Maia Szalavitz - Understanding Addiction and The Future of Harm Reduction

Maia Szalavitz is a neuroscience journalist obsessed with addiction, love, evidence-based living, empathy, and everything related to the brain and behavior. She's the author or co-author of eight books, including Her New York Times bestseller, "Unbroken Brain," where she uses her own story of recovery from heroin and cocaine addiction to explore how reframing addiction as a developmental disorder could revolutionize prevention treatment and policy. Two other of her bestselling books include "The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog" and "Born for Love: Why Empathy Is Essential— and Endangered," both co-written with a leading child psychiatrist and trauma expert Dr. Bruce D. Perry. Maia is also a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times and recently released her latest book, “Undoing Drugs: The Untold Story of Harm Reduction and the Future of Addiction,” the first history of the harm reduction movement.I am honored to have Maia join me for this conversation. We talk about tolerance, addiction, dependency, empathy, trauma, harm reduction, and the stigma of being an addict. Episode Resources:Maia Szalavitz WebsiteLink to purchase:FYLPxWRDSMTH Merch Collaboration*suggestion is to size upDownload this episode of For Your Listening Pleasure wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you follow us on Instagram @foryourlisteningpleasure  Click here to listen to the For Your Listening Pleasure Theme Song Playlist on Spotify.To continue the conversation, feel free to DM me at https://www.instagram.com/foryourlisteningpleasure/ or email me at [email protected].