John Arden, Ph.D. has over 40 years of experience providing psychological services and directing mental health programs. He just retired as the Director of Training for Mental Health for the Northern California Region in the Kaiser Permanente healthcare system. He is currently the Chief Academic Officer of the Institute for Brain Potential.
In July of 2016 Dr. Arden retired from Kaiser Permanente where he served as the Northern California Regional Director of Training where he developed one of the largest mental health training programs in the United States. In this capacity he oversees more than 150 interns and postdoctoral psychology residents in 24 medical centers. Prior to this he served as the Chief Psychologist for KP.
Dr. Arden’s study of neuropsychology has inspired him to integrate neuroscience and psychotherapy, synthesizing the biological and psychological into a new vision for psychotherapy: Brain-Based Therapy. His work incorporates what is currently known about the brain and its capacities, including neuroplasticity and neurogenesis, with psychotherapy research, mindfulness, nutritional neuroscience and social intelligence.
Dr. Arden’s most recent book, Brain2Brain, offers a fresh look at how to use information about practical neuroscience and evidence-based practices within psychotherapy. It also offers suggestions on how to motivate clients by using down-to-earth information about neuroscience. The Brain Bible is based on recent developments in neuroscience and health psychology. It is a self-help book consistent with his Rewire Your Brain which offers the general public down to earth advice based on new developments in neuroscience. Instead of a gimmicky quick fix, this book offers a formula of the five main factors shown to contribute to brain health. You can remember those five by using the mnemonic “SEEDS.” The SEEDS formula represents the important healthy brain factors that you need to “plant” now and cultivate through the rest of your life. The research behind each factor of the formula is rich with new developments from neuroscience that overthrown many of our preconceived beliefs about longevity and indeed about the brain.
RI Department of Corrections
Director of Health Disparities Research Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island Associate Professor of Medicine and Obstetrics and Gynecology
Dr. Jennifer Clarke is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University, and is the Director of the Health Disparities Research at Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island. She has been working as an internist at the Rhode Island Department of Corrections since 1998; and became the Departments Medical Programs Director in November 2015; she also serves as a prisoner representative on the Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island, Miriam Hospital/Lifespan IRB. Her research interests include incarcerated populations, women's health, substance abuse, and reproductive health.
Stuart Gitlow, MD
Executive Director
Annenberg Physician Training Program in Addictive Disease
Executive Director
Annenberg Physician Training Program in Addictive Disease
Stuart Gitlow, MD, is Executive Director of the Annenberg Physician Training Program in Addictive Disease, which he started in 2005 to ensure medical student access to training that stimulates them to develop and maintain interest in working with patients with addiction. He serves as the Immediate Past President of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, and as ASAM’s Delegate to the American Medical Association’s House of Delegates. Dr. Gitlow is the Chair of the AMA Council on Science and Public Health, as well as Courtesy Associate Professor at the University of Florida. His educational training took place at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and Harvard Medical School. He formerly produced Health Channel and ABC programming for America Online.
Chief Executive Officer/President
CODAC, Inc.
Linda Hurley has worked in substance abuse treatment and behavioral healthcare for over 25 years and has been with CODAC, Inc.—RI’s oldest and largest outpatient addiction/behavioral health provider—since 1991. In February 2016, Ms. Hurley became CODAC’s President/CEO. Under her leadership, CODAC was the first OTP in the nation to receive Health Home certification and the first OTP in RI to be designated a Center of Excellence. Ms. Hurley has been a leader in working to effect policy change in RI, serving on numerous boards and coalitions—most recently on subcommittees for the Governor’s Overdose Prevention and Intervention Task Force. She consulted with US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse on the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) and testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee prior to the bill’s passage in 2016.
Medical Director
Dr. Aldo Morales was born in Havana, Cuba. His interest in pharmacology and addiction stems from his undergraduate degree from Rutgers College of Pharmacy, New Jersey. After studying abroad for his medical degree he returned to New Jersey to complete a four-year Psychiatry residency at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Dr. Morales is Board Certified in both Psychiatry and Addiction Psychiatry. He is a Fellow of the America Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) and is a Charter Member of the American Board of Addiction Medicine. He has served as a consultant to various State agencies and to Major League Baseball. Dr. Morales is on the adjunct faculty at FAU, Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine in Boca Raton, Florida. He has practiced for more than twenty-five years in Palm Beach and Broward Counties, where he has been an active voice in promoting the message that addiction is a treatable condition, not a moral failing.
Rachel Sherron facilitates yoga therapy and trauma groups for adult women and adolescent girls at Timberline Knolls in addition to working with individual residents and their teams to support trauma recovery. She also trains, supervises and consults with clinical and support staff on current trauma theory and body-based treatment. Sherron received her undergraduate degree in Art History from Kent State University and Master’s in Community Counseling from Argosy University. She has also been trained in body-based treatment models of Hakomi and sensorimotor psychotherapy as well as extensive training in the philosophy and practice of yoga.
Todd Schmenk currently works out of AQAL Therapies, a private practice on the east side of Providence, RI as well as at Bay Coast Behavioral in Fall River, MA. He has a Master’s in Education from Cleveland State University, a Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Walden University and is a contributing member of the Integral Institute, founded by author and philosopher Ken Wilber and has advanced the application of the theory in the mental health and public health fields. He has earned distinctions from the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institute of Health.
Chief Executive Officer
Gosnold on Cape Cod
Gosnold on Cape Cod
Mr. Tamasi is President and CEO of Gosnold on Cape Cod, a diversified addiction and mental health program. Mr. Tamasi has forty years of experience developing and managing treatment, intervention, and prevention services. The Gosnold continuum of care includes 175 beds that include acute, sub-acute, extended care, and assisted sober living. Seven outpatient clinics provide partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient, ambulatory detoxification, medication assisted treatment, and a full range of mental health and addiction services. Supporting and extending these core services are a primary integration program that embeds clinicians in medical practices, hospital based consultation services, school based services, recovery coaching, and the use of Smartphone technology to maintain engagement with patients. Gosnold employs more than 400 professional and support staff.
Mr. Tamasi has been recognized nationally for the development of innovative approaches and programs. He is a frequent speaker on issues of policy and a redefining of the addiction treatment and prevention system.
Mr. Tamasi is on the Board of the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers, a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives, the Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment, the Cape Cod Hospital Board of Incorporators, and the Association for Behavioral Health. Mr. Tamasi has a Bachelor's of Arts in Economics and a Masters in Education with a concentration in Counseling and Healthcare Administration.
Mr. Tamasi has been recognized nationally for the development of innovative approaches and programs. He is a frequent speaker on issues of policy and a redefining of the addiction treatment and prevention system.
Mr. Tamasi is on the Board of the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers, a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives, the Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment, the Cape Cod Hospital Board of Incorporators, and the Association for Behavioral Health. Mr. Tamasi has a Bachelor's of Arts in Economics and a Masters in Education with a concentration in Counseling and Healthcare Administration.
Senior Vice President of National Clinical Development
Elements Behavioral Health
Robert Weiss LCSW, CSAT-S, is senior vice president of national clinical development for Elements Behavioral Health, creating and overseeing addiction and mental health treatment programs for more than a dozen high-end treatment facilities, including Promises Treatment Centers in Malibu, The Ranch in Tennessee and The Right Step in Texas. An internationally acknowledged clinician and author of self-help literature for over 25 years. Weiss is a subject expert on the intersection of human intimacy and digital technology for multiple media outlets and is the author of several highly regarded books on sex, intimacy and addiction in the digital age. Weiss’s books, talks and event information can be found at www.robertweissmsw.com.
