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Speakers

Our Vision

Our vision as a coalition is to educate Idaho healthcare workers on the disease of addiction. We will create annual conferences related to the diagnosis and care of the addicted population. We will provide Continuing Education Credits (CEU's) to doctors, pharmacists, nurses and therapists. We will create scholarships and resources for those who cannot afford recovery resources. Scholarship proceeds will be awarded to healthcare workers in need of addiction treatment, monitoring program expenses, and addiction conference attendance.

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KEVIN McCAULEY

MD

Dr. Kevin McCauley is a Senior Fellow at The Meadows of Wickenburg, Arizona.
Dr. McCauley wrote and directed two films: “Memo to Self” about the concepts of
recovery management, and “Pleasure Unwoven” about the neuroscience of
addiction which won the 2010 Michael Q. Ford Award for Journalism from the
National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers. Kevin also continues to
assist pilots with substance use disorders through his collaboration with the Air

Line Pilots Association’s HIMS Program.

 

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KENNETH BLUM

Msc, PhD, DHL

Dr. Kenneth Blum is co-founder and Chairman & CSO of Geneus Health LLC. & RestoreGen, LLC. His concept of Reward Deficiency Syndrome is being embraced by world leaders in science and is part of the DSM –V, ASAM, Sage Encyclopedia if Abnormal Psychology (2017). Dr. Blum is credited with the DRD2 gene discovery and addictive diseases, which has been confirmed in over 4,000 publications from laboratories all over the world. He serves as Editor –in-Chief Journal of Reward Deficiency Syndrome (he coined) and Addiction Sciences ; Co-EIC of Journal of Neuroimaging in Psychiatry and Neurology (USG) and EIC of the Journal of Systems & Integrative Neuroscience.  He is currently serving on seventeen other prestigious journals and is North America Regional editor for Current Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology. He serves as Research Professor Western University Health Sciences. He has published over 550 articles, abstracts, chapters, 17 books, numerous patents and received many awards

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MARK LUNDHOLM

COMEDIAN

Mark Lundholm presents 75 minutes of the fastest, funniest and healthiest recovery comedy you'll see this year. Mark has performed in 11 countries and all 50 United States. Mark is the creator of the Humor In Treatment DVD series, The Recovery Boardgame, author of the off-Broadway play "Addicted...a Comedy of Substance", which is still the highest rated show in Zagat Survey history of New York City and... facilitator of the treatment center IOP client presentation: Recovery Humor 101 for TC's and recovery institutions all over the planet.

 

Suzanne Wees

BENJAMIN SEYMOUR

CADC, CIP

Benjamin Seymour is a nationally recognized interventionist, counselor and public speaker.  He previously served as the founder and CEO of treatment centers throughout the Pacific Northwest, and is well versed in co-occurring disorders, monitoring programs for healthcare professionals, trauma recovery and behavioral health as a whole.  With 18 years of experience in behavioral healthcare, Ben offers a diverse background and perspective.  He has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, on television, a featured columnist and throughout various media venues, to share his experience as an addiction professional.

Prior to his passing in 2017, John Southworth asked Ben to serve as his successor and the director of Southworth Associates International.  Ben also serves as the Program Coordinator for the Idaho Physicians Recovery Network, The Program for Recovering Nurses, Pharmacists, The Lawyers Assistance Program and The Nevada Physicians Assistance Program. 

 

GLEN R. HANSON

DDS, PhD

Dr. Glen Hanson received his D.D.S. from UCLA in 1973, his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Utah in 1978 and completed a fellowship in Neuropharmacology in 1980 at the National Institutes of Health (NIH, Bethesda, MD). He practiced dentistry full and part time over a 10-year period. Dr. Hanson has been a professor in the College of the Pharmacy and currently is a tenured full professor and Vice Dean in the School of Dentistry. He was the acting director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and recognized as a leading expert on the neurobiology of the psychostimulants such as methamphetamine and has recently investigated the impact of comprehensive oral health care on treatment outcomes in Substance Use Disorder patients. Dr. Hanson has given several hundred presentations around the world on his research, and program development related to drug abuse and the Public Health implications of Medicaid dental programs. He also has testified multiple times before the United States Congress and the State of Utah Legislature o issues of drug abuse policy and Medicaid dental strategies and is frequently interviewed by local and international press about these topics. He is a member of the State of Utah Legislative Advisory Committee on Drugs of Abuse. He is the author of over 240 peer-reviewed scientific papers, 13 editions of a textbook entitled "Drugs and Society" and has been awarded over $35 million in NIH (National Institutes of Health) grants to conduct research related to drug abuse and its treatment.

