About the Author

Who am I to talk about addictions? Many patients over the years asked me if I ever suffered from an addiction myself. That’s a fair question. Other than an early devotion to tobacco, work, and foods I shouldn’t eat, I have been fortunate in life to escape any long-term, life-shortening addiction to activities and substances. I stopped smoking when I was forty years old, many years ago, and never went back to it. I did my share of drinking in my early twenties, but soon found this to be incompatible with marriage or with a professional career. Food? When I quit smoking, appetite became a monster, but there’s been some moderate success there, too. Proper eating is a daily struggle for many of us, a struggle in which total food abstinence is impossible. When it comes to food and wise food choices, moderation and control are necessary. Learning to eat a healthy diet is possible but demands constant attention along with major attitude changes

      So, if you are human, you understand appetite, you understand the desire to find something to make you feel better when negative feelings seem to take over life.

      My professional qualifications for writing on addictions are a Ph.D. in psychology and years of clinical work along with years of research on problem behavior in general and addictions in particular.

      It has been my good fortune to watch and help others striving to overcome addiction, people who were determined to build rewarding lives for themselves and their families. I believe that recovery is not only possible, but inevitable when the person learns new ways of thinking and acting.

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      Julian Ingersoll Taber was born in Detroit, Mich. and attended grade school in Atlantic City, NJ. He graduated from high school in Mt. Lebanon, PA, and after service in the United States Army attended the University of Pittsburgh where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1955. He was a member of two honorary societies. He completed work for a MS degree (1957) and a Ph.D. (1961), all in psychology while holding various teaching and research positions at the University of Pittsburgh. In 1961 he moved to Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH where he became a tenured Associate Professor of Psychology. In 1969-70, he was Professor of Psychology in the Pennsylvania State College System, and in 1970-71, he was a Career Research Specialist for the State of California. From 1971 to 1978, Dr. Taber coordinated a psychiatry inpatient program at the Brecksville Veterans Administration Hospital in Brecksville, Ohio. From 1978 to 1985, he coordinated the Gambling Treatment Program started by Dr. Robert Custer at Brecksville. From 1985 to 1990, he was Chief of the Addictive Disorders Treatment Program at the Reno, Nevada V.A. Hospital. Dr. Taber finished his career at the V.A. Domiciliary in White City, Oregon where he served on the Alcohol and Drug Unit. He then lived in Oregon and, for five years, in Las Vegas, Nevada. In Las Vegas he worked part time in a gambling treatment program. He is now located on Whidbey Island in Puget Sound where he writes, fishes for salmon, plays Irish ditties on the penny whistle, and tries to avoid any and all responsibility.

     

      In scientific and professional work, Taber has co-authored one book, several book chapters, and many studies in psychological journals and collections. In the mid 1980s, Taber co-authored the first two follow-up studies on the effectiveness of professional treatment for problem gambling, studies based on his work at the Brecksville Division of the Cleveland V.A. Medical Center.

      Taber served on the first editorial board of the Journal of Gambling Studies and was a member of the Board of Directors of the National Council on Problem Gambling during the 1980s. In 1986, he was given the Council’s Herman Goldman Award for his clinical skills with problem gamblers and for demonstrating successful inpatient treatment methods for problem gambling in several published studies. In 2005 he received the National Council’s Dr. Robert Custer award for lifetime achievement.

      His second book, In the Shadow of Chance, has been available on the Internet for some time and is now available in a paper back version from the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling.

Taber, over the years, contributed articles to Editor and Publisher, The Las Vegas Review Journal, Ultralight Flying, Cup of Comfort for Christmas, Forum Poetry, and others.

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The following publications and other writings are included for the convenience of scholars who may be doing research.

The effects of two training parameters on response frequencies during satiated test periods. Unpublished M.S. thesis, 1957, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 

Human timing behavior. Ph.D. Dissertation, 1961, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 

Taber, J. I. (1958). A multi‑dimensional approach to the measurement and control of the free operant. Psi‑Chi Newsletter, April, 11‑17.
 
