On Wednesday, November 12, we hosted Maria Kratsios, LCSW, and Founder & Chief Clinical Officer of Nest Behavioral Health, for a Pathway Session on trauma. Maria is a well-respected psychologist, educator and speaker who is passionate about healing trauma using a holistic, polyvagal theory-based treatment approach. Maria set the stage for the Zoom session by first describing her own personal

On Wednesday, October 16, we hosted Amanda Craig, PhD, for a Pathway Session on setting healthy boundaries to promote recovery. Dr. Craig is a licensed marriage and family therapist and board-approved clinical supervisor with a clinical focus on issues impacting our relationships. To start off the meeting, Amanda set the stage by defining a boundary as a “property line” where

On Wednesday, June 12, 2024, we hosted Hope Payson, LCSW, LADC, a trauma & addiction therapist, for a virtual Pathway Session over Zoom. The meeting was well-attended, and Hope allocated plenty of time for Q&A. Hope addressed her area of specialty, which is the intersection of trauma with substance use disorder. She stated that while she works with plenty of

On Wednesday, May 15, 2024, we hosted Jim Funnell, a trust & estates attorney, for an in-person Pathway Session on financial planning for a loved one with a mental health or other disability. The meeting was well-attended, and Jim allocated some more of his time afterwards for individual Q&A. Jim addressed some of the common entitlement programs that exist, including

On Wednesday, April 17, 2024, we hosted Tim Walsh of Adventure Recovery (AR) for an in-person Pathway Session on how outdoor movement and skills can promote recovery. There was a good mix of recovery coaches and parents in attendance. For some time it has been recognized that the brain can be impacted by community, moving in the outdoors, and spending

On Wednesday, March 13, 2024, we hosted Raquel Harrison, MD, a local Lifestyle Medicine and emergency physician, for an in-person Pathway Session on managing cortisol for health and recovery. Lifestyle Medicine is a relatively new medical specialty based on the vital role that lifestyle choices play in preventing and reversing chronic diseases. Thee are six pillars of lifestyle medicine: plant-forward

On Wednesday, February 21, 2024, we hosted Ethan Hershman and Colleen Delaney, co-founders of the nonprofit group Move to Heal (MTH). It was an insightful session about a recovery approach that is growing rapidly from 1 outlet in 2021 to 24 locations by the end of the year. I first became aware of Move to Heal when Ian Parker, in

On Wednesday, January 17, 2024, we hosted Jordan Davidson, Government Affairs Manager at Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and a man in long-term recovery from THC addiction. I first became aware of Jordan because his mom who used to attend our parent support meetings when Jordan was in the early days of his recovery. He a recent graduate of American

On Monday, December 11, at St. Mark’s Church, our guest speaker Frank Bartolomeo, PhD, spoke on setting boundaries to promote recovery. Frank is s a nationally-recognized expert in mental health amd substance use. Frank has a private psychotherapy practice in addition to being the Founder and Director of the Well Center for Development, both based in New Canaan. In addition,

On Wednesday, November 20, we hosted Erika Long, co-Founder of the Community Mindfulness Project (CMP) for a fascinating in-person Pathway Session. During the session, Erika went through a number of concepts about the power of mindfulness. Among the ideas were these: 1) Taking deep breaths sends a signal to the brain that we are safe; 2) We have the power