THE GLOBAL EXCHANGE CONFERENCE
ADDICTION • WELLNESS • MENTAL HEALTH • LEADERSHIP
Our Featured Presenters
Dr. Gabor Maté
A renowned speaker and bestselling author, Dr. Gabor Maté is highly sought after for his expertise on a range of topics including addiction, stress and childhood development.
Rather than offering quick-fix solutions to these complex issues, Dr. Maté weaves together scientific research, case histories, and his own insights and experience to present a broad perspective that enlightens and empowers people to promote their own healing and that of those around them.
After 20 years of family practice and palliative care experience, Dr. Maté worked for over a decade in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side with patients challenged by drug addiction and mental illness. The bestselling author of four books published in over twenty-five languages, Dr. Maté is an internationally renowned speaker highly sought after for his expertise on addiction, trauma, childhood development, and the relationship of stress and illness. His book on addiction received the Hubert Evans Prize for literary non-fiction. For his groundbreaking medical work and writing he has been awarded the Order of Canada, his country’s highest civilian distinction, and the Civic Merit Award from his hometown, Vancouver. Dr. Maté is also co-developer of a therapeutic approach, Compassionate Inquiry, now studied by hundreds of therapists, physicians, counselors, and others internationally.
Margaret Trudeau
Margaret Trudeau is celebrated as Canada's sensational first lady in the 1970's, and is respected for her work as a mental-health issues advocate. From becoming a prime minister’s wife at a young age, to the loss of both her son and her former husband, to living with bi-polar disorder, Margaret shares her personal stories to remind others of the importance of nurturing the body, mind, and spirit.
Margaret is the author of four books, including her bestselling title, Changing My Mind, which charts her life’s ups and downs, and her latest title, The Time of Your Life, which offers women an inspirational and practical approach to creating a healthy, happy, secure and satisfying future.
Margaret sits on the Executive Advisory Board of the UBC Mental Health Institute as a community advocate, and she is the Honorary President of WaterAid, a charitable Canadian non-governmental agency that is dedicated to helping poor communities in developing countries build sustainable water-supply and sanitation services. She is also the proud mother to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Dr. Peter Levine
Dr. Peter Levine a Senior Fellow with the Meadows Institute, holds doctorates in both medical biophysics and psychology. He is the developer of Somatic Experiencing® (SE), a naturalistic body-awareness approach to healing trauma, and teaches it all over the globe. He is the founder of the Foundation for Human Enrichment and was a stress consultant for NASA during the development of the space shuttle. Dr. Levine is the author of Healing Trauma, Sexual Healing and the best-selling book, Waking the Tiger; he co-authored, with Maggie Kline, Trauma Through a Child’s Eyes and Trauma-Proofing Your Kids. His newest book, In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness, is a testament to his lifelong investigation into the connection between evolutionary biology, neuroscience, animal behavior, and more than 40 years of clinical experience in the healing of trauma. He was honored in 2010 when he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the United States Association for Body Psychotherapy (USABP).
Marianne Williamson
Marianne Williamson is a bestselling author, political activist and spiritual thought leader.
For over three decades Marianne has been a leader in spiritual and religiously progressive circles. She is the author of 14 books, four of which have been #1 New York Times best sellers. A quote from the mega best seller A Return to Love, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure…” is considered an anthem for a contemporary generation of seekers.
Williamson founded Project Angel Food, a non-profit that has delivered more than 13 million meals to ill and dying homebound patients since 1989. The group was created to help people suffering from the ravages of HIV/AIDS. They have since expanded their service to any person battling critical illness. She has also worked throughout her career on poverty, anti-hunger and racial reconciliation issues. She has advocated for reparations for slavery since the 1990’s and was the first candidate in the 2020 presidential primary season to make it a pillar of her campaign. In 2004, she co-founded The Peace Alliance and supports the creation of a U.S. Department of Peace. In addition, she advocates for a cabinet level Department of Children and Youth to adequately address the chronic trauma of millions of American children. In 2021, Marianne launched MarianneWilliamson.Substack.com and the TRANSFORM Podcast.
Marianne is a native of Houston, Texas.
Dr. James Flowers
For nearly three decades, Dr. James Flowers has been one of the most recognized and respected names in the field of chronic pain, addiction, and pain recovery. With his broad educational background and extensive experience in evaluating and treating mental health, chronic pain, and co-occurring addiction, he is recognized as an expert.
Dr. Flowers has completed several fellowships in behavioral pain management and has completed clinical rotations at the top healthcare institutions in the country.
