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.
A recent Massachusetts study sought to determine which demographics have been hit hardest by the opioid crisis. As it turns out, mainly working-class, blue-collar residents in construction, agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting, and industrial jobs have been affected the most. But does this data also reflect a national trend?
While some people advocate the decriminalization of all drugs, including stimulants like cocaine and methamphetamine, it’s vital to know what kind of self-destruction is occurring while a person is using these drugs.
How does the vicious cycle of drug abuse and alcohol misuse end? Every time a new generation comes of age, a certain percentage of those individuals experiment with drugs and alcohol. It seems inevitable, but it certainly does not have to be. If young people receive a good, open, supportive, communicative, and fact-based education with ongoing, revisited conversations with parents and teachers about drugs, they are far less likely to experiment with substances.
In a rare turn of events, Washington State has decided to move away from proposed settlements with pharma giants and instead take several corporations to trial for the role they played in creating the opioid epidemic.
For many people, experiencing trauma such as sexual, physical, emotional abuse or severe loss sets them on a path toward substance abuse and addiction. Understanding this can enable you to help a person who is using drugs and may be starting on that path.
The Sackler Family and Purdue Pharmaceuticals deny any responsibility for the role they played in creating the opioid addiction epidemic. And while the most recent litigation against Purdue/the Sackler family ended in immunity for them and an abdication of responsibility, it wasn't too long ago that Purdue was pleading guilty to federal felony charges relating to the opioid crisis.
We don’t usually hear about our sports heroes using drugs or drinking excessively until their careers founder or come crashing down. The lucky ones recover from addiction and often go on to work hard to save other people’s lives. The unluckiest ones lose everything.
America is losing more of its aging citizens to alcohol and drug dependence and even fatal overdoses. It’s time to take a look at the extent of this problem.
In an alarming development in the ongoing litigation between thousands of plaintiffs against Purdue Pharmaceuticals (and the Sackler family that owns it), a federal judge just overturned the Sackler bid for bankruptcy protection and immunity. What does this mean for America’s most important pharma lawsuit?
In the slew of recent lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies, yet another loss for Big Pharma was announced on December 30th, 2021, in the case of New York State against Teva Pharmaceuticals.
Several major pharma litigations are currently making their way through U.S. courts. One such case just came to a close, unfortunately releasing several pharma giants from all legal liability regarding their role in the devastating opioid epidemic.
Newly published reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other organizations have shed light on recent surges in methamphetamine-related overdose deaths. According to the data, meth fatalities have tripled in recent years. And these aren’t just slight upticks either. Thousands of Americans are now dying from methamphetamine overdoses.
Lysergic Acid-Diethylamide (LSD) is a chemically produced, powerful hallucinogenic drug that is dangerous and unpredictable. Learn the signs of LSD use and addiction.
There is never a “safe” time to be addicted to drugs. But there are times when risk factors spike, when addicts are in even more danger than they usually are. Given that drug overdoses tend to surge during winter, one can say that addicts face additional harm and danger during the colder months, necessitating increased efforts to help them seek treatment.
Clinicians and families alike may not be aware of the risk posed by consumption of a readily available type of poppy seed. Despite this lack of awareness, this seed can result in addiction, overdose and death.
The last two weeks of December and the first few weeks of the new year can be incredibly stressful for recovering addicts. And during a global pandemic, this time of year is even more challenging.
The United States just passed a grim milestone, the first time in recorded history when over 100,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in one year. It’s a painful wake-up call, and a call to action that something must be done about the drug addiction epidemic.
With a little research, it’s possible to estimate how our world would change if we could eliminate drug and alcohol addiction. In this look at the topic, we examine how the lives of our children would improve.
Arguments over this concept are not likely to end any time soon, with pro-drug advocates claiming that there is no gateway effect to drug use, and prohibitionists claiming the opposite. We take a look at some of the science.
