Grief and Loss in Addiction and Recovery - April 2017

05/22/17 • 86 min

Dawn Farm Addiction and Recovery Education Series

“Grief and Loss in Addiction and Recovery” was presented on April 18, 2017; by Jerry Fouchey, BS, MA, SpA, CADC; Dawn Farm Outpatient and Personal Medicine therapist; and Barb Smith, author of “Brent’s World.” Unresolved grief and loss frequently accompany people throughout the process of moving from the culture of addiction to the culture of recovery. Families of people with addiction experience grief and loss as well. This program will explain various theories of grief and grief recovery, describe losses that chemically dependent individuals and their families experience throughout the addiction and recovery processes, and discuss ways to cope with grief and loss.

This presentation is part of the Dawn Farm Education Series, a free, annual education series developed to provide accurate, helpful, hopeful, practical, current information about chemical dependency, recovery, family and related issues. The Education Series is organized by Dawn Farm, a non-profit community of programs providing a continuum of chemical dependency services. For information, please see http://www.dawnfarm.org/programs/education-series.

About the Presenters: Jerry Fouchey, BS, MA, Sp.A., CADC Jerry Fouchey has extensive experience in the field of education as an administrator, facilitator, strategist, teacher and practitioner in the areas of educational administration, curriculum, instruction and staff development, and has played leadership roles in many initiatives in various public school districts. After several years as a Dawn Farm Spera Recovery Center Counselor, Jerry currently serves as a Personal Medicine and Outpatient therapist for Dawn Farm. He earned his BS, MA, and Sp.A. from Eastern Michigan University, has received additional training in substance use disorder prevention and treatment procedures, and is a Certified Alcohol & Drug Counselor (CADC). Jerry was instrumental in the implementation of Dawn Farm’s Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) program and “Personal Medicine” program.

Barb Smith Barb Smith is the author of “Brent’s World,” a book about the life and death of her oldest son. Barb is a frequent speaker at community, school and church functions.

Barb Smith Barb Smith is the author of “Brent’s World,” a book about the life and death of her oldest son. Barb is a frequent speaker at community, school and church functions.

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Cultivating Mindfulness to Support Recovery - March 2017

“Cultivating Mindfulness to Support Recovery” was presented on Tuesday March 28, 2017, by Dr. Elizabeth A.R. Robinson, MPH, MSW Ph.D. Mindfulness practices are effective in supporting sustained recovery from substance use disorders. This presentation will describe theory and research supporting mindfulness, demonstrate mindfulness techniques and provide opportunities for the audience to experience and cultivate mindfulness, and review the evidence of the positive effects of mindfulness on recovery.

About the presenter: Elizabeth A. R. Robinson, MSW, MPH, Ph.D. Dr. Libby Robinson has practiced mindfulness meditation since 1979 and was trained to teach Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction by Jon Kabat-Zinn and colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Center for Mindfulness. She has taught Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction since 2003. She recently retired from the University of Michigan, where she was a Research Assistant Professor, carrying out NIH-funded research on the role of spiritual and religious change in recovery. She also did an NIAAA post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan Addiction Research Center and was on the social work faculty at Case Western Reserve University and the University at Buffalo. Dr. Robinson has an MSW, an MPH and a Ph.D. in Psychology and Social Work from the University of Michigan.

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Emerging from the Darkness: The End of the Drug War and the Rise of Recovery - April 2017

“Emerging from the Darkness: The End of the Drug War and the Rise of Recovery” was presented on April 20, 2017, by Dr. Kevin T. McCauley, MD; co-founder of the Institute on Addiction Study; writer of the award-winning DVD “Pleasure Unwoven” and the DVD “Memo To Self.” Not only have the ships for which we have waited for so long appeared on the horizon, some of them have now come into port. Parity. Treatment on demand. Stigma reduction. These once seemingly impossible dreams are today a reality. The White House creates an "Office of Recovery" and speaks openly about a "Third Way" for new policy. States legalize cannabis for - not medical - but recreational use, and create a giant natural experiment that will reveal previous certainties about its dangers as truth or fiction. Films, books, plays, and music put a human face on addiction, changing minds and hearts in the process. But most importantly, people are recovering. As we emerge from the rubble of the Drug War, we can rebuild on the foundation of astonishing brain research that has quietly accumulated through decades of zero-tolerance and mass incarceration. In this lecture, we will stop and realize this moment in history, and compare it to other challenges of health disparity and social inequality. We will review the rising science of recovery and explore concepts of recovery management. We will elucidate this "Third Way," and consider the challenges it entails. We will explore innovative policies, enacted on local and national levels, which hold the promise of preventing addiction before it starts, treating it on a scale never before seen in the US, and re-enfranchising a battered but resilient American demographic. As groups of men and women, formerly living in the shadows, come together, define themselves, and become a people, we should not forget: History is watching.

This program is part of the Dawn Farm Education Series, a FREE, annual workshop series developed to provide accurate, helpful, hopeful, practical, current information about chemical dependency, recovery, family and related issues. The Education Series is organized by Dawn Farm, a non-profit community of programs providing a continuum of chemical dependency services. For information, please see http://www.dawnfarm.org/programs/education-series.

About The Presenter: Dr. Kevin McCauley, MD

Kevin McCauley, MD graduated from Drexel University Medical School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992. He entered the United States Navy and received his Naval Flight Surgeon training at the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute in Pensacola, Florida. He was the flight surgeon for Heavy Marine Helicopter Squadron 363 at Marine Corps Air Station, Tustin, California and for Marine Fighter/Attack Training Squadron 101 at Marine Corps Air Station, El Toro, California.

Dr. McCauley is the co-founder of the Institute for Addiction Study in Salt Lake City, Utah, and the Director of Program Services at the New Roads Treatment Center in Sandy, Utah. He has served as President of the Utah Association of Recovery Residences in Salt Lake City, Utah, working with state and municipal agencies to promulgate best practices for local sober living home providers in order to strengthen the Recovery-Oriented System of Care in Utah. Dr. McCauley served as Director of Le Mont Michel in Sandy, Utah, from 2009 to 2013; helping with the design and implementation of a disease management/ residential recovery support program and also served as director of daily operations of an eight-bed sober living facility including training and supervision of staff, as well as analysis of outcome data.

As co-founder of the Institute for Addiction Study, Dr. McCauley wrote and directed two films: “Pleasure Unwoven” about the neuroscience of addiction, and “Memo to Self” about Recovery Management in commercial airline pilots and professionals with substance use disorders. “Pleasure Unwoven” won the 2010 Michael Q. Ford Award for Journalism from the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers.

Dr. McCauley travels between Utah and his home in Honolulu, Hawai`I where he lives with his wife, Kristine. His goals are to help those who wish to better understand addiction topics and to make difficult scientific concepts accessible to all. In his work, he strives to foster the acceptance of people in recovery as full and valued members of society.