He developed mental health, pain, and addiction recovery programs for some of the country's best-known healthcare and addiction treatment centers. He directed medical and clinical programs integrating evaluation, diagnosis, and healthcare planning with treatment to promote successful recovery.
Dr. Flowers co-founded several well-known, exclusive treatment programs throughout the country, dedicated to his passion – that of designing multidisciplinary mental health and addiction treatment with medical and clinical protocols – to help individuals suffering from mental health, addiction, chronic pain, and other underlying disorders, successfully recover. With a demonstrated commitment to creating positive change in the lives of his clients, he is dedicated to progressive healthcare, human healing, and developing healthcare systems that best serve this population.
Dr. Flowers has been executing the protocol for assessments and evaluations for many years. Still, in founding J. Flowers Health Institute, he has advanced the process to satisfy a great void - to provide truly comprehensive assessment and evaluation for those who need a diagnosis and develop post-evaluation treatment recommendations. Having spent over 28 years in the medical and clinical community, Dr. Flowers is uniquely qualified to assemble some of the finest health care professionals in the world to perform these evaluations and provide treatment.
Over the years, Dr. Flowers' passion and dedication to his clients, as well as his unique approach, has earned him an exceptional reputation as one of the nation's premier experts. He is a popular public speaker and lecturer to audiences across the United States and abroad and has led an exceptional and distinguished career.
Dr. Flowers' latest endeavor is hosting his weekly podcast "Understanding the Human Condition." In each episode of Understanding the Human Condition, Dr. Flowers and his most-admired mentors, respected colleagues, and VIP guests share valuable insight into underlying health causes, conditions, and issues. These in-depth yet approachable episodes are an excellent resource for both private individuals and industry professionals.
Dr. Constant Mouton
MBChB, FCPsychSA, KNMG psychiatrist, CAI
Constant Mouton is a registered psychiatrist currently living in The Netherlands. He works with clients and their families throughout Europe and focuses on providing culturally sensitive mental health care for people with addiction and complex mental health problems.
During his studies as a medical doctor and later specializing as a (neuro)psychiatrist in South Africa, he was trained to work cross-culturally, respecting and utilising peoples’ cultural heritage, religion and spiritual beliefs to understand and treat the person in their context better. In addition, having lived and worked abroad, he has a personal understanding of the challenges of being an immigrant and expat.
As a trained medical specialist, he has experienced the value of the bio-psycho-social model of psychiatry. His studies and own experience also led him to approach mental health and addiction problems holistically and engage and utilise the strengths of clients, their families and communities.
The Southern African philosophy of Ubuntu, “I am because we are”, resonates throughout his work. He believes that by working collaboratively, we access combined resilience and restore connectedness between people. Through this connection, we are stronger and able to overcome adversity. Furthermore, the connectedness creates a space in which we can learn, improve and grow, bettering our own lives and those of others. The process of personal growth, recovery and healing occurs when we learn to focus on our strengths and resilience, creating our own story of mastery and success.
Dr. Karol Darsa
Dr. Darsa is a licensed psychologist and trauma specialist. She is the author of The Trauma Map and founder of Reconnect Integrative Trauma Treatment Center. Her 22 years of clinical experience in trauma and mental health disorders established her as a coveted speaker on trauma treatment at worldwide conferences, treatment centers and universities including USC, UCLA and Cal Lutheran. Her expertise using evidence-based trauma treatments combining Somatic Experiencing, EMDR, Brainspotting and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy established her as a trauma specialist. She helps clients release and heal from their trauma using an approach that is gentle but direct.
in 2002, Dr. Darsa studied under Christine Schenk, founder of the CHRIS-Technique, an energy therapy focused on teaching clients how to ground themselves in their bodies. In 2012, Dr. Darsa co-created Invisible War Recovery, a program designed to treat military sexual trauma survivors. She learned that clients who become dysregulated due to traumatic events or emotional disorders benefit from a finely attuned, gentle, body-based process to help heal and reconnect mind and body.
During Dr. Karol Darsa’s 20-plus years of therapeutic clinical practice, she developed a finely attuned, body-based method to heal and reconnect the mind and body. You will feel understood and safe throughout the gentle process taught in The Trauma Map.
Dr. Darsa’s deep understanding of trauma healing was developed at her acclaimed treatment center, Reconnect Integrative Trauma Treatment Center. Her groundbreaking method is now directly available to you through this healing toolbox lovingly offered in The Trauma Map: Five Steps to Reconnect With Yourself.
