Men, Porn and the Corruption of Healthy Masculinity

Dan Griffin has worked in the mental health and addictions fields for over three decades. He is recognized internationally as an expert with a particular focus on men, relationships, and trauma. From 2015 to 2017, Griffin was honored to serve as a senior fellow at The Meadows. He is the owner, founder, and lead consultant of Griffin Recovery Enterprises, Inc. Griffin was awarded Hazelden’s first training fellowship for addiction counseling in 1998. He has worked in a variety of areas in the addictions field: research, case management, public advocacy, recovery courts, teaching, and counseling.   

Griffin’s book, A Man’s Way through Relationships, is the first trauma-informed book written to help men create healthy relationships while navigating the challenges of internalizing the “Man Rules.” Griffin is also the author of, A Man’s Way through the Twelve Steps, the first trauma-informed book to take a holistic look at men’s sobriety. He also co-authored Helping Men Recover, the first comprehensive gender-responsive and trauma-informed curriculum for men. Griffin is the co-author of the two curricula Amazing Dads (with Harrison Crawford) published by Wiley in 2024 and Healing Men’s Pain (with Jonathan DeCarlo) published by Wiley in 2024. Griffin is working on books to go along with both curricula as well. Dan is also author of the book What Men Would Tell You if We Weren’t Too Busy Watching TV (with Dr. Allen Berger). 

Griffin’s graduate work was the first qualitative research centered on the social construction of masculinity in the culture of Alcoholics Anonymous. In 2012, Griffin was one of a small number of national experts invited by SAMHSA to help build a consensus definition of the terms “trauma” and “trauma-informed.” From 2015 through 2017, Griffin was honored to be named as a senior fellow at The Meadows. Griffin lives in California with his wife, Nancy, and his daughter, Grace, and has been in long-term recovery since he graduated college in May of 1994. 

Steven Wolt is an influential healthcare entrepreneur with a passion for breaking down barriers and reducing stigma to improve outcomes. Steve’s personal story and addiction, his recovery, and passion make him a truly inspirational leader.

Steve is the founder of Valor Recovery, a program for men to overcome problematic and compulsive sexual behaviors, porn abuse, and intimacy issues. Being in long term recovery from sexual compulsivity, this is a deeply personal mission to help to break down the barriers that prevent men from talking about these issues and getting help for them.

Prior to this, Steve was the President of Freedom Institute, a prestigious state of the art, not for profit, outpatient treatment and recovery center located in midtown Manhattan that was founded in 1976. Freedom Institute was a pioneer in the addiction treatment industry offering a range of innovative, evidenced based treatment services for adults, young adults and their families struggling with substance use, addictions and trauma. 

Steve was co-founder and CEO of Veritus, the nation’s first telehealth intensive outpatient treatment program for licensed professionals struggling with substance use disorders and mental health. From an idea on a piece of paper long before COVID, to partnering with one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious treatment providers, Freedom Institute, Veritus helped to eliminate the barriers professionals experience in accessing treatment. 

Prior to transitioning his career to working in behavioral health, Steve had a long and very successful career working in executive and employee benefits, estate planning, and insurance. Steve was regularly one of the top sales leaders in the industry having won numerous top producer awards from the largest insurance companies in the world. Steve has helped countless men on their journey to recovery. Steve currently resides in Bend, Oregon with his wife, Jennifer and their three dogs Topper, Henry and Quincy.