Chief Clinical Editor for Narconon, Claire Pinelli
Claire Pinelli has been a teacher and counselor for over 45 years. Claire has always been interested in helping others, even while working on her degree in mathematics. Eventually, Claire took a year off to follow her passion, then returned to finish her degree graduating Cum Laude for Brooklyn College, CUNY.
Throughout the 1970s Claire continued to counsel others, moving to Los Angeles before eventually settling in New York City where she married. While in New York Claire began a new chapter in her life by teaching in the New York City School System, where she helped establish the first computer science curriculum for the New York City School System. Despite her busy schedule, Claire found the time to earn her Master of Science Degree, Cum Laude, in Computer Engineering from Polytechnic Institute of New York (now New York University).
In 1985 she left New York with her husband and moved to Los Angeles finding herself managing a multi-specialty medical clinic in Los Angeles. As time went on, Claire’s family grew to 3 children and with her husband, they made the decision to move to Northern California for her children to have a quality education. It was here that Claire began one of the most fulfilling chapters in her life when a local Narconon drug and alcohol rehab center asked for her help. She agreed, and it was there she realized her passion and ability to use her counseling skills to help those addicted to drugs and alcohol as well as their families. While there, she was able to put in a standard withdrawal protocol and double the program enrollment.
In 2004 she moved on to work at a larger Narconon facility in Oklahoma. Here she was met with a new challenge. Over the course of her 2-year tenure, Claire saw the enrollment double as she supervised treatment for over 200 clients at a time. Her skills as an administrator as well as a counselor were put to good use as she helped thousands of addicts discover how to live life free from drugs and alcohol. After ensuring a smooth transition, in 2007 she decided to move to Houston, Texas, where she and her family live today. In Houston, she and her husband founded Q.U.A.D. Consultants of Texas, Inc. A Texas corporation whose goal is to help people Quit Using Alcohol and Drugs by treating and educating not only the addict, but the counselors, the family and the facility as well.
Over the years, she never stopped learning and advancing her knowledge and certification to increase her expertise and skill to help others. She became an LADC with Clinical Supervision Certification from the Oklahoma Board of Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselors; an Internationally Certified Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor (ICAADC) and a Certified Clinical Supervisor (CCS) from the International Certification and Reciprocity Consortium; a Registered Addiction Specialist (RAS) from the Breining Institute in California; and a Master’s Level Certified Addiction Professional and Certified Addiction Professional (MCAP) from the state of Florida.
Claire has been doing talks and lectures on drug addiction and treatment as well as classes for professionals since 2005.
She currently is living in Houston with her family and consulting for several facilities and creating and delivering Board Approved Continuing Education training for professional and lay people alike.
It’s important to monitor new drug trends as they arise, as every trend brings new risks to addicts. While the usage of “poppers” is not new, this drug trend is making a bold comeback, posing risks to a new generation of drug users.
Decades of scientific efforts have sought to understand why some people become addicted to drugs and others do not. One research paper suggests the issue is far simpler than what many believed. According to the data, anyone and everyone are at risk for drug and alcohol addiction, hence the importance of educating the public about this critical health risk.
As a person becomes addicted to drugs or alcohol, healthy relationships are left by the wayside. Why is this? We examine the effects of drugs and alcohol on relationships and what can happen when this person makes it through rehab.
Alcohol addiction and alcohol-related deaths have increased dramatically in recent years. Today, alcohol consumption is one of the leading causes of preventable death in the United States. Yet, unlike the opioid epidemic, alcohol misuse receives little attention. It’s time to recognize alcohol-related harm for what it is, an epidemic.
One of the most common myths about marijuana is that it is safe to use. A Canadian study published in June 2022 dispelled that notion by showing a correlation between marijuana use and a higher likelihood of being hospitalized.
Hallucinogens can disrupt a person’s ability to think and communicate rationally, or even to recognize reality, sometimes resulting in bizarre or dangerous behavior. This effect is quite different from other drugs that produce feel-good sensations.
Not all mind-altering substances receive equal attention from the media, policymakers, and public health officials. But any drug has the potential to harm the user, hence the importance of understanding usage trends and statistics for all drugs. This article briefly highlights relevant trends and statistics regarding club drug usage.
Preserving the health and safety of teens is priority #1 for parents. Every parent wants their sons and daughters to grow up to lead healthy and fulfilling lives. With that in mind, it is extremely worrisome that teen drug overdose deaths have more than doubled in just two years.
Though it is not often mentioned by the media, there is a broader economic cost to the national public health emergency of drug and alcohol addiction. Addiction is expensive, not just for addicts, but for all Americans. Conversely, solving America’s addiction epidemic and returning millions of recovering addicts to the workforce would benefit the economy.
A long-held point of view has been that young people will experiment with drugs and alcohol because “that’s just what young people do” often maintaining that young people will transition out of drug and alcohol experimentation when they grow older and more mature. New research suggests that this is not the case.
Does it really make sense to blanket legalize drugs? On the other hand, does it really make sense to continue the War on Drugs? Or is it possible that leaving some penalties in place but altering or lessening them if treatment is completed might be more effective than either blanket legalization of drugs or ruthlessly throwing people in jail for drug use?
Teens are less likely to use drugs now than they were in previous years, but they are significantly more likely to die from an overdose when they do use drugs. Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, is almost entirely to blame for the deaths.
From increased risk for certain types of stroke complications to a higher likelihood for stroke events in young people, from memory loss to potentially permanent drops in IQ, people who use cannabis are putting their health at serious risk.
One might think that a substance that kills six times as many people as drugs would be talked about more than it is. But it isn’t, mostly because alcohol usually kills far more slowly than drugs. A drug overdose is dramatic and immediate. It could take a person years or even decades to kill themselves with alcohol.
In the late 20th century, tobacco and alcohol companies were caught using marketing techniques to advertise their products to young people. Today, it would appear that cannabis companies are attempting similar strategies to widen their customer base to include a younger demographic.
One of the most significant risks of using drugs is the possibility that an addict will unknowingly use a completely different drug from what they were expecting. This risk has been particularly evident with the recent surge in fatal fentanyl overdoses.
Addiction is such a pervasive problem in America that one in eight Americans suffer from this problem. Grasping the extent of the problem is a vital first step to resolving it successfully.
People who use cannabis sometimes say that they feel okay to drive after an hour or two has passed. But are they really okay to drive? A new study shows they are not.