Taber, J. I., Homme, L. E. & Csanyi, A. P. (1959). Some experiments on human timing behavior. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 2, 257 (Abstract).
 
Taber, J. I., Homme, L. E. & Csanyi, A. P. (1961). The differentiation of human time estimations. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 4, 299‑304.
 
Schaefer, H. H. & Taber, J. I. (1961). Symbols for use in the editing of programmed learning sequences. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 4, 156.
 
Glaser, R. & Taber, J. I. (1961). Investigations of programmed learning sequences. Final report, Co‑operative Research Project #691, U. S. Office of Education, University of Pittsburgh.
 
Taber, J. I. & Glaser, R. (1962). An exploratory study of a discriminative transfer learning program using literal prompts. Journal of Educational Research, 55, 508‑512. (Twice reprinted in other collections.)
 
Taber, J. I. & Marshall, M. S. (1964). Programming special voltages through Nu‑Way studs. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 7, 344.
 
Taber, J. I., Glaser, R. & Schaefer, H. H. (1965). Learning and programmed instruction. Reading, Mass.: Addison‑Wesley. (German translation by Julius Beltz, 1971. Spanish translation published by Editorial Trillas, Mexico City, 1974.)
 
Schaefer, H. H. & Taber, J. I. Extension of research capability in a whole ward behavior therapy program. Final report, September 30, 1970. State of California, Department of Mental Hygiene, Research Grant DMH 68/11/16.
 
Taber, J. I. (1973). Program manual:  Behavior modification unit. Cleveland V. A. Medical Center:  Brecksville, OH.
 
Taber, J. I. (1973). A statement on "patients' rights" and behavior modification. Cleveland Psychological Association Newsletter, Summer.
 
Taber, J. I. (1980). The inventory nobody wants to take:  Cross-addiction. The National Council on Compulsive Gambling Newsletter, November, p. 5.
 
Taber, J. I. (1981). Group psychotherapy with pathological gamblers. In W. R. Eadington (ed.). The Gambling Papers, Reno, NV: University of Nevada.
 
Taber, J. I. (1984). Gambling behavior. In R. J. Corsini (ed.). Encyclopedia of Psychology. New York:  Wiley.
 
McCormick, R. J., Russo, A. M. Ramirez, L. F. & Taber, J. I. (1984). Affective disorders among pathological gamblers seeking treatment. American Journal of Psychiatry, 141, 215‑218.
 
Ramirez, L. F., McCormick, R. A., Russo, A. M. & Taber, J. I. (1984). Patterns of substance abuse in pathological gamblers undergoing treatment. Addictive Behavior, 8, 425‑428.
 
Russo, A. M., Taber, J. I., McCormick, R. A. & Ramirez, L. F. (1984). An established treatment program for pathological gamblers:  Initial outcome study results. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 35, 823‑827.
 
Adkins, B. J., Taber, J. I., & Russo, A. M. (1985). The spoken autobiography:  A powerful tool to accelerate the process of group therapy. Social Work, 30, 435‑439.
 
Taber, J. I. (1984). Pathological gambling:  The initial screening interview. Journal of Gambling Behavior, 1, 23‑34.
 
Taber, J. I. (1984). Sports pages and gambling. Editor and Publisher, January 21, pp 35, 52.
 
Taber, J. I., Russo, A. M. & Adkins, B. J. (1986). A study of achievement motivation and ego‑strength among compulsive gamblers. Journal of Gambling Behavior, 2, 69‑80.
 
Taber, J. I., McCormick, R. A. & Ramirez, L. F. (1987). The prevalence and impact of major life stressors among pathological gamblers. International Journal of the Addictions, 22, 71‑79.
 
Taber, J. I. & McCormick, R. A. (1987). The pathological gambler in treatment. In T. Galski (ed.). Handbook of Pathological Gambling. Springfield, Ill.:  C. C. Thomas.
 