Professor David Nutt
David Nutt is Chair of the Drug Science Scientific Committee and currently the Edmund J Safra Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology and Head of the Neuropsychopharmacology Unit in the Centre for Academic Psychiatry in the Division of Brain Sciences, Dept of Medicine, Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College London. He is also visiting professor at the Open University in the UK and Maastricht University in the Netherlands. He is the founder of Drug Science and has held many leadership positions in both the UK and European academic scientific and clinical organizations. These include presidencies of the European Brain Council, the British Neuroscience Association, the British Association of Psychopharmacology and the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology as well as Chair of the UK Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. He is a Fellow of the Royal Colleges of Physicians, of Psychiatrists and of the Academy of Medical Sciences. He is also the UK Director of the European Certificate and Masters in Affective Disorders courses and a member of the International Centre for Science in Drug Policy.
David has edited the Journal of Psychopharmacology for over twenty five years and acts as the psychiatry drugs advisor to the British National Formulary. He has published over 500 original research papers and a similar number of reviews and books chapters, eight government reports on drugs and 35 books, including one for the general public, ‘Drugs Without the Hot Air’, which won the Transmission book prize in 2014 for Communication of Ideas.
Dr. Tian Dayton
Dr. Tian Dayton is a senior fellow at The Meadows and Director of The New York Psychodrama Training Institute. She is the author of fifteen books including Neuropsychodrama in the Treatment of Relational Trauma, The ACoA Trauma Syndrome: How Childhood Trauma Impacts Adult Relationships, Emotional Sobriety: From Relationship Trauma to Resilience and Balance, Trauma and Addiction: Ending the Cycle of Pain Through Emotional Literacy, Heartwounds: The Impact of Unresolved Trauma and Grief on Relationships, The Living Stage: A Step by Step Guide to Psychodrama and Experiential Therapy, The Magic of Forgiveness . She is a Huffington Post blogger and creator of innerlook.com.
Films and videos include The Process, a 73 minute award-winning docudrama that uses Psychodrama to tell stories of Addicts and ACOAs, and Psychodrama and Trauma Resolution Training Tape, a compressive psychodrama training tape illustrating the effect of unresolved trauma on the personality and its resolution through psychodrama and sociometry. They are available on her website.
Dr. Tian Dayton has a Master’s in Educational Psychology and a PhD in Clinical Psychology. She is a board-certified trainer in Psychodrama and a licensed Creative Arts Therapist, as well as a certified Montessori teacher. Dr. Dayton is the director of The New York Psychodrama Training Institute where she runs training groups in psychodrama, sociometry and experiential group therapy. She is a nationally renowned speaker, expert, and consultant in psychodrama, trauma and addiction and has served as their director of program development for eight years. Dr. Dayton was on the faculty at NYU for eight years teaching psychodrama. She is a fellow of the American Society of Psychodrama, Sociometry and Group Psychotherapy ASGPP, a winner of their scholar’s award and of the President’s award. She serves as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Psychodrama, Sociometry and Group Psychotherapy and sits on the professional standards committee. She is also the winner of The Mona Mansell Award and The Ackermann Black Award. Dr. Dayton has been a guest expert on NBC, CNN, MSNBC, Montel, Rikki Lake, John Walsh, and Geraldo.
Dr. Lou Cox
Dr. Louis D. Cox is a licensed Clinical Psychologist who has been practicing for over fifty-five years. His areas of expertise include the following:
Creating Conscious Team Dialog
Dr. Cox consults with different types of teams (executive/management teams, musical bands, community organizing teams) around developing and maintaining creative strategies for meeting their goals. His “Conscious Conversation” workshop trains teams to maintain a strong connection to their collective skills, intelligence, connection, and creativity, and to circumvent the barriers to sustaining creative team communication. This results in sustained high performance. Past clients include The Disney Corporation, AT&T, American Airlines, Sony Corporation, International Creative Management, Big Foote, as well as numerous successful rock and roll bands, including Aerosmith, REM, and Bon Jovi.
Alcoholism and Addiction
Dr. Cox is an expert in the area of alcoholism and addictions. He is experienced in the techniques designed to enable a family group or business colleagues to deal effectively with the insidious and destructive power of addictive disorders. Dr. Cox works individually with persons suffering from an addiction. He has also done trainings for the staff of several alcoholism and addiction treatment centers around the USA, UK, and Europe.