 

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JUDY CRANE

LMHC, CAP, ICADC, CSAT

Judy is the Co-Founder and CEO of the Guest House Ocala and her leadership is guided by over three decades of experience working in both residential and outpatient settings. She is a Certified Addiction Professional in Florida, a Certified Sex Addiction Therapist, a Certified Hypnotist, certified in EMDR and an internationally recognized specialist for healing trauma and PTSD. Over the last 15 years, she has developed one of the country’s leading treatment centers specializing and trauma/PTSD and addiction recovery as well as spearheaded Spirit2Spirit Healing, a new movement in experiential and holistic therapies. She is a sought-after speaker and presenter on PTSD and sexual trauma resolution, and she currently also serves as a consultant for many of the country’s leading treatment centers to train their clinical teams.

In 2010, Judy was chosen to receive the Administrator of the Year Award from the American College of Addiction Treatment Administrators for her significant achievement in the field of addiction treatment administration. In 2012, she was selected as the Behavioral Healthcare Champion in recognition of her life-changing therapy, services and support to Americans who suffer from mental health and substance abuse disorders.

Judy believes that persistent addictions, chronic relapse and repetitive self-sabotage are often the results of unresolved trauma. Healing occurs when we identify the “root cause” of addiction. She often says, “You have to unravel the trauma story to understand the addiction story and write the recovery story.”

For Judy, The Guest House Ocala has been a labor of love. Its creation is a combination of every healing moment within her lifelong service and commitment to others. Her continued work is motivated by both unrelenting vigor and fixed determination. Here, her passion and purpose have collided.

 

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FRANCESCA FILBEY

PhD

Dr. Francesca Filbey is a Professor and Director of Cognitive Neuroscience Research of Addictive Disorders at the Center for BrainHealth, School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences at The University of Texas at Dallas, and an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Department of Psychiatry. She also holds the Endowed Bert Moore Chair in BrainHealth. She is the author of The Neuroscience of Addiction, as well as a co-author on an edited book and several book chapters. She is on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse and Psychology of Addictive Behaviors and has been guest editor on several journals.  Dr. Filbey is an active grant reviewer for national and international funding agencies and a voted Associate Member of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and a Member of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence. 

 

The overarching goal of Dr. Filbey’s research is to advance the understanding of biobehavioral mechanisms related to addiction with the goal of enhancing early detection and intervention. She incorporates translational approaches from the fields of cognitive neuroscience, neuroimaging, genetics, neuropharmacology, psychology, and psychiatry. Current projects involve the determination of these effects using neuroimaging tools (sMRI, DTI, task and resting state fMRI, EEG), neuromodulation, genetics and computational modeling following exposure to cannabinoids (THC,CBD) and opioids.

 

Mark Lundholm

SUZANNE WEES

MSN, CNRN

Ms. Wees has received an ASN, BSN, BSM, and MSN and holds a minor in Mandarin Chinese from Shanghai University, Shanghai, China. Ms. Wees became one of the first Registered Nurses in Idaho to pass the Certified Neuroscience Registered Nurse (CNRN) exams in San Diego, CA.  Ms. Wees is currently completing a PhD in Cultural/Organizational Psychology through Grand Canyon University. Her dissertation work centers on the care of the addicted Healthcare Professional, and the cultural influences that affect recovery rates. Ms. Wees is known for her work on recovery program development in China. She was one of the first women invited to speak to inmates, physicians and nurses inside several prisons in China. She has also spoken in several prisons in Malaysia, and Philippines. Ms. Wees has spent the better part of 2 decades researching the Neuroscience of Addiction and speaking nationally and internationally at nursing conferences, hospitals and rehab centers on the Neuroscience of Addiction.

 

Benjamin Seymour
Glen Hanson
Kevin McCauley
Kenneth Blum
Francesca Philbey
Mark Lundholm
Suzanne Wees
Benjamin Seymour
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