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.
Drug overdoses are one of the leading health problems in the United States. And while drug addiction is present in every U.S. state, the crisis touches down with more force in some states than in others. Maryland is one such state.
It's no mystery that drug and alcohol addiction statistics surged through the first two decades of the 21st-century. As the drug problem grew (mainly involving opiates), it began to affect demographics that previously had very minimal interactions with such substances. This is speaking of course of suburban, middle-class America, the new ground zero for America's addiction crisis.
With 88,000 people in the United States dying from alcohol-related causes each year, there is no doubt that alcohol abuse is a considerable public health problem in ALL parts of the nation.
While there is no question that genetics and hereditary factors play a role in how long someone will live, HOW one lives is also critical. As one can imagine, healthy living tends to produce longer life, whereas unhealthy living tends to shorten life. And of all the unhealthy habits one could take on, the one that might shorten life expectancy the most is drug and alcohol abuse.
It's NEVER a good time to be addicted. But the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic ups the stakes considerably. If ever there was a time to reach out to a loved one—or reach out yourself—for sobriety, it's right now.
Alcohol can rob anyone of any description of their happiness, their health, prosperity and even their reason for living. The very kindest thing that can be done for a person losing everything to their dependence on alcohol is a firm insistence on recovery.
As countries around the world impose quarantines to prevent the spread of COVID-19, alcohol appears to be a complicating factor. Because so many confusing ideas are swirling through our news reports and social media, it's important to focus on the facts about alcohol and COVID-19.
Drug and alcohol addiction causes untold harm not only to those immediately affected but also to their family members and loved ones. Sadly, domestic abuse, another serious problem, often appears in the same households where addiction occurs. How can both be addressed in a way that improves the lives of all involved?
Some people consider that vaping is safer and healthier than smoking cigarettes or joints. But is it really healthier when it comes fighting off respiratory infections?
As drug addiction statistics and death rates climb, more parents are concerned that their sons and daughters will experiment with mind-altering substances and become hooked. What can parents do to ensure their kids never use drugs?
Young people are at a formative, and impressionable time as they come into adolescence and move forward into adulthood. Sadly, more of them are being sucked into a rising trend of marijuana use, particularly marijuana use via Juuls, electronic cigarettes, and other vaporizer devices.
It’s possible to become so anxious about our current situation that you forget all the ways it’s possible to rise above the anxiety and feel good about your life. We offer some positive suggestions.
Suffering from physical pain can be harsh, even severely unpleasant. In 21st-century medicine, there are many ways to treat pain, opioid painkillers being the most well-known. But opioids are also very addictive, making it a risk for patients to take them. What can patients do when offered a prescription for painkillers?
With tensions high and nerves on edge, millions of Americans have been sheltering at home during the COVID-19 health crisis. Some have stayed at home for several weeks without leaving. Sadly, alcohol consumption has soared during the crisis, and alcohol companies have raked in the profits while Americans put themselves at further risk. What can we learn from this? And how can we ensure it doesn't happen again?
What's the real reason people start using drugs, then keep taking them? We asked people who had become trapped in addiction and then found their way out.
Mothers should seek out safe, effective, and sensible healthcare services before, during, and after their pregnancy. Sadly, more and more new mothers are being put on potentially addictive opioid painkillers postpartum. Why is this wrong? And what can moms do to treat postpartum pain without resorting to painkillers?
Every state has been affected by the addiction epidemic to some degree. New Mexico faces a unique series of challenges that the residents of the state will have to address to create a sober and drug-free environment. What are the unique factors of that state's drug problem and how can locals address it?
One of the most constant elements in the struggle to eliminate illicit drugs from American cities is the constant ability of drug trafficking organizations to change. They change the drugs they manufacture and traffic.
It's not that difficult to improve one's immunity to disease. There are some bad habits to get rid of and some healthy habits to start. If you've been concerned about the possibility of illness, it might be time to start looking at how to boost your own immune system.
