"I believe that we're mostly afraid of things we don't understand," said Dr. Adi Jaffe, a Psychologist and Founder of AllAboutAddiction.com. He's hoping to bring some light to the darkness of addiction by clearing up some of society's fear.
"I think a big goal of a conference like this is to wipe away the stigma and show people there are a whole slew of possibilities available for people who are in recovery from addiction," Jaffe said.
Dr. Jaffe presented information about the neuroscience behind addictive behaviors.
"Drugs use very similar mechanisms to other natural rewards when they sort of set about teaching your brain and teaching you that they are a good thing to follow," Jaffe said.
Author of "The Shame Game", Janice Gaunt, was another speaker. She educated about coping and healing.
"I'm going to be talking about how shame impedes our ability to live abundant lives and therefore will impede people's ability to enter into recovery and stay in recovery," said Gaunt.
Gaunt is a Lubbock native and a Texas Tech Alum. She's coming back to her roots, from Dallas, to share her knowledge at this year's convention.
"It provides them with a format not only to educate themselves about it and maybe go into a field professionally, but it gives them a support mechanism to stay sober," said Gaunt.
Gaunt said she hopes her message informs the public about addiction and that her book can be a vessel to success for those in recovery.
"It's important that we separate someone's behavior from their value. So I may not act in a way that is within my value system but my value is still non-negotiable," said Gaunt.
The 11th annual convention presented lectures and appearances from leading researchers and representatives of various 12-step recovery groups.