Psychotherapy
Dr. Cox is trained in a variety of psychotherapeutic techniques, including psychoanalysis, Gestalt therapy, psychodrama, and cognitive therapy. He also teaches mindfulness, meditation, and a method of deep self-inquiry. Through individual and group sessions, as well as workshops, he assists his clients in releasing the grip of conditioned limiting self-definitions, and in re-connecting with the power and joy inherent in the Native Self.
Dr. Cox also supervises other therapists in their practice of psychotherapy.
Publications
A Conscious Life: Cultivating the Seven Qualities of Authentic Adulthood. Conari Press, 1996. This book explores the nature of being an adult by describing the inner operating principles of a fully present and empowered adult. It includes exercises for the development of these qualities.
Ego: The Ghost in Your Machinery. Epigraph Books, 2018. This book explores the nature of the ego, ways to release its grip, and how to consistently access the resources of our Native Self.
Emotions, Integrity, and Teams in the Workplace. Ethical Management, 1997.
Somebody Stole the Team’s Brain. At Work: Stories of Tomorrow’s Workplace, 1997.
Andrew Lovell & Anthony Gorry
AjoiA - a musical and sound therapy sensory experience.
Andrew Lovell is probably best known for being the percussionist and member of multi-platinum and award-winning band M People, and has performed with artists such as Soul II Soul, Sting and Dame Evelyn Glennie.
Andrew is a qualified Cranio-Sacral Therapist, a Somatic Experience Practitioner and Sound Therapist. He walks a Shamanic path and is currently studying Child Psychotherapy.
Anthony Gorry is a musician, producer and writer who has collaborated with worldwide-selling artists including Moby, Gwen Stefani, Diplo and Richard Ashcroft.
More recently, Anthony has been involved in a number of diverse projects. He co-produced the music for a documentary using the sounds of the blue whale in Iceland, working with a BAFTA award-winning production team.
Yin yoga and meditation are a strong foundation in Anthony’s life, and he is passionate about growing, harvesting and cooking his own food.
Dr. Alberto Pertusa
Dr Alberto Pertusa is a Psychiatrist working in private practice in London, UK. He is also the founder of the London Psychiatry Clinic.
Dr Pertusa has extensive clinical experience in the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD, including complex cases with anxiety, depression or addiction. He is particularly interested in how being on the ADD/ADHD spectrum can be associated with a higher risk for developing substance or process addictions.
Dr Pertusa is also very interested in the relationship between ADHD and certain problems such as Imposter Syndrome and Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria, and how this can increase the risk of certain addictive behaviors that can act as coping mechanisms to deal with emotional distress.
Dr Pertusa has a keen interest in Functional Medicine and how it can be applied to Psychiatry. He is also very interested in the potential use of ketogenic diets in mental health and is the founder of KetoMind, a service that offers medically supervised treatment for mental health disorders using ketogenic diets.
Dr Pertusa completed his medical studies and graduated in Medicine in Spain in 2001. He then completed his PhD at the Institute of Psychiatry at the Maudsley Hospital, King’s College London. UK. He has published numerous scientific papers and has been an independent reviewer for several scientific journals. He also completed a Masters in Science (MSc) in Affective Neuroscience (Anxiety, Depression and related disorders) at Maastricht University, the Netherlands, and another MSc in Research Methodology in Health Sciences (Barcelona, Spain).
Dr. Jonathan Garabette
Treatment of Mental Health Conditions with Ketogenic diets: a new paradigm in Psychiatry
Dr. Garabette is a Consultant Psychiatrist working privately and in the NHS. He is a GMC registered specialist in the fields of both General Adult Psychiatry and Medical Psychotherapy.
He trained as a medical doctor at Guy’s King’s and St Thomas’s Medical School, University of London, obtaining first class degree in Neuroscience before graduating in Medicine and Surgery in 2004. He then undertook specialist psychiatry training at the prestigious South London and Maudsley training scheme, then other renowned schemes at Oxford and South West London and St George’s. He has additional qualifications in mental health research and biomedical and health education and has held honorary research, lecturer and psychotherapist posts at the Institute of Psychiatry, St George’s University of London and Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust. He has consultant experience in general psychiatry, forensic psychiatry and medical psychotherapy and is also heavily involved in training future specialists in psychiatry, and is appointed by Health Education England tas the training programme director for Medical psychotherapy training at South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust.
His clinical approach is about providing individualised, bespoke care and believes that optimising the therapeutic relationship and understanding the whole person, rather than just the diagnosis, are essential in improving long-term emotional and mental health, and in improving performance and wellbeing. In this talk, he will explore possible avenues by which psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy may in the future assist such a holistic treatment approach.
