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.
Every year in the United States, tens of thousands of Americans die from drug overdoses. While most of those deaths are caused by opioid overdoses, meth and cocaine abuse have led to increasing casualties over the years.
For a review of the opiate addiction crisis, most people instantly think of and look to the United States. But in many ways, Canada, the neighbor to the north, has had an almost identical opioid crisis. What can be learned from it? And what might be done to address it effectively?
New research indicates that many overdoses among young people involve multiple drugs. An addiction to one substance is terrible enough, but addiction to numerous substances is even worse and is becoming more common. What unique challenges are faced by addicts who use multiple types of drugs? And how can those individuals be helped?
It’s possible while our attention has been riveted elsewhere, our drug overdose deaths are escalating out of control. This isn’t a problem we can ignore for long. Or at all.
When it comes down to it all the so-called “little things” add up to the big things over time and when it comes to a life of recovery there is nothing bigger than maintaining your sobriety.
There is nothing wrong with living in survival mode from time to time, like anything else it has its purpose. Survival mode helps us get through difficult situations, it helps us “survive” through trying times.
International news media often focuses on the drug problem in North America. But what about the drug problem in Europe? IS there a drug problem in Europe? And if so, what are European countries doing to address the crisis? What do they need to do more?
Rehab performs the heroic task of saving lives on an immediate basis. But should it do more? If it is to be an effective part of solving a problem as deep and as wide as addiction it should; by reducing future risk of death.
The list of harmful effects that alcohol misuse has on those who participate in such activities gets longer and longer. Now, new data suggests that alcohol misuse contributes to sleep disorders.
What is the scope of opiate addiction? Reports indicate that more UK residents are using opioid pain relievers, but has that led to an increase in addiction?
The Presidential race was not the only attention-grabbing aspect of the November 2020 election. In an historic move, several states, even red states, moved to legalize cannabis for recreational use. What does this mean for the health of those states' populations? And for the future?
In so many ways, the New Year presents the perfect pretext for making positive change and finally getting clean. If there is someone in your life who is currently using drugs, now is the time to help them. Now is the time to inspire them to commit to recovery and a drug-free life.
In an effort to keep addicts out of jail, Oregon just voted to decriminalize possession of heroin, methamphetamine, LSD, oxycodone, and other hard drugs. However, many criticize the law for legalizing harmful substances.
As someone who has lived both a lifestyle of addiction as well as a lifestyle of recovery, I can tell you that all of these benefits are things I have experienced in my own life throughout my recovery.
Overprescribing of opioid pain relievers is a serious issue. However, it's a relatively small group of physicians that are culpable in this. The majority of doctors are doing their best to treat their patients properly. It's just a few of them that are doling out opioid prescriptions in amounts that far exceed prescribing guidelines.
