District Attorneys Addressing Addiction
About this Course
District Attorneys are leaders called upon to address a range of issues to keep their communities safe. In many communities, addiction has a major impact on health, safety, and the job of prosecutors.
In this 30-minute course, you will learn about the basic brain science of addiction, trauma, and ways prosecutors can expand their response to addiction.
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Your Instructors
Jessica Hulsey Nickel, President, Addiction Policy Forum
Jessica Hulsey Nickel is the founder of the Addiction Policy Forum, a national nonprofit organization that leads the fight against the deadly consequences of addiction and helps patients, families, and communities affected by the disease. Jessica is a national expert with more than 25 years in the field.
Jessica has worked with our nation’s top scientists to translate the science of addiction into digestible information for patients, families and other key audiences. Jessica has conducted numerous CME trainings for medical professionals and other key stakeholder groups. She created and spearheads Addiction Policy Forum’s Emergency Medicine Initiative, a partnership with the Yale School of Medicine and the American College of Emergency Physicians, as well the Addiction Policy Forum’s Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). The SAB provides strategic guidance and direction for Addiction Policy Forum’s research and scientific programs, guides key priorities, and includes experts in medicine, psychiatry, addiction treatment, research, and public health. It is chaired by Dr. Robert DuPont, M.D., the first Director of the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse and the second White House Drug Czar, and Dr. Mark S. Gold, M.D., Adjunct Professor at the Washington University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry.
District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett, Essex County, Massachusetts
District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett was re-elected to his fourth term in November, 2014. Since he was first elected in 2002, District Attorney Blodgett has been a leader in confronting a range of issues including the heroin and OxyContin epidemic, domestic violence, underage drinking, auto insurance fraud and gun violence, both through prosecution, diversion, and partnerships with schools, police, and community leaders.
District Attorney Blodgett has an innovative and effective approach to fighting crime. He instituted an adult drug diversion program and has rolled it out to all district courts in the county. He also expanded juvenile and youthful diversion programs throughout the county. He initiated a special Gun Court session in Lynn District Court that has eliminated the backlog in gun cases in Lynn. He partnered with the Insurance Fraud Bureau of Massachusetts and local police to prosecute auto insurance fraud which has not only saved rate payers millions of dollars but has made the streets safer. His Office has also expanded the use of High-Risk Assessment Teams to better protect victims of domestic violence and hold batterers accountable. He was recently elected President of the National District Attorneys Association. He is the only prosecutor in the country to serve on the executive committee of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals. He has served on the Board of the Massachusetts Office of Victim Assistance since 2005. He also serves as the DA’s liaison to the state Adult Drug Court Advisory Committee. He is a graduate of Peabody High School, Princeton University and Suffolk Law School. He lives in Peabody with his wife, Judy. They have three children and four grandchildren.
Christian Conte, Ph.D., Anger Management Specialist, Licensed Professional Counselor
Dr. Christian Conte is one of the country’s most accomplished mental health specialists in the field of anger and emotional management. A familiar figure on TV and radio, he is also a prolific writer, powerful communicator, and sought-after media expert. This season he co-hosts The Secret Life of Kids on USA Network. He was co-host of the reality show Coaching Bad on Spike TV, and the resident therapist for Family Therapy on VH1. He’s also a frequent expert guest on radio programs across the country. He co-hosts the Tackling Life podcast with football Hall of Famer Ray Lewis, and produces a daily short form Emotional Management radio feature heard on hundreds of stations. In July 2015 he conducted the TEDx talk, “Why I Chose to Go to Prison.”
Dr. Conte is one of only a handful of people who have level V anger management certification, the highest level possible, and he is the creator of “Yield Theory” – a powerful approach to change, combining radical compassion with conscious education – for the effective treatment of anger issues. Dr. Conte currently trains correctional institutions, sports teams, and organizations in the practical application of his Yield Theory Anger Management Program.
Currently Dr. Conte works with the Florida State University and the University of Oregon football teams, as well as University of Tennessee football and University of Pittsburgh Athletics. And he applies his Yield Theory in maximum security prisons throughout the state of Pennsylvania.
