“When I started addiction treatment, there was little available as far as formal addiction training through medical residencies, so I applied my knowledge of pharmacology as a former board-certified anesthesiologist.”
What was your path to becoming a therapist?
I started treating addiction in 1998. I joined the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) and am now a fellow. When I started addiction treatment, there was little available as far as formal addiction training through medical residencies, so I applied my knowledge of pharmacology as a former board-certified anesthesiologist. I attended various symposiums and formal lectures, which were often sponsored by ASAM or well-respected medical schools. I gained clinical experience working in a psychiatry practice, a methadone clinic, and a multi-campus nonprofit substance abuse agency where I was hired as a consultant and promoted to medical director and then to chief medical officer. My current practice started in 2014.
What should someone know about working with you?
The process for being admitted to my addiction treatment telehealth practice requires three steps. To start, all potential clients must complete documentation that is available online via a secure, HIPAA-compliant website. The documents are in an e-document, fillable PDF format. If that is too cumbersome, the client can print the documents from the website and snail-mail or fax them back to me. Next, a baseline urine toxicology test at a lab site near the client's home is required. Lastly, I conduct an online evaluation appointment of 60-75 minutes to assess the appropriate therapy based on addiction and medical health severity and to make a plan jointly with the person seeking help. The plan is individualized to each client; there is no one-size-fits-all philosophy that will be imposed on anyone.
What do you do to continue learning and building competencies as a provider?
In order to maintain my board certification as an addiction medicine doctor, I am required to continually learn or review best practices in the field of addiction treatment. This entails a lot of reading and attending symposiums and lectures from experts throughout the United States. My memberships in the American Society of Addiction Medicine and the Connecticut Society of Addiction Medicine help with this. I also participate in conferences related to psychopharmacology, which is the study of prescribing medication for psychiatric diagnoses.
“I gained clinical experience working in a psychiatry practice, a methadone clinic, and a multi-campus nonprofit substance abuse agency where I was hired as a consultant and promoted to medical director and then to chief medical officer.”