Dr. Neil Brener
The representation of madness in 19 century operas
Dr Neil Brener has been a Consultant Psychiatrist since the early 1990s.
Dr Brener was an examiner for the Royal College of Psychiatrists for ten years in part I and part II of the MRCPsych. He is proud to be associated with teaching medical students and postgraduates. Dr Brener obtained a degree in medicine from the University of London in 1984 and MRCPsych from the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Dr Brener has lectured abroad on a number of occasions and is associated with the issue of mental health in India. He is also a regular speaker at international conferences in both the UK and abroad. Dr Brener has an extensive medico-legal practice providing reports on adult survivors of sexual abuse. He has given evidence in court on a number of occasions and undertakes a good deal of work around litigation and some areas of crime.
Dr Brener is an avid theatre-goer and has had a long association with the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. He has also worked with a number of leading directors on the psychiatric aspects of productions, including People, Place and Things. He regularly attends the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and was a West End co-producer of War Horse and The History Boys.
Dr Brener is a keen horse-rider, specialising in dressage. He competes on his Hanoverian mare Frumma and trains with international Grand Prix rider Paul Friday.
Dr. Richard Schwartz
Richard Schwartz began his career as a family therapist and an academic at the University of Illinois at Chicago. There he discovered that family therapy alone did not achieve full symptom relief and in asking patients why, he learned that they were plagued by what they called “parts.” These patients became his teachers as they described how their parts formed networks of inner relationship that resembled the families he had been working with. He also found that as they focused on and, thereby, separated from their parts, they would shift into a state characterized by qualities like curiosity, calm, confidence and compassion. He called that inner essence the Self and was amazed to find it even in severely diagnosed and traumatized patients. From these explorations the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model was born in the early 1980s.
IFS is now evidence-based and has become a widely-used form of psychotherapy, particularly with trauma. It provides a non-pathologizing, optimistic, and empowering perspective and a practical and effective set of techniques for working with individuals, couples, families, and more recently, corporations and classrooms.
In 2013 Schwartz left the Chicago area and now lives in Brookline, MA where he is on the faculty of the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
Professor John Kelly
Dr. Kelly is the Elizabeth R. Spallin Professor of Psychiatry in Addiction Medicine at Harvard Medical School - the first endowed professor in addiction medicine at Harvard. He is also the Founder and Director of the Recovery Research Institute at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), the Associate Director of the Center for Addiction Medicine (CAM) at MGH, and the Program Director of the Addiction Recovery Management Service (ARMS). Dr. Kelly is a former President of the American Psychological Association's (APA) Society of Addiction Psychology, and is a Fellow of the APA and a Diplomate of the American Board of Professional Psychology. He has served as a consultant to U.S. federal agencies and non-federal institutions, as well as foreign governments and the United Nations. Dr. Kelly has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles, reviews, chapters, and books in the field of addiction medicine, and was an author on the U.S. Surgeon General's Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health. His clinical and research work has focused on addiction treatment and the recovery process, mechanisms of behavior change, and reducing stigma and discrimination among individuals suffering from addiction.
Dr. Matthew Walker
Sleep is your superpower
Sleep is your life-support system and Mother Nature's best effort yet at immortality, says sleep scientist Matt Walker. In this deep dive into the science of slumber, Walker shares the wonderfully good things that happen when you get sleep -- and the alarmingly bad things that happen when you don't, for both your brain and body.
Dr. Matthew Walker is a former Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and currently is Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. He is also the founder and director of the Center for Human Sleep Science at the University of California, Berkeley.
Dr. Walker’s research examines the impact of sleep on human health and disease. He has received numerous funding awards from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, and is a Kavli Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences. To date, Walker has published over 100 scientific research studies.
Dr. Walker is the author of the New York Times bestseller, Why We Sleep, which was recently selected for the prestigious Sundance Book Festival.
Dedicated to the communication of science, Dr. Walker is an internationally recognized speaker, having been invited to give talks at the prestigious Royal Institution (Ri) and Royal Society for the Arts (RSA) in London, The Smithsonian in the U.S., and he has also given three Google talks. Dr. Walker is also a popular media discussant and frequent feature on mainstream television outlets including the BBC and CBS, as well as popular radio outlets such as the BBC World Service and NPR.
Dr. Walker has also helped create the recent National Geographic documentary, Sleepless in America, and the PBS NOVA special, Memory Hackers. Most recently, he has contributed to the BBC Horizon documentary, Curing Alzheimer’s. His numerous presentations include several Google Tech talks and radio features on the BBC and NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, City Arts & Lectures, Hidden Brain, Science Friday, and Forum: NPR.
