Who's who in addiction treatment?
March 15, 2010 6:06 AM   Subscribe

If my long term goal is to be an innovator specializing in recovery from addiction and improving treatment and services for substance abusers, whose work/s do I already need to be familiar with? Which programs? Who is considered cutting edge/ who is advancing the field? Thanks.
posted by hellboundforcheddar to Health & Fitness (8 answers total)
 
Treatment Research Institute, think tank run by Obama Administration Deputy Drug Czar Tom McClellan.

Doug Marlowe, drug court research guru.

Charles O'Brien, brain science guy.

All based in Philly, btw.
posted by The Straightener at 6:16 AM on March 15, 2010


Addiction: A Disorder of Choice by Gene M. Heyman, a Harvard psychologist. (TNR has a good review today by a psychiatrist.)
posted by Jaltcoh at 7:23 AM on March 15, 2010


Nora D. Volkow.

Also look into Irvin Yalom's work if you haven't already. He is not an authority on addiction, but his research on group therapy had had a huge influence on substance abuse treatment.
posted by space_cookie at 7:38 AM on March 15, 2010


TROSA is a fantastic organization in Durham, NC.
posted by Stewriffic at 7:50 AM on March 15, 2010


Crap. Linky: TROSA
posted by Stewriffic at 7:51 AM on March 15, 2010


HBO.com's Addiction Web site has a wealth of resources referencing current leading edge thinking and treatment research about substance addiction. The National Institute on Drug Abuse Web site is also full of resources.
posted by paulsc at 9:12 AM on March 15, 2010


Stanton Peele, PhD.

Dr David Sinclair.
posted by Weng at 6:21 PM on March 15, 2010


Books:
In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, by Dr. Gabor Mate
(I know I've been recommending it all over Metafilter, but it's really good)
Practicing Harm Reduction Psychotherapy: An Alternative Approach to Addictions
by Patt Denning
(caveat that she's a friend of mine)

People:
Alan Marlatt

Sign up for NIDA's newsletters, keep track of their conferences, and go through the links on their website. They are the federal govt., so influenced by federal prohibitionist policies, but still often fighting the good fight for science within the government. Definitely the biggest funder of research on substance use around.

You should check out the American Society of Addiction Medicine's conference listings. Attend if you can, but the program should give you a good sense of who is doing what research.

Blogs (uneven, but often interesting):
Addiction Inbox
DrugMonkey

That's a bit of a random selection, off the top of my head. If you have more specific questions or focuses I can probably come up with something more for you.
posted by gingerbeer at 1:35 PM on March 16, 2010


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