Dr. Anne Brown PhD, RN of Sausalito, California, formerly from Aspen, Colorado is a psychotherapist, speaker, coach, and the author of Backbone Power: The Science of Saying No. For over twenty years she served as the trusted advocate and advisor to Influential Corporate leaders, Trial Attorneys, Athletes, Leaders, Physicians and their families whose connections extended far beyond Aspen, Colorado.
Combining her own professional experience with that of her no-nonsense mentor, the former Chilean Minister of Finance, political prisoner of Pinochet and corporate business consultant, Dr. Fernando Flores, Brown used a methodology that helped people reveal their blindness’s and learn to speak authentically thereby decreasing their suffering and increasing their dignity and authenticity. Brown has been described by one client as “having a very caring way of going for the jugular.”
Brown is a graduate of the University of Virginia, BS in Nursing; Boston University, MS in Psychiatric-Mental Health in Nursing; and International University, PhD in Addiction Studies. In 1997 Brown also reached a personal goal of obtaining her Black Belt in Soo Bahk Do.
You can contact Dr. Anne Brown through her website: www.BackbonePower.com
Author: Anne Brown

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April Wilson Smith, MPH, is a PhD student in Population Health at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. Her research focuses on harm reduction approaches to people who use substances when they enter the healthcare system. April's other interest in healthcare is interprofessional education and teamwork. Her work with the Jefferson Center for InterProfessional Education won the 2016 James B. Erdmann PhD award for Excellence in Interprofessional Education. She is currently building a large, multidisciplinary coalition to create an interprofessional education module for healthcare professionals in best practices for the care of people who use drugs when they present in the acute care setting. April is a Certified SMART Recovery facilitator and founded the first SMART Recovery meeting in the Philadelphia city limits. She is also co-founder of the only Harm Reduction, Abstinence and Moderation Support meeting in Philadelphia. April recently accepted a position as Harm Reduction Epidemiologist with Families for Sensible Drug Policy, which is a non-profit dedicated to helping families advocate for drug policies that save drug users' lives and keep families together and healthy. Co-founder and President, Barry Lessin, is also a Pro Talk columnist . April graduated from Yale University in 1996. She was a union organizer for healthcare workers for 18 years before going back to school for her Master of Public Health, and spent ten years as Director of Organizing for Pennsylvania's largest nurses' union. She lives in West Philadelphia with her beautiful black cat, Loviefluffy.
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Located in Portland, OR, Olivia Pennelle (Liv) is an experienced writer, journalist, and coach. She is the founder of the popular site Liv’s Recovery Kitchen, a site dedicated to helping people flourish in their recovery. Liv is passionate about challenging limiting mentalities and empowering others to direct their own lives, health, and recovery. You can find her articles across the web on podcasts and addiction recovery websites, including The Fix, Recovery.org, Workit Health, and Ravishly. Liv was recently featured in VICE. If you're interested in connecting with Liv, you can find her on Instagram. She also created a new Facebook group called Life After 12 Steps, where she proudly sees members thriving, rather than forcing themselves to do something that doesn’t work. Additionally, Liv offers free resources on her website, including the e-book entitled Nourishing You, which is designed to give you the tools to achieve your health goals in straightforward language.
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Stanton Peele has been innovating in the addiction field since the publication of his first book, Love and Addiction, in 1975, including addiction to activities and experiences other than substances, harm reduction, skills and coping approaches to recovery, values and purpose as antidotes to addiction, and mindfulness/self-acceptance (loving kindness) precepts shared with Buddhist meditation. He has published 250 articles and 12 books, including The Meaning of Addiction (1985), Diseasing of America (1989), The Truth About Addiction and Recovery (1991), 7 Tools To Beat Addiction (2004), Addiction-Proof Your Child (2007), and Recover! Stop Thinking Like an Addict, in 2014. He was the clinical director and designer of the Life Process Program for a residential rehab that is now an on-line program.
