Author: Fernando Saavedra, M.Sc Addiction Studies

The editorial staff of Recovery.org is comprised of addiction content experts from American Addiction Centers. Our editors and medical reviewers have over a decade of cumulative experience in medical content editing and have reviewed thousands of pages for accuracy and relevance. Our reviewers consistently monitor the latest research from SAMHSA, NIDA, and other reputable sources to provide our readers the most accurate content on the web.

Sophie Stein received her master’s of science in nursing from Vanderbilt University School of Nursing. She previously worked as an advanced practice registered nurse at an outpatient psychiatric practice providing mental health care for children, adolescents, and adults. She performed patient evaluations and medication management, including using pharmacogenetic testing to guide her treatment plans. Sophie is passionate about helping those struggling with mental illness and substance use disorders, and she believes that providing those individuals and their loved ones with thorough, accurate educational resources is essential. 

Eric Patterson is a professional counselor who has been working for more than 10 years helping people of all ages to reach their goals and improve their well-being. He has a Master of Science in Counseling Psychology (MSCP) and is both a National Certified Counselor (NCC) and Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC).

Eric has worked as a collaborating investigator for the DSM-5 field trials and completed an agreement with the National Health Service Corp to provide mental health treatment to underserved communities/

Erica L. Hermann is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and Licensed Addiction Counselor (LAC). She has her Master's in Social Work (MSW) and specializes in working with addictions and adolescents.

Erica's clinical experience includes residential treatment with adolescents with co-occurring disorders; outpatient individual, group and family therapy with adolescents with co-occurring disorders; school-based therapy with adolescents with co-occurring disorders; working with children in out-of-home placement; and school social work.

She currently works as a clinical school social worker at an alternative high school in Colorado, where she specializes in working with children with a wide range of mental health concerns, including substance abuse.

Dr. Scot Thomas received his medical degree from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. During his medical studies, Dr. Thomas saw firsthand the multitude of lives impacted by struggles with substance abuse and addiction, motivating him to seek a clinical psychiatry preceptorship at the San Diego VA Hospital’s Inpatient Alcohol and Drug Treatment Program. In his post-graduate clinical work, Dr. Thomas later applied the tenets he learned to help guide his therapeutic approach with many patients in need of substance treatment. In his current capacity as Senior Medical Editor for American Addiction Centers, Dr. Thomas works to provide accurate, authoritative information to those seeking help for substance abuse and behavioral health issues.

Kaitlyn Motley is the Mental Health and Substance Use Services Director at the Texas Council for Community Centers. She has an M.P.A. in Social Policy Management and an M.A. in Clinical Psychology. Her professional experience has been in mental health and substance use policy management, implementation and oversight.

Kaitlyn recently worked as Public Health Advisor and Project Officer at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and as a Social Science Analyst at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

(Note: These articles were prepared or accomplished by Kaitlyn Motley in her personal capacity. The opinions expressed in these articles are the author's own and do not reflect the view of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services, or the United States government.)