. Jaffe has been featured in CNN, The Huffington Post, Bustle, Los Angeles Times, KTLA, as well as Good Morning America, The Dr. Oz Show, The Doctors and Larry King Now and in numerous documentaries discussing current topics in addiction. He has also been the guest on notable podcasts including Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness, Almost Thirty, Dr. Drew, Cleaning Up the Mental Mess with Dr. Caroline Leaf and many more.
Dr. Jaffe teaches courses at UCLA that address addiction specifically, research statistics or biological psychology and behavioral neuroscience more generally.