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Dr. Stephen Grinstead has a Bachelor’s Degree in Behavioral Science, a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology and a Doctorate in Addictive Disorders (Dr. AD). He is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, (LMFT) and an Advanced Relapse Prevention Specialist (ACRPS). He is currently Co-Founder and Chief Clinical Officer for A Healing Place - The Estates in Camarillo California; a chronic pain functional restoration program. He served on the faculty of UC Santa Cruz Extension Alcohol and Drug Studies Program and also taught at Santa Clara University, UC Berkeley Extension and Stanford University Medical School and served on the faculty of University of Utah’s School on Alcoholism and Other Drug Dependencies as well as serving as an Adjunct Professor at Alliant University teaching Masters Level and Psy.D. Students the Treating the Addicted Family System course for the Marriage and Family Therapy track. Dr. Grinstead is author of the book Freedom from Suffering: A Journey of Hope as well as author of several other pain management books including Managing Pain and Coexisting Disorders, and the Addiction-Free Pain Management® Recovery Guide. He is the Co-Founder and Chief Clinical Officer of a Healing Place - a Residential and Intensive Outpatient Chronic Pain Management Program in Camarillo California. Dr. Grinstead is an internationally recognized expert in preventing relapse related to addiction and chronic pain disorders and is the developer of the Addiction-Free Pain Management® System (please visit www.freedomfromsufferingnow.com for more information). He has been working with pain management, chemical addictive disorders, eating addiction and coexisting mental and personality disorders since 1984. Since 1996 Dr. Grinstead has conducted Addiction-Free Pain Management®; Managing Pain Medication in Recovery; Managing Pain and Prescription Drug Abuse; as well as Relapse Prevention Therapy, Relapse Prevention Counseling, Relapse Prevention for Eating Addiction and Denial Management Counseling, seminars and certification trainings for over thirty thousand healthcare professionals therapists and counselors at more than 400 training seminars in key cities across the United States and Canada. Since 2012 Dr. Grinstead has also functioned as an Expert Witness in hearings regarding professional license status at risk due to alcohol or other drug use. Prior to 2015 he conducted addiction and mental health forensic evaluations for several different California State Licensing Boards and was a Clinical Assessor for the Maximus Diversion Monitoring Program in California where he assessed safety to work with the public, appropriateness for the diversion program and treatment recommendations. Dr. Grinstead has authored and/or co-authored books and pamphlets, including the books listed below. Dr. Grinstead’s Publications: Addiction-Free Pain Management® Workbook Revised 2007 Addiction-Free Pain Management® Recovery Guide — Second Edition 2008 Addiction-Free Pain Management® — The Professional Guide (out of press) Managing Pain and Coexisting Disorders: Using the APM™ System Recovery & Relapse Prevention for Food Addiction Workbook (out of press) The Eating Addiction Relapse Prevention Workbook APM™ Module One: Understanding and Evaluating Your Chronic Pain Symptoms APM™ Module Two: Examining Your Potential Medication Management Problems APM™ Module Three: Understanding and Developing Effective Pain Management APM™ Module Four: A Guide for Managing Pain Medication in Recovery Denial Management Counseling for Effective Pain Management Workbook The Denial Management Counseling Workbook for Addictive Disorders The Denial Management Counseling Professional Guide The Revised Relapse Prevention Therapy Workbook Freedom from Suffering: A Journey of Hope In addition, Dr. Grinstead has numerous peer-reviewed publications. You can learn more on his website at www.freedomfromsufferingnow.com.
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Arthur P. Ciaramicoli, Ed.D., Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist who has been treating clients for more than 35 years. He is a member of the American Psychological Association and the Massachusetts Psychological Association. Currently in private practice, Dr. Ciaramicoli has been on the faculty of Harvard Medical School for several years, lecturer for the American Cancer Society, Chief Psychologist at Metrowest Medical Center, and Director of the Metrowest Counseling Center and of the Alternative Medicine division of Metrowest Wellness Center in Framingham, Massachusetts. Dr. Ciaramicoli is currently in full time private practice and is the Chief Medical Officer for Soundmindz.org. He has produced an Anti-Anxiety App with Soundmindz that has been downloaded by over 25,000 users and rated by Frontline as one of the most effective and usable anxiety apps available. He has also recently released an Anti-Depression and Mental Health app for Soundmindz. Dr. Ciaramicoli is the author of The Curse of the Capable: The Hidden Challenges to a Balanced, Healthy, High Achieving Life, Performance Addiction: The Dangerous New Syndrome and How to Stop It from Ruining Your Life and The Power of Empathy: A Practical Guide to Creating Intimacy, Self-Understanding, and Lasting Love, which is now published in 7 languages, and just released in China. His first book, Treatment of Abuse and Addiction, A Holistic Approach was selected as Book of the Month by The Psychotherapy Book News. He is also the coauthor of Beyond the Influence: Understanding and Defeating Alcoholism. Dr. Ciaramicoli most recent publications are three workbooks: Transforming Anxiety into Joy: A Practical Workbook to Gain Emotional Freedom (2012), Changing Your Inner Voice: A Journey through Depression to Truth and Love (2012) and Managing the Stress of Success (2013).
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Stacey M. Rosenfeld is the author of Does Every Woman Have an Eating Disorder? Challenging Our Nation's Fixation with Food and Weight. She is a licensed clinical psychologist in New York and California. Prior to her full-time private practice, Stacey was a staff psychologist at Columbia University Medical Center in New York and at UCLA Counseling Center in Los Angeles. She is an eating disorder and substance use disorder specialist and also focuses on anxiety and mood disorders, infertility, relationship concerns, and sport and exercise psychology. Stacey works with individuals and groups, using an approach that blends cognitive-behavioral, dialectical-behavioral, pyschodynamic, and interpersonal techniques. Her goal is to help clients address their concerns and arrive at a more comfortable and effective place in their lives.
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