Dr. Walker holds numerous U.S. patents concerning consumer-based sleep recording, sleep tracking, and sleep stimulation. He also owns several patents focused on the commercial use of consumer-based sleep measures as they apply to health, technology, business, and enterprise.
Previously, Dr. Walker has served as Chief Scientist and scientific counsel for numerous technology companies, including Hello and Fitbit. Currently, Dr. Walker is a Sleep Scientist at Google. Here, Dr. Walker helps the scientific exploration of sleep in health and disease.
Dr. Kristin Kirkpatrick
Kristin Kirkpatrick is the former lead dietitian and manager of Wellness Nutrition Services at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute in Cleveland, Ohio. She is a Senior Fellow at Meadows Behavioral Healthcare, where she created the Fuel Well nutrition program. A bestselling author, experienced presenter, and award-winning dietitian, Kristin is a sought-after national speaker on a variety of nutrition and wellness-related topics, appearing on the TODAY show, NBC Nightly News and The Dr. Oz Show. She has also contributed to national publications including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, TIME, Runners World, Oprah, Martha Stewart Living, Food Network, Costco Connection, Self, Women’s Health, TODAY.com, The Huffington Post, US News and World Report, and she is a featured expert on Cleveland Clinic’s Health Essentials. The Huffington Post named Kristin “one of 35 diet and nutrition experts you need to follow on Twitter,” and in December 2017, her show The New Rules of Food aired nationally on PBS.
Kristin’s career began in Washington, DC, where she assisted in lobbying efforts for medical nutrition therapy reform on behalf of the American Dietetic Association Policy and Advocacy group. She then went on to become the regional coordinator of the Hearts N Parks program in Montgomery County, Maryland. During her time there, she designed, implemented, and measured health promotion programs within the Washington, DC metro area. Kristin then returned to Ohio to work for the Cleveland Clinic’s Department of Cardiovascular Genetics. She eventually became the lead dietitian in the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute. In addition, she serves on Dr. Oz’s medical advisory board as well as the advisory board for Lose it!
Kristin has more than 17 years of experience in the health management arena and holds an MS in health promotion management from American University and a BA in political science from George Washington University. A Licensed Registered Dietitian in the state of Ohio, In May 2012 she received the Ohio Outstanding Dietetic Educator of the Year Award. In January 2017, Kristin published her first book, Skinny Liver: A Proven Program to Prevent and Reverse the New Silent Epidemic—Fatty Liver Disease.
Dr. Claudia Black
Claudia Black, Ph. D. is the clinical architect and actively involved in the Claudia Black Young Adult Center at The Meadows. She works with the executive director and clinical director and their team assessing and enhancing the quality of the program. She is frequently on site speaking with clients and family members. She serves as a Senior Fellow and has been a clinical consultant at The Meadows Treatment Center in Arizona since 1998.
Claudia Black’s seminal work with children impacted by substance abuse in the late 1970s created the foundation for the adult child movement. Today Claudia is a renowned author and trainer internationally recognized for her pioneering and contemporary work with family systems and addictive disorders. She sits on the Advisory Board for the National Association of Children of Addiction, and the Advisory Committee for Camp Mariposa®, The Eluna Foundation’s national addiction prevention and mentoring program.
Claudia’ pioneering contributions are many:
- She would be the first to name and coin the dysfunctional family rules, “Don’t Talk, Don’t Trust, Don’t Feel.”
- She described the phenomena of delayed stress, emotional trauma, the child’s denial process,
- the phenomena of “looking good" kids as they relate to growing up with addiction, and hence the meaning and phraseology of “Adult Child of Alcoholics”.
- She utilized art therapy in the context of group work with young children that offered a model for children’s programs for the past three plus decades.
- She broke the barrier and openly discussed physical and sexual abuse in the context of addictive families.
Her work, her passion has been ageless and offers a foundation for those impacted by addiction to recover, and gives our professional field a library of both depth and breadth.
Dr. Black is the recipient of numerous national awards including the 2004 Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Washington School of Social Work, the 2010 Conway Hunter Award for excellence in the field of addictions, the 2012 Robert Rehmar Addiction Professional Award, the 2014 Father Joseph C. Martin Professional Excellence Award and the NAADAC 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award.
