We’ve all heard the stories about someone who started out pushing a broom somewhere and ended up running the place. Shahan Suzmeyan can actually claim this story as his own. As a client in a treatment center, he liked the care he received and begged them for a job when he completed his program. “They [...]

When your loved one is in a treatment center, getting clean and working toward his or her recovery, it is likely you are riding an emotional roller coaster. No doubt years of hurt, frustration and worry have led to the need for rehabilitation, so most family members are emotionally spent by this point anyway. So [...]

The Amity Foundation mission is “dedicated to the inclusion and habilitation of people marginalized by addiction, trauma, criminality, incarceration, poverty, racism, sexism and violence. Amity is committed to research, development and implementation and dissemination of information regarding community building”. Rod Mullen’s job and role is to implement Amity’s mission. Program developer, research report reviewer, fundraiser, [...]

Lately, the pharmaceutical industry has received a bad rap. If Hollywood’s take is any reflection of the general public’s perception (a point admittedly contestable), the recent movie, Love and Other Drugs, tells us that which psychotropic medication your doctor may prescribe is more dependent on the quality of the perks its rep can offer than [...]

Robin Rettmer is a busy woman. And this is an understatement. Vice President of Operations for the Amity Foundation, she oversees every program contained within three states (Arizona, California and New Mexico), including three residential treatment programs, three in-prison programs and two outreach programs for women. Additionally, Amity Foundation is now raising money to build [...]

In the world of drug and alcohol treatment, it seems there is nothing new under the sun. Standard group and individual counseling and a varying mix of supplementary therapies typically comprise your typical in- or outpatient program. And while these are all excellent and essential components to getting someone on the path to recovery, it [...]

When Stephen Sideroff began his career in brain research in 1969, it is unlikely he knew the many paths it – like the dendrites he studied – would take him down. While Sideroff initially worked with animal subjects, their inability to provide feedback about their experience left him frustrated. This subsequently lead him to clinical [...]