71: When Sane People Do Insane Things with Ellie Katz

Dr. Ellie Katz has spent the past 35 years working in the area of addiction treatment, using her holistic approach and real talk with compassion to work with her clients. She joins us on this episode of the Addicted Mind podcast to discuss her experiences and observations about the field and about human nature.

Join The Addicted Mind Podcast Facebook Group>>>

Ellie has been living in Israel for 40+ years and she began her career in psychological linguistics, but she always had a desire to help people directly. Even as an adolescent, people recognized her deep intuition about those around her, calling her the Earth Mother and coming to her for advice and guidance. Ever since she transitioned to helping people with their addiction treatment, her focus has been on helping her clients and their families sort through the irresistible urges that had been ruling the addicts’ bodies.

Calming The Addicted Mind - 6 Day Mindfulness Email Series

theaddictedmind.com/mindfulness

Ellie went through a traumatic surgical procedure when she was 5 years old, which caused her to develop an addiction to food that her mother did not know how to handle. Having experienced these psychological ramifications of eating for several years, she can recognize where the addicts that come to her treatment facility are struggling. Patients spend between 7-12 months in the therapeutic rehab community where Ellie works, and she teaches them how to interact with each other and do the internal work necessary to heal the impacts of their addictions.

Episode Link
theaddictedmind.com/71

She created a model that she calls “The Six Essentials”, which are building blocks for personal success: Some of them are good mood,  love, and kindness, discipline, flexibility, and forgiveness.

Ellie is not afraid to call her clients out when she sees them say or do something that they said they wouldn’t say or do and she provides them with the support to help them change. She believes in caring for everyone without judgment because she recognizes that it could have just as easily been her struggling with the addiction. She wants the best for her clients who are really just wounded people in need of someone to help them pick themselves up and head in the right direction.

Ellie wants everyone to know that as long as you are drawing breath, change is possible.