Dr. Black has been a keynote speaker on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. and on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada. Her workshops have been presented to an extraordinarily wide array of audiences including military academies, prison systems, medical schools, and extensive mental health and addiction programs. Claudia has extensive multi-cultural experiences working with agencies and audiences in Japan, Brazil, Australia, Scotland, Iceland, Germany, England and Canada. Many of her books and videos have been translated and published abroad.
Claudia is the author of It Will Never Happen To Me, Changing Course, My Dad Loves Me, My Dad Has A Disease, Repeat After Me, Relapse Toolkit, A Hole in the Sidewalk, Depression Strategies, Straight Talk, Family Strategies, Anger Strategies, Deceived: Facing Sexual Betrayal, Lies and Secrets, The Truth Begins With You, Intimate Treason and her most recent book Unspoken Legacy. She has produced several audio CDs and over twenty DVDs. All of Claudia’s materials are available through Central Recovery Press on her website www.claudiablack.com.
Dr. Derick Anderson, PsyD.
The Founder of Invictus Performance Inc, Dr. Derick Anderson is a licensed clinical psychologist who has been in practice for over two decades. Dr. Anderson began his career in performance psychology working with the Miami Dolphins under Coach Jimmy Johnson. After three years of working with the team, Dr. Anderson continued his career in sports as a consultant for the NFL.
Opportunities with the U.S. Army Pacific Command and the Army Corps of Engineers drew Dr. Anderson away from sports for a time to develop leadership and communication skills for civilian and military leadership. Transitioning from working with the Military back to working with the civilian sector Dr. Anderson began working with the U.S. Marshals, FBI, Interpol and the Internet Crime Against Children Unit (ICAC). In his role with these organizations, he provided Wellness strategies for investigators and provided profiles of child predators and other violent offenders. Over time, other interesting opportunities presented themselves within the state prison system, alcohol and drug rehabilitation industry and corporate consulting.
Jim Soda
Jim is a licensed clinician with over 15 years of experience working with sports performance and mental health. Jim started his sports career in broadcasting, working for ESPN radio in Orlando and Tampa. Jim spent 5 years working with the Tampa Rays before transitioning into residential substance use disorder and mental health treatment. Jim spent the next decade working as a therapist, director, and eventually starting a center for young men in early recovery.
With two masters degrees, one in Vocational Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling from The University of South Florida, and one in Sports Psychology from Ashford University, Jim has been able to work in both crisis management and performance improvement. Jim is a solution-focused therapist who believes that the mental strength skills needed to succeed in the high performance world, can also benefit those needing to turn their life around. Jim has spent a large part of his treatment experience working in adventure and activity based therapy with young adults. This experience has benefited him greatly when it comes to his more recent work with Major League Baseball, the NBA the NHL, Red Bull and his private practice work with athletes in South Florida. Jim is Certified as a Mental Performance Consultant.
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Jimmy Rizzo, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Billing Solutions has more than 25 years of experience working with behavioral health and substance abuse disorder field. Jimmy started his career as a house manager for a not-for-profit men’s sober living in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. As a house manager, his duties required working with men battling substance abuse early in their recovery. Eager to learn, he quickly began national marketing efforts geared towards primary treatment facilities for individuals seeking a continuum of care for their recovery. These efforts were so successful, the facility required expansion, leading Jimmy to learn grant writing and not-for-profit fundraising. With the help of his determination, the facility grew from 20 to 40 beds with a full continuum of sober living helping these men transition back into the mainstream of society.
Jerry Schwab is the CEO of High Watch Recovery Center in Kent, CT.
Sam Bierman is the Executive Director of Maryland Addiction Recovery Center and CEO of Innovo Detox. A graduate of Indiana University with a Bachelors of Science in Business Management, Sam started in the behavioral healthcare field as a Counselor Assistant at Caron Renaissance in Boca Raton, Florida. During his time at the non-profit addiction treatment center, Sam worked in direct client care, managed the medical office, eventually working his way up to Director of Operations and helping to open Caron Ocean Drive. Sam oversees the day-to-day operations of MARC as Executive Director, and the strategic direction for Innovo Detox as CEO. In addition, Sam sits on the Board of Directors for Encore Outpatient Services, a treatment facility in Northern Virginia co-managed by Maryland Addiction Recovery Center and Caron Treatment Centers, local Maryland non-profit organizations The Phoenix Foundation and Shalom Tikvah, serves on the membership committee of NAATP, the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers, and was named a Baltimore Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” Class of 2019 honoring Baltimore’s emerging business leaders.
