Welcome
The Answer Model is an exciting new model of human behavior that is also a powerful new method of healing, psychotherapy, and personal growth. The Answer Model – which is based on cutting-edge research in neuroscience, psychology, and anthropology – suggests that nearly all of us develop unconscious biochemical addictions to our own pain and emotional distress. Because states of emotional distress release stress hormones that act in the brain much like addictive drugs, the model suggests that people can develop literal addictions to states such as anxiety, hurt, regret, and self-pity.
These "emotional" addictions typically begin during early childhood and can set the stage for later, often more serious, addictions such as drug addiction and alcoholism. The Answer Model shows how the most powerful biological force operating in the cells of our brains and bodies – the drive towards psychological and physical balance, or homeostasis – can lead us not only to optimal physical and emotional health, but also to the highest creative, artistic, and spiritual experiences. You can learn more about the neuroscience research that underlies the model on our Neuroscience page. The model is also described in detail in our Books.
These "emotional" addictions typically begin during early childhood and can set the stage for later, often more serious, addictions such as drug addiction and alcoholism. The Answer Model shows how the most powerful biological force operating in the cells of our brains and bodies – the drive towards psychological and physical balance, or homeostasis – can lead us not only to optimal physical and emotional health, but also to the highest creative, artistic, and spiritual experiences. You can learn more about the neuroscience research that underlies the model on our Neuroscience page. The model is also described in detail in our Books.
A Model for Treatment
Our Counseling methods and unique 7-Day In-Home Addiction Education & Counseling Program have been shown to be extraordinarily effective in treating a wide variety of psychological and physical ills, including anxiety disorders, eating disorders, sex addiction, body dysmorphic disorder, chronic pain, and chronic depression. Our Interventions can be geared to drug and alcohol addiction, to behavioral addictions such as compulsive gambling, or to emotional addictions, such as anxiety disorders. The Answer Model healing system involves no medication, but instead teaches people how to identify and overcome their core emotional addictions by becoming more connected to their authentic selves. People who live out of their authentic selves derive biochemical rewards in healthy, rather than self-destructive, ways.
The Answer Model was co-developed by John Montgomery, a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Santa Monica, CA, and Todd Ritchey, an addiction specialist from Vancouver, B. C. For more about who we are, please see the About Us section. The Answer Model is licensed by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences to provide continuing education for Marriage and Family Therapists and Licensed Clinical Social Workers (PCE #4505).
The Answer Model was co-developed by John Montgomery, a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Santa Monica, CA, and Todd Ritchey, an addiction specialist from Vancouver, B. C. For more about who we are, please see the About Us section. The Answer Model is licensed by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences to provide continuing education for Marriage and Family Therapists and Licensed Clinical Social Workers (PCE #4505).
For treatment options, group rates, private sessions, or any other questions, please call (310) 919-9197, email us at info@theanswermodel.com, or contact us through our Contact page.
We are very excited to announce that The Answer Model has now partnered with the Personal Growth Institute (PGI). PGI, which is headed by Dr. Foojan Zeine, offers a variety of psychological services, and is also a training and research institute. All of The Answer Model services in the Los Angeles area will now be available through PGI, and John Montgomery will be offering counseling using The Answer Model method through PGI at office locations in West Los Angeles, Tarzana, and Pasadena. John will also be the Program Director for a forthcoming outpatient treatment program at PGI that will use The Answer Model method.
