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.
An article in the New York Times from April 29th, 2019 shone a light on the opioid addiction crisis and highlighted a phenomenon we are very glad to see. Medical doctors, usually pain pill advocates, are turning their backs on pharmaceutical opioids and are making a stand against the very companies that manufacture them.
Suicide attempts are another risk factor for the children of addicted parents. We have known for some time that it is harmful for children to grow up in households where one or more of the parents is using drugs and alcohol. There is a wealth of research data to back that up.
If you’ve ever had a family member or friend who struggled with seizures, then you’ve probably heard of gabapentin. If not, let’s define it. Gabapentin is an anti-epileptic drug, an anticonvulsant. It’s one of the most commonly prescribed medications in the U.S.
Drug addiction and alcohol misuse are human problems. By that I mean, this crippling crisis can befall anyone. No one is immune to the threat of addiction. No amount of money or social status can protect someone from the risk of addiction.
We see this often with people who are self-medicating on anabolic steroids. The misuse of anabolic steroids is harmful enough by itself. When we add another drug habit into the mix, for example, self-medication on opioid pain relievers, the drug habit becomes far more severe.
College is a fantastic opportunity to learn a great deal and to gain valuable experience in order to ready oneself for life as an adult. College is a time to learn a trade, or simply to further one's general education.
U.S. News ran a story on August 8th, 2019 titled, “Lethal Deception: Deaths From Cocaine Laced With Fentanyl on the Rise.” The article talked about how cocaine misuse is on its way up and how that has had a direct effect on increasing drug-overdose deaths.
Everyone has an opinion on the best way to get off drugs and alcohol. But some people don’t believe that anyone can break free from addiction, that addiction is a disease and one has it for life.
I’ve always believed the best way to tackle a problem was to first learn as much about the problem as possible. So when one of my closest friends died from an overdose in 2012, I dedicated a good deal of time and my career to learning about the dangerous phenomenon of overdose.
Every parent wants to help their child, wants to ensure that their kids have the best chances possible for a good and happy life. This imperative is built into a parent’s nature. But it’s not enough to just hope for a good life for our kids.
There’s something special and even a little energizing when the bad guy finally gets caught. When the underdog hero somehow manages to win against insurmountable odds.
We often ask questions such as “Why has the U.S. drug problem been going on for so long?” We might look for the answer in the fact that nearly every year we are exposed to a new drug (or two or three).
The drug problem is no longer a “big city“ problem—it's in every city across the US. How did this happen? Growing up in rural, farmland Michigan, I would never have thought that drug addiction would become a problem for those of us accustomed to country living.
When we think of how young people are exposed to opiate drugs, what is the first thing we think of? Probably the most likely answer is “peer pressure.“ And not without good reason.
It’s difficult to single out any, one drug as being “the worst drug” of them all. Different drugs have varying degrees of harm for those who consume them. Some drugs are more dangerous than others (take marijuana compared to heroin, for example).
The health and well-being of our young people is something to safeguard. Our youth of today are our leaders of tomorrow. An investment in their future is really an investment in ours, too. As parents, we want our kids to grow up to lead successful, happy, and healthy lives.
A headline in U.S. News caught my eye. It read, “Teens’ Opioid Abuse May Be Gateway to Heroin.” Written by U.S. News contributor Robert Preidt, the article talks about how one type of drug use can lead to another type of drug use.
Naloxone is hailed as a revolutionary medicine, a turning point for the medical industry, a lifesaving approach to opioid addicts, and a solution to the opioid epidemic. Three of those four statements were correct, and one was not.
Summer is upon us, and for most people, this an exciting and fun season. The sun’s out, the temperatures are up, and there is an energy and aliveness in the air. But for some of us, the summertime can bring a bit of a struggle.
