Understanding and Addressing the Challenges of Addiction

Since launching the NM 5-Actions Program in November of 2020 to help people navigate challenges with addiction during the pandemic, we have continued to develop content and adapt the program to the changing needs of New Mexicans. While we have covered many topics during these live webinars, we have not done one specifically on addiction in a broad sense until now. Please join us for this informative and focused dive into the nature of addiction and what is known about the most effective pathways to healing.

We’ll discuss that for most addiction begins early in life as an adaptive response to multiple risk factors for which healthier solutions are limited or not available. And we’ll talk about how most struggle with multiple addictions and why it’s important to identify and address them all as a package of behavior. Lastly, we will provide a brief update on the NM 5-Actions Program, highlighting new updates.

• Why addiction for most is a problem born in adolescent/teenage years and is adaptive in the best sense of the word
• The key risk factors driving addiction and why addressing them is critical for good outcomes
• What decades of research says about how to get the most from treatment
• How to engage with the NM 5-Actions Program and about important recent updates

About the Presenter

Dr. Fitzgerald has been on Clinical Faculty in the Department of Psychiatry at Oregon Health & Sciences University since 1998, a Licensed Professional Counselor in Oregon since 2001, and a Certified Addiction Specialist since 2006. He holds a doctoral degree in systems science and social psychology from the Systems Science Graduate Program at Portland State University where he has also held an Adjunct Faculty position since 2007. His career has been devoted to understanding addiction and its treatments, and translating that knowledge into the 5-Actions Program.