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.
So while I know I have some difficult times ahead and that these next few weeks are going to be tough, I am grateful that on top of everything else I don’t have to worry about my drinking problem anymore.
Not only do people tend to drink and do drugs more during the colder months, but doing so has increased risk factors. What are these risk factors? And what can the family members of addicts do to help their loved ones get better and avoid risk?
As legalization has advanced across the nation, young people increasingly see marijuana as “safe.” If it’s legal, it must be safe, right? Not so, and that’s why parents need to be prepared for an adolescent or teen son or daughter showing interest in cannabis.
By many accounts, Germany has managed to escape the brunt of the opioid addiction crisis that is causing untold problems across much of the western world. Did they merely buy time? Or is this something other countries can learn from?
In a breaking news story that spread like wildfire across the U.S., the American people were informed that Purdue Pharmaceuticals, maker of OxyContin, had agreed to plead guilty to federal, criminal charges. Why?
Is drug and alcohol abuse an issue of concern in Canada? How many Canadians struggle with addiction? What’s the solution to substance abuse in the Great White North?
Many different types of people have different needs, which is why it is important for people to have options when it comes to addiction recovery. While 12 Step programs may work for some, non 12 step options are needed.
While some of the argument behind marijuana legalization revolves around a claim that legal access to marijuana would reduce the need for addictive opioid painkillers, according to a recent study opioid use statistics do not fall when marijuana is used to relieve pain.
The CDC recently released a report that shows a 43% increase in alcohol-related deaths. What is particularly shocking is that the most significant increases in deaths have been in rural areas. What is causing this? And what are the potential solutions to it?
When people think of prescription opioids, one of the first images they might get is of a doctor in a lab coat, handing a patient a bottle of pills. And yes, medical doctors are a common source of opiate prescribing. But they are not the only source. Dentists also prescribe opiates.
Many adults today might look at marijuana legalization as inevitable, but the marijuana of today bears little resemblance to marijuana at the turn of the new millennium.
The Food and Drug Administration recently added new warning labels to common anti-anxiety prescription bottles. The highly addictive drugs are commonly abused.
Decades of stigma has led to the mistreatment of those who struggle with drugs and alcohol. America's drug crisis will not improve until the nation focuses on treating addicts, not criminalizing them.
The rise of social media has brought with it an entirely new world in which the teenagers of today were born into a life of apps, internet, smartphones, and online social experiences that can sometimes be harmful.
Every year it seems, there is a new way to use drugs that is even more dangerous than the last. As electronic cigarettes (also called vaporizers) have grown in popularity, young people are now using them to consume marijuana products.
