The Behavior Change Atlas
A citation-grade, evidence-first knowledge base on addiction, recovery, and behavior change — written and curated by Dr. Adi Jaffe, PhD.
Most of what you find online about why we do things that hurt us — and how we actually change — is either oversimplified, quietly selling something, or confidently wrong. The Atlas is my attempt at the opposite: one place where each page answers a single real question the way the science actually supports, including where the science is genuinely unsettled and where the experts disagree. Every claim is sourced. Nothing here is a substitute for care from a professional who knows you — but it should be the most honest starting point you can find.
Two things shape how I write these. First, I'm an academic by training (PhD, UCLA), so the evidence comes first and the citations are real. Second, I've lived on the other side of addiction myself, so I have no patience for shame-based, scare-tactic, or one-size-fits-all answers. The through-line across everything here is that behavior makes sense once you understand what it's doing for the person — and that change gets durable when you address that, not just the behavior.
How the Atlas is organized
The Atlas is built in two halves. Explore by question, or start with the pillar that fits what brought you here.
Addiction & Recovery
The science of addiction and the honest landscape of what helps — from foundations to specific substances, behavioral compulsions, families, teens, and the trauma and mental-health roots underneath.
- Understanding Addiction — what addiction is, what causes it, what the brain is really doing, and whether it can be cured
- Alcohol — stopping, cutting back, gray-area drinking, and what the evidence says works
- Drugs — opioids, fentanyl, cannabis, stimulants, harm reduction, and helping someone who won't
- Behavioral Addictions — porn, gambling, phones, food, gaming, and the compulsion mechanism behind them
- Teens & Family — a science-based parent's guide to vaping, weed, social media, and hard conversations
- Loving Someone in Addiction — boundaries, enabling, tough love, and family recovery
- Trauma & Mental-Health Roots — trauma, ACEs, PTSD, anxiety, depression, ADHD, and the shame underneath
Behavior Change
Why change is hard and what actually makes it stick — motivation, identity, mental health, and the practical skills that hold up under evidence.
- The Science of Behavior Change — why it's hard, why willpower fails, and what predicts lasting change
- Motivation & Identity — how motivation really works, dopamine myths, and identity-based change
- Mental Health Essentials — evidence-based answers on stress, anxiety, therapy, burnout, and when to get help
- Practical Skills — urge surfing, boundaries, regulation tools, and rest that actually restores
About the author
Written and curated by Dr. Adi Jaffe, PhD (UCLA) — psychologist, researcher, and author of The Abstinence Myth and Unhooked. Financial disclosure: Dr. Jaffe is the founder of IGNTD, an online behavior-change and recovery program. The Atlas is educational and independent of any single program; where treatment options are discussed, they are presented as a landscape, not a pitch.
Every Atlas page carries its own citations, its own "last reviewed" date, and an honest statement of limitations. Corrections are welcome and published.