Greesh C. Sharma of Morrisville, Pa., has been a practicing psychologist for 30 years. He works at the Institute of Behavior Modification. Sharma, who was born in India, has written for Hinduism Today magazine on psychotherapy, addictions and Hinduism.

Kevin Griffin is a meditation teacher in the San Francisco Bay area and former addict who uses meditation, the 12 steps and Buddhist precepts of free will and mindfulness to help addicts recover. He is also one of the founders of the Buddhist Recovery Network.He is the author of One Breath at a Time: Buddhism and the Twelve […]

G. Alan Marlatt was a professor of psychology and director of the Addictive Behaviors Research Center at the University of Washington in Seattle. His major focus was in both research and clinical work is addictive behaviors; he conducted research on Buddhist meditation as a treatment for substance abuse in and out of prisons and wrote […]

Oscar Chacón is the executive director of the National Alliance of Latin American & Caribbean Communities (NALACC) whose mission is to bring about a more equitable and sustainable way of life for Latin American immigrant communities in the U.S.A.

Judith K. Muhammad is vice president of Islamic Health & Human Services in Detroit, which provides a full range of social services, primarily for Muslims, and training in Islamic health care for non-Muslim health care providers. Muhammad is also a contributing writer to IslamOnline.net and has presented at many workshops and conferences around the country […]

Rabbi Abraham Twerski is a psychiatrist, Orthodox rabbi and pioneer in the treatment of addiction in the Jewish community. Dr. Twerski is the founder and medical director emeritus of Gateway Rehabilitation Center in Pittsburgh and an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. The author of more than 60 books, […]

Joshua Hoyt is executive director of the National Partnership for News Americans, which works to advance the integration and citizenship of immigrants. Media contact is Charlie McAteer. Until 2013, Hoyt was the chief strategy executive of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, which supports comprehensive immigration reform, including family reunification and a path to […]

Rabbi Kerry M. Olitzky is a Reform rabbi, executive director of the Jewish Outreach Institute in New York City and co-author of Twelve Jewish Steps to Recovery (Jewish Lights, 1991) and author to a number of books and articles on a variety of topics.

Silvia Pedraza is a professor of sociology and American culture at the University of Michigan. She has written about Cuban and Mexican immigration to the United States.