McCormick, R. A. & Taber, J. I. (1987). The pathological gambler:  salient personality features. In T. Galski (ed.). Handbook of Pathological Gambling. Springfield, Ill.:  C. C. Thomas.
 
Taber, J. I., Collachi, J. & Lynn, E. J. (1986). Pathological gambling: Possibilities for treatment in northern Nevada. Nevada Public Affairs Review, 1986 (2), 39‑42.
 
Taber, J. I., McCormick, R. A., Russo, A. M., Adkins, B. J. & Ramirez, L. F. (1987). Pathological gamblers following treatment:  An outcome study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 144, 757‑761.
 
McCormick, R. A. & Taber, J. I. (1988). Attributional style in pathological gamblers in treatment. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 97, 368‑370.
 
McCormick, R. A., Taber, J. I., Kruedelbach, N. & Russo, A. M. (1987). Personality profiles of hospitalized pathological gamblers:  The California Personality Inventory. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 43, 521‑527.
 
Taber, J. I. (1987). Models of gambling behavior:  A risky business. Journal of Gambling Behavior, 3, 219‑223. (Guest Editor of this special issue.)
 
Taber, J. I. (1988). Why me? Recovery Now, July, 1988.
 
Taber, J. I. (1988). Defects of character:  Part I. Professional Counselor, 2 (4), 32‑37.
 
Taber, J. I. (1988). Defects of character:  Part II. Professional Counselor, 2 (5), 33‑34/56‑57.
 
Taber, J. I. & Chaplin, M.. P. (1988). Group psychotherapy with pathological gamblers. Journal of Gambling Behavior, 4, 183‑196.
 
Taber, J. I. & Harris, R. L. (1988). Thyroid disease, dysphoria and personal vulnerability among pathological gamblers. In W. R. Eadington (ed.), The Gambling Papers, Reno, Nevada, University of Nevada.
 
Taber, J. I., Boston, M. D., Harris, R. L. & Wittman, G. W. (1988). Treatment alchemy:  Turning alcoholics into pathological gamblers. Ibid.
 
Fuller, N. P., Taber, J. I. & Wittman, G. W. (1988). On the irrelevance of substances in defining addictive disorders:  Pathological gambling. Ibid.
 
Taber, J. I. & Boston, M. D. (1988). Developmental vulnerability in the etiology of problem gambling and other addictions. Ibid.
 
Collachi, J., Taber, J. I. with two anonymous authors. (1988). Gambling habits and attitudes among casino workers. Ibid.
    
Wittman, G. W., Fuller, N. P. & Taber, J. I. (1988). Patterns in polyaddiction in alcoholism patients and high school students. Ibid.
 
McCormick, R. A. & Taber, J. I. (1991). Follow-up of male pathological gamblers after treatment: The relationship of intellectual variables to relapse. Journal of Gambling Studies, 7, 99-108
 
Taber, J. I., Smith, J. R. & Boston, M. D. (1993). Proposed criteria for suspending acute and rehabilitative care for chronic mental patients. In W. R. Eadington & J. A. Cornellius (eds.). Gambling Behavior and Problem Gambling. Reno, NV:  University of Nevada Press.
 
Taber, J. I. (1993). Addictive behavior:  An informal clinical view. In W. R. Eadington & J. A. Cornellius (eds.). Gambling Behavior and Problem Gambling. Reno, NV:  University of Nevada Press.
 
Taber, J. I. (2003). Specific attitudes, values and beliefs that facilitate or inhibit frequent excessive gambling. Gambling Behavior and Problem Gambing: Proceedings of the 1996 Conference on Gambling and Commercial Gambling. Reno, NV:  University of Nevada Press.
 
Taber, J. I. (2001). In the Shadow of Chance: The Pathological Gambler. Bluffton, SC: ExGambler Services.

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