Phil Diaz, M.S.W., is the executive director of the Harrigan Foundation at Palm Partners Treatment Center in Delray Beach, Florida. He has a private practice specializing in the treatment of addiction and trauma at Lifescape Solutions in Delray, Florida. He is the former CEO of Gateway Community Services, Inc., a 200-bed drug treatment facility for adolescents and adults in Jacksonville, Florida. At Gateway, he pioneered PTSD treatment for chronic relapsers using Gestalt therapy and EMDR. Diaz was the deputy director for substance abuse at one of the largest community mental health centers in New York State where he pioneered work with children of alcoholics and the dual diagnosed drug addicted person. He is also the former assistant deputy director for prevention in the Office of Demand Reduction with the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy; in that capacity, he was the lead federal official in the development of national and international drug prevention policy.

Diaz is a social worker with more than thirty-five years of experience in drug prevention and treatment, child abuse, and trauma. He is also a founding board member of the National Association for Children of Alcoholics and the founding chairperson of the National Drug Prevention League. His work has appeared in Women's Day, USA Today, and Focus on the Family. Diaz is the coauthor of The Lowdown on Families Who Get High, 12 Steps to Self-Parenting, 12 Steps to Self-Parenting Workbook, and Breaking the Cycle of Addiction as well as numerous articles in magazines including Addiction Today, Counselor, and Recovery. He has received numerous awards for his work including an honorary doctorate in law from Mercy College in New York.