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.
Here’s a news story that we can all get behind, a news story that focuses on good things and good news, instead of bad. And not only is this a news story, but this is a story that we can learn from.
Parents worry about their kids constantly. It’s just a part of being a parent. No matter their kids’ age, parents seem to worry, showing concern for their kids from birth into childhood, to adolescence, to their teen years, and even through adulthood.
It’s becoming clear that America is facing a problem with prescription drugs. What is not clear to anyone is that using one medication to stop using another is simply not the right way to treat addiction.
We live in a very peculiar, very unique time in society right now. Let’s look at this. In the United States, our medicine and our approaches to health are more incredibly advanced than they have ever been in our history. Yet in that same token, the problems that we face and the threats to our health are also possibly more severe than they have been in many decades. And at the end of the day, the American people do not have nearly as high of a health ranking as they should, given our technology and medical prowess. Why is this?
If you or someone you know is addicted to drugs, you are probably no stranger to feelings of loneliness, hopelessness, and overall feelings of total misery and despair. These feelings are totally normal, as addiction is itself akin to the physical universe manifestation of despair.
It would seem that year after year, the U.S. drug and alcohol addiction problem has only grown more complicated and more difficult. It always seems like every time we approach a position where we might be able to overcome this problem, another drug comes on the scene, or another issue makes itself apparent to us. There is almost this feeling that we can't win when it comes to drugs and alcohol.
One of the problems that we are seeing now more so than perhaps ever before is the problem of poly-substance abuse. This is also called poly-addiction, or poly-drug addiction. What it means is simply to have multiple addictions at once.
At this point, it is pretty clear to me that the United States of America is suffering from a crippling and extremely derisive opioid addiction epidemic. Sometimes, we have a hard time swallowing this bitter truth.
Drug and alcohol addiction is a growing problem, a crippling health epidemic that has expanded across all aspects and areas of American health and life.
Every year, millions of people enter drug rehabs in the US alone. While rehab helps many of them, the majority of them had been to rehab before and then relapsed after they went home. In fact, one in ten had been to rehab five or more times before.
Alcohol may be the world’s most acceptable drug. But if you ask a group of average people for a list of drugs, many people will leave it entirely off their lists.
Do you think you see signs of drug use but you are not sure what drug is being used or how bad it is? If you suspect cocaine abuse by someone you care about, here are the signs of cocaine use you should watch for.
The results of abusing crack cocaine are so severe that only the most powerful addiction would keep a person using this drug. Crack cocaine is a strong stimulant that energizes the entire central nervous system and places damaging stresses on the heart, lungs and brain.
Molly is a nickname for a new form of an old drug. Molly is crystal MDMA—the proper chemical name for this drug is 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine. Most people call it Ecstasy. Ecstasy has long been a drug popular at dance clubs, nightclubs, music festivals and parties.
There are various kinds of rehab programs or detox programs available for the person who has been addicted to drugs or alcohol. Typical detox offerings may fall short of what an addicted person actually needs to help him (or her) gain the ability to find lasting sobriety.
Suboxone is a medication that is administered to those who are addicted to opioids. It contains a synthetic opiate and a second drug that is intended to counteract the euphoric effect of the opiate, supposedly preventing the user from getting high.
Ice is a purified form of methamphetamine. Much of the ice in the US and Australia come from larger scale methamphetamine labs such as those in Mexico.
While LSD can be a dangerous drug, and one that is mostly abused by young people, it may be an advantage that the signs are LSD abuse are so distinctive, as this makes them easier for parents or loved ones to detect this type of drug abuse. LSD is sold in pills, capsules or in liquid form.
