Dan Griffin, M.A., is an internationally recognized author, thought leader, and expert on men’s relationships and masculinity.
Dan has dedicated his life and work to exploring and redefining what it means to be a man in the 21st century. He is committed to helping men be better men by understanding the impact of the Man Rules on their lives. Dan also helps men find the success in their personal lives they are striving for in their professional ones. Griffin’s book, A Man’s Way through Relationships, is the first book written specifically to help men create healthy relationships while navigating the challenges of the “Man Rules™” — ideas men internalize at very young ages about how to be real boys and men.
Griffin’s professional background includes over three decades in the mental health and addictions field. In addition, he is 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 co-authored Helping Men Recover, the first comprehensive gender-responsive and trauma-informed curriculum for addiction and mental health professionals. His most recent publications include Healing Men’s Pain (co-authored with Jonathan DeCarlo) and Amazing Dads (co-authored with Harrison Crawford). And Dr. Sophia Murphy has joined the team to lead the development of Healing Women’s Pain and Amazing Moms! Dan served as a senior fellow at The Meadows, world-renowned experts treating addictive disorders and trauma, from 2015 to 2017. Dan earned a Master’s degree in Sociology from the University of Kansas. For his graduate work, Dan completed the first qualitative study centered on the social construction of masculinity in the culture of Alcoholics Anonymous.
But Dan is so much more than what he has done….
I grew up in the DC area in a suburb of Maryland. I now live in Los Angeles with my wife and my daughter.
I guess first and foremost I am a father and a husband. My family is very important to me and I strive every day to be the man they need me to be. I do it very imperfectly and I am coming to accept that is okay. In fact, it is inevitable. My work is about accepting our imperfections and seeing what is so difficult to see sometimes – the conditioning that is a deep part of who we are. I grew up with that same conditioning and continue to notice how it shows up in my life. Sometimes for the better. Sometimes it shows me the man I do not want to be. But it is all progress.
I have been in long-term recovery from addiction since I graduated college in May of 1994. That journey has been its own amazing ride that has brought me face to face with some of the greatest pain – and some of the greatest joy – I have been privileged to experience. It has given me the foundation of my life and my life’s work. Along the way my journey has also come to include mental health support and dealing with the impact of trauma on my own life. Those issues do not define me but working through them has given me a sense of direction and purpose I could have never imagined.
I am also in a band called The Rusties that has been one of the most joyful and fulfilling experiences of my life and I love playing tennis, pickleball, and volleyball.
