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.
The alcohol market is expanding. A lot of people don't drink, not because they have something against alcohol necessarily, but simply because they don't like the taste of alcohol. Yet it seems as though alcohol companies are trying to broaden their target audience by innovating new ways to get more customers.
Most people gravitate to sunny days over gray ones. Most tend to enjoy warm weather over cold. Most would prefer a day with 16 hours of sunlight over one with just half that.
When we examine the harmful effects of drugs and alcohol, we usually think of the person who is using the substance. But the truth is, drug and alcohol use harms those close to the user too. Family members are affected, as are coworkers, friends, etc.
A detailed report by the Rand Corporation showed us that, in the last five years, U.S. deaths from synthetic fentanyl and other synthetic opioids increased by more than 10-fold. The loss of life due to just one type of drug has been so rapid that the crisis is now a threat to all of us.
The field of medicine has changed quite a bit over the years. For one thing, this field is much more complicated than it used to be. We know so much more about the human body. We know more about what ails us, and about what we might do to treat those ailments.
I hear so often among young adults and even my peers that drinking and social drug use is the “cool” thing to do. When I go to music shows and events, I’m always amazed by how much alcohol people consume…
On the subject of drugs, many parents often don’t know even how to begin broaching this subject. That is particularly true if parents have had little to no experience with drugs in their own lives. But parents see the news reports, and they hear the warnings. Drug use is becoming more common, more dangerous, and more deadly.
It's hard for a parent to know when their child is lying about drinking or using drugs and when they should begin to take action. We shed some light on this subject for parents and caretakers.
Painkillers have become a subject of growing controversy. The news is full of headlines decrying the pharmaceutical industry for producing opiate pain relievers that cause more harm than good. We hear stories of millions of Americans who took painkillers for pain but who ended up hopeless addicts to the very drugs which were supposed to help them.
I walked into the new doctor’s office with the hopes that he might be able to help me overcome the debilitating effects of a recent heatstroke. This doctor had been recommended by a friend but I didn’t exactly know why.
In a nation where our drug problem grows by the year, we’re starting to see drug use and alcohol misuse crop up in businesses. Entire industries have been affected. We hear about office accidents, workplace injuries, falls, and so on, often caused by intoxication.
An article published by NPR and titled “Jump In Overdoses Shows Opioid Epidemic Has Worsened” sheds light on the condition of the drug crisis in America. This article points out how the drug crisis has surged forward in recent years, making it even more critical that we address it now .
Within the opioid addiction epidemic in this country, several types of drugs play a role. But opiates take the lead for causing the most harm, for taking the most lives, and for creating the largest public health burden.
Keeping drugs out of our country requires monitoring the shifts in production and trafficking patterns. Recently, the way fentanyl has been coming into the U.S. has made one of those shifts.
The media is so often filled with unhappy circumstances, lousy news, hardships, and unpleasant events. That’s what sells. So when USA Today featured an interview with a retired U.S. Navy admiral about a non-profit that he and his wife started to counter the opioid epidemic, I was pleased to see a break in the morose news updates I had become so used to.
Most people know that overdoses of opioids like heroin, oxycodone or fentanyl can kill on the spot. But the use of these drugs, especially injecting them, can cause many other deadly conditions. Understanding the risk an addicted person faces every day should include knowing about these less obvious risks.
As marijuana use becomes legal in more and more states, it can be hard to know who to ask for advice on the safety of this drug. For pregnant women, knowing who to listen to is particularly important. To help these women, the U.S. Surgeon General has just issued advice for all pregnant women on marijuana use.
A striking report from U.S. News revealed that American surgical patients are nine times more likely to receive a prescription for opioid pain relievers than Swedish patients. Even bringing the focus closer to home and comparing U.S. prescribing rates to Canadian prescribing rates, American doctors still prescribe opioids at a rate nearly twice that of Canadian doctors.
Last week I saw an article in U.S. News titled, “The Rise of the Sober Curious.” The subheading read, “Alcohol-free events, bars, and drinks are increasing as people explore ways to lower their alcohol intake – and improve health.” Seeing this reminded me of my younger days when the “Straightedge” culture was all the rage. It seems that, with each new generation, young people are consistently looking for a way to popularize abstinence and clean living.
Though it might be a morbid prospect to do so, one of the reasons why it is so essential to study and analyze causes of death is because doing so sets the stage for creating better health conditions in America.