In addition to Certified Anger Management Specialist – V, his other degrees, licenses and certifications include Ph.D. – Counselor Education and Supervision, Duquesne University; M.S. – Community Agency Counseling, California University of Pennsylvania; Licensed Professional Counselor; Certified Domestic Violence Counselor; and Nationally Certified Counselor.
Brian Fuehrlein, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry; Director, Psychiatric Emergency Room, VA Connecticut Healthcare System
Dr. Fuehrlein graduated from the M.D. Ph.D. program at the University of Florida in 2008, adult psychiatry residency program the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in 2012 and addiction psychiatry fellowship from Yale University in 2013. Dr. Fuehrlein then joined the faculty at the University of Florida where he was an Assistant Professor. He served as the director of an MS2 course on pain and addiction, the assistant MS3 psychiatry clerkship director, was on the medical school admissions committee and on the M.D. Ph.D. program executive committee. Dr. Fuehrlein then joined the Yale faculty as an Assistant Professor in 2014. He is currently the director of the psychiatric emergency room at the VA Connecticut. Dr. Fuehrlein has a strong interest in medical student and resident education, particularly surrounding addiction psychiatry. He currently serves on the medical school admissions committee, residency recruitment committee and is the VA site representative for medical student education. He serves nationally on the ABPN MOC test writing committee and the education committee for the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry. In 2017 he was awarded the Irma Bland award for excellency in psychiatry resident education through the APA. In 2018 he was awarded the Clerkship Faculty Teaching Award for Outstanding Medical Student Educator and Role Model. In 2016-2017 he was nominated for and completed the Yale Medical Education Fellowship and in 2018 was selected as an Education Scholar through the Association of Directors of Medical Student Education in Psychiatry.
James H. Berry, DO, West Virginia University Associate Professor and Vice Chair; Director of Addictions Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry
Dr. James H. Berry DO is associate professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry at West Virginia University School of Medicine and the Director of Addictions. He is board certified in both General Psychiatry and Addiction Psychiatry. He received his medical degree from Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine, completed a General Psychiatry residency at West Virginia University and an Addiction Psychiatry fellowship at the University of Hawaii. Practicing in Appalachia for the past sixteen years, Dr. Berry has a unique vantage point as a witness to the unfolding opioid epidemic afflicting our nation. He and his colleagues at WVU have developed innovative community-based treatment models in response to the addiction crisis and are actively engaged in groundbreaking neuroscience research related to addiction. He is a dedicated clinician and enthusiastic educator.
He currently overseas a statewide mentoring project to train rural clinicians in evidence based substance use disorder treatment that they may effectively treat addiction in their local communities. Nationally, he serves on the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology’s Addiction Psychiatry Examination Committee and the American Board of Medical Specialties, Safety in Opioid Prescribing Committee. In addition, he is a member of the Academy for Integrating Behavioral Health and Primary Care’s National Integrational Academy Council. He has enjoyed advocating on behalf of those suffering from mental illness and addiction at local town hall meetings, state legislative sessions and national educational venues highlighting the nature of the disease and the hope of recovery. Dr. Berry’s work and opinions have led to interviews with local, state and national media sources such as PBS’s NOVA, Politico, NPR and the Huffington Post.
Marc Potenza, PhD, MD, Director, Center of Excellence in Gambling Research; Director, Women and Addictive Disorders, Women's Health Research at Yale, Yale University School of Medicine
Dr. Potenza is a board-certified psychiatrist with sub-specialty training and certification in addiction psychiatry. He has trained at Yale University receiving a combined BS/MS with Honors in Molecular Biochemistry and Biophysics and a PhD in Cell Biology, the latter concurrent with the MD through the Medical Scientist Training Program. He completed internship, psychiatric residency and addiction psychiatry fellowship training at Yale. Currently, he is a Professor of Psychiatry, Child Study and Neurobiology at the Yale University School of Medicine where he is Director of the Problem Gambling Clinic, the Center of Excellence in Gambling Research, and the Women and Addictive Disorders Core of Women's Health Research at Yale, and Senior Scientist at the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling. He is on the editorial boards of fifteen journals (including editor-in-chief of Current Addiction Reports) and has received multiple national and international awards for excellence in research and clinical care. He has consulted to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, National Registry of Effective Programs, National Institutes of Health, American Psychiatric Association and World Health Organization on matters of addiction.