4th National Conference on Women, Addiction, and Recovery – Thriving in Changing Times, Chicago, July 26-28, 2010

I attended the 4th National Conference on Women, Addiction and Recovery in Chicago last week. There were approximately 700 people in attendance, mostly women, and the agenda was full and motivating. It was sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities (TASC, Inc.) and The ATTC Network. The focus of the conference was to support, engage, and motivate so that providers are able to continue to thrive in the changing environment and continue to provide excellent services to women and their children who are impacted by substance abuse. The following is a synopsis of the plenaries and the workshops that I attended.

The Honorable Pam S. Hyde, J.D. of SAMHSA and Carol McDaid of Capital Decisions presented open plenaries on the state of behavioral health and the future of the mental health and substance use disorders field post parity and health care reform. The major point was that mental health and substance abuse treatment coverage under health reform will be covered equal to medical coverage under all insurance plans. This will extend coverage for a number of people who were not covered before.

There was a video message from the Hon. Tammy Duckworth, M.A., Assistant Secretary for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. She noted that the number of women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan who have mental health and substance abuse disorders is increasing and their needs are complex, some having experienced sexual assault by fellow servicemen. The impact of their deployment on their families is also significant and the Ms. Duckworth expressed the commitment of the VA in providing the needed resources for these service members.

On Tuesday, Lisa Najavits, Ph.d., discussed Emerging Developments in Trauma and Addiction. She introduced the follow-up to her program, Seeking Safety, which will be coming out in the next year. It is called Seeking Change and moves beyond the areas addressed in Seeking Safety by helping the trauma survivor to address the actual traumatic events by moving through three steps – Establishing Safety in Body and Environment, Reconstruction of Trauma, Social Reconnection.

Francine Ward, J.D., presented her personal story of recovery. Francine was raised in poverty in South Bronx and eventually became a prostitute and addict in Las Vegas before being hit by a car when she was in her late 20s. She currently has over 31 years of sobriety and is a Georgetown University graduate and is practicing law. Her message is that recovery is possible if you are willing to do the foot work and if there is someone in your life that is willing to love you to the point where you can love yourself.

Gil Kerlikowske, M.A., President Obama’s Director of the White House Office on National Drug Control Policy discussed the White House’s commitment to family centered treatment as a major part of the office’s strategy to control drug use and trafficking in the United States. Mr. Kerlikowski has been visiting treatment programs throughout the country and listening to providers and consumers express their concerns and needs for more holistic means of addressing the issue.

On Wednesday morning, Jean Kilbourne, Ed.D, presented “Deadly Persuasion: Advertising, Addiction and Relationships.” In the same way that she has previously shown us in Killing Us Softly, Dr. Kilbourne was able to illustrate how advertisers use the psychology of addiction to target the 30% of people who drink 90% of the alcohol in this country. She noted that advertisers do not actually want people to drink responsibly because if everyone in this country drank what would be considered responsibly, then alcohol sales would decrease by 80%. Ads that show alcohol as sexy and desirable are playing into the addicts feelings that alcohol is their lover and friend. She also showed how advertising is directed to children in order to keep the number of consumers stable or growing. One shocking aspect that she discussed was how television and magazines basically sell the public as product, i.e. “if you advertise your beer in our magazine we can guarantee that you will have a certain number of readers who will see your ad and possibly buy your product.”

The workshops at this conference were well planned to provide time for lecture and discussion or to spend time with an expert in the field. On Monday, I attended a lecture on “Women, Addiction & Personality Disorders” given by Drs. Karen Dodge and Caterina Iapaolo of the Hanley Research Center in Florida. The premise was that substance abuse often presents with the same characteristics as a personality disorder and once the person becomes sober, the characteristics will diminish. They demonstrated this through case studies and research statistics. It was noted by many of the audience members that the same characteristics were reactions to trauma and that in each of the case studies trauma had occurred during the person’s childhood. The researchers had not made the same connection, but it was exciting to hear that the audience was well aware of trauma and its impact and were able to bring that information forward.

Lia Gaty, LCSW, from Iowa presented “Attachment Rhythms for Women in Trauma Recovery.” Through the use of emotionally engaging mirroring games she illustrated the rhythm of attachments through the states of attachment, disruption and repair.

Dr. Stephanie Covington, Dr. Sherri Green, and Niki Miller (of NH DOC) presented “A National Women’s Peer Recovery Support Initiative” and stressed the importance of gender responsive treatment programs that are trauma informed. The focus of the discussion was the increasing availability of peer support services. We discussed the development of a national leadership initiative that will train recovering women to be peer supports to women who are just becoming clean and sober. It was also discussed how this could be a great opportunity for domestic violence programs to have additional support for women in shelters. The domestic violence movement has had a long tradition of peer support and this can be expanded into enhancing services to trauma survivors with substance abuse issues.

On Tuesday morning I attended a workshop and facilitated discussion on “Racial/Gender Identity Development: Thriving in the Stages of Recovery.” Dr. Mary Henderson and Carolyn Ross of TASC led a lively discussion on the stages to developing racial and gender identity and how that influences a person’s recovery from drugs and alcohol. The audience was very diverse and the facilitators created a safe space for people to share from their own experience regarding how they and clients they have worked with have dealt with issues regarding race and gender identity.

On Tuesday afternoon I attended a tea with Dr. Stephanie Covington, author of A Women’s Way Through the 12 Steps” and four comprehensive, integrate, gender-responsive curricula that relate to the issues in the lives of women and girls, including trauma and substance abuse. She answered questions specific to curricula and more general questions regarding trauma informed care for women who are survivors of trauma. I found it validating to hear from other professionals about their concerns and their recognition that services have to be trauma informed in order to meet the needs of substance abusing women.

The conference was also very focused on providing a healthy environment for all attendees. On Tuesday evening, Joan Borysenko, a licensed psychologist, Harvard trained scientist and a pioneer in mind/body medicine led a work shop, “Revive: Creating Synergy in Mind, Body, Spirit and Work,” which gave participants to discuss what gives them joy, what stresses them out, and provided an opportunity to set goals for the future. All of this was done in an atmosphere that created a chance to meet new people and engage in lively conversation.

This conference is held every two years and it has not been decided where it will be held in 2012. It was encouraging and validating to see that trauma was a focus of a number of workshops and it is my hope that this will be expanded even more in the future. The conference planners also provided many opportunities to explore Chicago and continue discussions after hours.  I have posted links to various websites mentioned at the conference on this blog.