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

Our October 18 Pathway Session on Addiction Studies with Shane Murphy, PhD, was a big success. Shane, who founded and heads the graduate-level program in Addiction Studies at WestConn State University, gave us some background about the program and why it is needed. The program serves different individual needs including: 1) credit hours (37) to pursue a career as an

Our June 14 Pathway Session with Kate Appleman, LPC, Caron, was a big success. Some of the highlights included: 1) Kate reviewed the latest studies on cannabis use, including ones that associate occasional THC use with increased risk of psychiatric disorders; 2) Clinical factors that promote recovery including motivational interviewing and contingency management; 3) Effective boundary-setting and how it can

On Wednesday, May 17, we hosted a Pathway Session on Interventions with Paul Gallant, CIP. Paul is a well-known interventionist in the Northeast, as he lives in Monroe, CT and has been doing intervention work for over 35 years. Paul describes intervention as “changing the course” based on love. It can occur whenever one or more members of the family

On April 19, we hosted our Monthly Pathway Session on setting boundaries with Amanda Craig, PhD. It was a great success, as over 50 people attended–mostly parents and recovery coaches. Given that many parents are challenged with a child living at home who is in active addiction or early recovery, this discussion was extremely useful. Amanda started off sharing how

On March 15, NCPSG hosted a monthly Pathway Session on Transitional Recovery with Timmy Brooks of Synergy Houses, based in the Philadelphia area. During the session, Timmy shared his life story from prep school lacrosse star to facing 10 drug-related felonies and jail time. While he found support from his family, including his dad who has over 29 years of