About me, Izzy
I was fortunate to have worked in human services for decades, including as a counselor in an acute care behavioral health hospital working with individuals dually diagnosed with substance abuse and acute psychiatric disorders. I even worked with a few individuals convicted of homicide.
In addition, during the course of my career treating addiction and creating greater awareness of the disease, I worked with people suffering from Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS). This little-known genetic disorder creates growth hormone deficiency, behavior challenges, and a food addiction with relentless hunger so intense and incessant that people will eat themselves to death if left unsupervised.
I also served as a founding board member in developing a family outreach program for a well-known East Coast substance abuse treatment center, the first of its kind in the area to reach out to families who have loved ones suffering from addiction.
But most importantly, I have an adult daughter who struggles with addiction and intimately know the chaos, heartbreak, and insanity it can create in people who love anyone struggling with an addiction. It sure ain't easy.
So, I developed these journals and books, most of which are hybrids of both ( I call them Jooks), to create greater awareness of the disease and how it affects the people who love them. Because the truth is that we are also in recovery. We are in recovery from their addiction, even though we never used a drug ourselves.
In that Spirit, may we all move forward in love.
I was fortunate to have worked in human services for decades, including as a counselor in an acute care behavioral health hospital working with individuals dually diagnosed with substance abuse and acute psychiatric disorders. I even worked with a few individuals convicted of homicide.
In addition, during the course of my career treating addiction and creating greater awareness of the disease, I worked with people suffering from Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS). This little-known genetic disorder creates growth hormone deficiency, behavior challenges, and a food addiction with relentless hunger so intense and incessant that people will eat themselves to death if left unsupervised.
I also served as a founding board member in developing a family outreach program for a well-known East Coast substance abuse treatment center, the first of its kind in the area to reach out to families who have loved ones suffering from addiction.
But most importantly, I have an adult daughter who struggles with addiction and intimately know the chaos, heartbreak, and insanity it can create in people who love anyone struggling with an addiction. It sure ain't easy.
So, I developed these journals and books, most of which are hybrids of both ( I call them Jooks), to create greater awareness of the disease and how it affects the people who love them. Because the truth is that we are also in recovery. We are in recovery from their addiction, even though we never used a drug ourselves.
In that Spirit, may we all move forward in love.