Ruth Ann Rigby, CRS currently serves as the Chief Development Officer at BRC Healthcare in Austin, TX. She has been a leader in the behavioral health and addiction recovery field for over 24 years with 25 years in Recovery. She represents the very principles that she strives for every day—honesty, integrity, humility, and grace.
Barry Jacobson, a former Executive for the Walt Disney Company, is the principal owner of Barry Jacobson Consulting. The firm provides insight and hands-on training to companies in building a culture of excellence, focusing on leadership and management practices, employee engagement, event operations, and customer-centric experiences.
Marvin Ventrell became the CEO of the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers (NAATP) in 2015, continuing his 30-year career as a lawyer, association director, teacher, and addiction treatment executive. NAATP, founded in 1978, is professional membership association of addiction treatment providers whose mission is to provide leadership, advocacy, training, and member support services that ensure the availability and highest quality of addiction treatment.
Greg is the award-winning filmmaker of feature length documentaries, The Anonymous People and Generation Found. In 2015, he executive produced the historic UNITE to Face Addiction Rally on the National Mall when tens of thousands of people including from around the world gathered alongside major musicians to end the silence surrounding addiction. He also produced the launch of the first-ever Surgeon’s General Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health: Facing Addiction in America. His work has been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, ABC World News, LA Times, and countless other news outlets. He also serves as a member of the United States of Care’s Voices of Real Life advisory group.
Jason is Vice President of Communications and Chief Marketing Officer at High Watch Recovery Center. He is a communications strategist with many years of experience in healthcare and advocacy.
Nanette Zumwalt is currently recognized as one of the top interventionists and an industry expert, both nationally and internationally. Nanette began working in the field of mental health and addiction treatment nearly three decades ago as a direct care technician at inpatient acute psychiatric hospitals. With her vibrant and engaging personality, knowledge, experience, and sincere desire to help those in need, it is no surprise that her career has included various management titles throughout top national therapeutic schools and recovery programs.
Daniel S. Valha is the CEO of KDV Consulting, a boutique consulting firm for the meetings industry.
Dr. Boff is a Doctor of Physical Therapy, a Certified Athletic Trainer, and a Strength and Conditioning Coach who is not only an expert in his profession but is also extremely passionate about the intersection of health, wellness and function. With over 20 years of professional sports experience as a physical therapist and trainer for the NBA, he has been able to transform bodies and change lives with incredible success. His Los Angeles-based company, MHB (Manage your Health and Body) Fitness, grew from his own philosophy to take ownership of managing one’s health and body. MHB Fitness is a concierge health and wellness service that specializes in providing an elite level of individualized client care in addition to consulting services.
Samantha Quinlan works in the Behavioural, Mental and Emotional Health sector and is the founder of the international conference on Addiction -iCAAD. She has extensive knowledge and networks on specialist issues across the world on Addiction and mental health.
Nikki Soda is a passionate advocate for recovery, experienced marketer, and meeting planner. With over 10 years of nonprofit and corporate meeting planning, she brings an energy and level of professionalism used to create successful outcomes. Prior to working in the healthcare industry, Nikki was an event planner and organized large scale events while working for both corporate and nonprofit organizations. Her background in recovery led her to shifting into the behavioral health field. Previously, Nikki has worked in the capacity of Director of both Business Development and Marketing for nationally recognized treatment facilities, as well as overseeing several Alumni programs while being on the board of the Treatment Professionals and Alumni Services. Advocacy and Public Policy are two passions that Nikki continuously puts effort into, through volunteering and community engagement.
Gary Seidler has been one of the foremost advocates of the addictions. and mental health field for the past 40-plus years as a book, magazine publisher and professional conference organizer.
Robbin Mooney has served in the behavioral health industry since 1998, creating and implementing dynamic marketing solutions, design, and branding strategies for a variety of companies and institutions.
Hand-picked by Oprah Winfrey as one of her Super Soul 100 changemakers, Jeff helms Commune Media — offering an assemblage of in-depth wellness courses, podcasts, and other media featuring the field’s foremost experts, including Deepak Chopra, Russell Brand, and Sharon Salzberg. “Our goal is to democratize well-being,” says Jeff. As creator of the global Wanderlust festivals, host of the popular Commune podcast (120,000 monthly downloads), and the author of three books, Jeff presents his audience with knowledge and guideposts to becoming their best selves. Classes, podcasts, and books offer a roadmap to creating a better society through compassion, community-building, and hands-on activism. An expert in mindfulness and a sociopolitical commentator with a degree in political science and American history from Columbia University, Krasno digs to find common ground when people divide along political lines, and offers a path to connection.
