About our Founder

YOU NEVER KNOW HOW YOUR LIFE CAN CHANGE

Adi Jaffe, Ph.D. is a world-renowned 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™ and launched the premier Adaptive Recovery Platform - SPARx™. Unlike other recovery programs, IGNTD™ is dedicated to helping people get to the root of their struggles, identify their true goals, and destroy the shame holding them back so that they can break through a more satisfying life than they have ever experienced.

Dr. Jaffe and his team at IGNTD™ are passionate about the role of shame in destroying lives and aim to greatly reduce the stigma of mental health across the globe. In this context, Dr. Jaffe has used his personal experience as an incredibly effective inspirational and motivational tool.

He co-hosts the IGNTD Podcast with his wife, Sophie Jaffe, where they delve into topics like shame, motivation, recovery, relationships and intimacy.

Dr. Jaffe's work, research and new book, The Abstinence Myth, focuses on changing the way people 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. JAFFE HAS BEEN FEATURED ON

Adi’s Letter to Readers

I’ve been researching, writing and helping individuals with issues related to shame, mental health, drug-addiction, sex-addiction, and gambling for over a decade. During this time I have been fortunate to continue learning from my clients, their families and the research work I continue doing. I believe that there is a path out of suffering for everyone I meet, their family members, friends, and loved ones. I am lucky to be able to help in the process.

Whatever you’re comfortable calling addiction (disease, affliction, syndrome or a moral failing) there’s no doubt that it’s having a great, negative, impact on those it affects.More than 500,000 deaths and a burden of more than $500 million dollars is attributed to substance abuse every year in the United States alone. It’s time we get real about the problem and stop using stigma and misinformation to hide behind.

I have studied what I call “The pathway to addiction,” the ways people become addicted and the reasons they may stay stuck in addiction. I’ve learned a lot about about the genetic, behavioral, and environmental influences on addiction and drug-abuse. In creating the IGNTD Recovery™ Program I’ve used that knowledge to benefit you. It's the only program of its kind.

As you likely know, I’ve had my own experiences with drug abuse and addiction, so my work in influences by my personal experience. Aside from my own experiences, I’ve seen literally hundreds of addicts and users through years of drug use. I hope to serve as a source of inspiration for struggling addicts who aren’t certain that they can still make something of their lives after all the devastation; I’ve been on both sides and I can assure you that it’s possible!

My goal is to use the latest research that we, as scientists, have uncovered about addiction to the public so that they can benefit now. Part of my work involves teaching university students and our clients about the addiction research I’ve been exposed to and the other part has to do with directly helping those who are struggling.

I want to do this because I feel that knowledge is a key ingredient not only in curing and fighting conditions (be they medical, academic, psychological, or otherwise), but also in simply being able to handle and accept things as they are more completely.

We tend to be more scared of things when we feel like we don’t understand them.

My writing, as well as the writing of other experts and addiction researchers, will hopefully allow you to understand addiction better, and therefore improve the way you approach it. That can do nothing but help in my opinion.

CREDENTIALS AND EXPERIENCE

Dr. Adi Jaffe holds a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He teaches courses at UCLA that address addiction specifically, research statistics or biological psychology and behavioral neuroscience more generally. Well-known for his online and academic writing, Dr. Jaffe’s views on addiction and his research on the topic have been published on his own AllAboutAddiction.com (a website he started publishing while still in graduate school) as well as Psychology Today and dozens of other journals and online publications. He has appeared on several television shows including Good Morning America and in documentaries discussing current topics in addiction.