Substance use affects an estimated 25 million Americans. And in the next 10 years, opioids could kill over a half million more people. Meanwhile, only 4% of medical health professionals specialize in substance use disorders and stigma associated with addiction fuels families' shame and the public health crisis at large. Recovery for our loves ones - while taking care of ourselves - can be a confusing, long and winding road.
Join Best Day Ever at Lululemon Soho as we explore the addiction crisis, what's happening in the brain on drugs and how we can better support ourselves and our loved one.
Our panel "Coming Home" will address the complexities associated with supporting our loved ones through addiction, featuring unique perspectives and practical tools from:
JUDITH GRISEL, Ph.D., internationally recognized behavioral neuroscientist whose research focuses on determining root causes of drug addiction
MITCHELL LEFF, recovery champion
SARRAH STRIMEL, co-founder of BYoga
ERICA LUBETKIN , Licensed Mental Health Counselor
LINDSAY E. BROWN, co- founder of Best Day Ever (moderator)
SPEAKER BIOS:
JUDITH GRISEL, Ph.D.
Judith is an internationally recognized behavioral neuroscientist and a professor of psychology at Bucknell University with expertise in pharmacology and genetics whose research focuses on determining root causes of drug addiction. A current focus of her laboratory is to understand the role of endogenous opiate neurotransmission in different trajectories of alcohol abuse in men and women. Professor Grisel recently published Never Enough: The Neuroscience and Experience of Addiction, a New York Times bestseller.
SARRAH STRIMEL
Sarrah is the co-founder of BYoga, Montauk’s premiere yoga studio. A proud ambassador of Lululemon and Health-Ade Kombucha, she teaches yoga internationally spreading her style of “damn good yoga.” Her NYC studio career includes Modo Yoga NYC, Alo Yoga, Sweat Yoga, Project By Equinox, Rise By We, WOOM Center, Daybreaker, and private in home yoga. And she once owned a sailboat. She is a passionate sister of a warrior in sobriety and is committed to breaking the stigma around addiction.
MITCHELL LEFF
A recovery champion, dog Dad, home owner, and a cardio freak, Mitchell Leff has been living a sober life since 2006. He has been to rehab, halfway houses, college sober programs, had sober roommates, and has worked in the recovery space right here in NYC. Now Mitch is coming up on 11 years sober in August, and works in the digital media space at a creative agency. He is an EXAMPLE of a sober man.
ERICA LUBETKIN, LMHC
Erica Lubetkin is a psychotherapist in private practice in New York City working with individuals and families to manage and navigate the world of addiction. Erica works with clients to learn coping skills and gain deeper meaning and purpose. She received her Master’s in Mental Health Counseling from the City College of New York and has additional training in behavioral therapies including Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT). She has worked at various outpatient treatment centers in New York City. Erica is a addiction coach at We The Village, an organization devoted to supporting those who are close to someone struggling with addiction.
LINDSAY E. BROWN
Lindsay co-founded Best Day Ever as her family has been profoundly affected by the opioid crisis. She has spent her career at the intersection of social impact and marketing. In her current role as Marketing and Sustainability Manager for Health-Ade Kombucha, Lindsay manages partnerships and events in the Northeast and helps advance the company’s sustainability and social cause initiatives nationally. Lindsay is the co-owner of Eco-Chick.com, the Web’s first sustainable lifestyle site for women and previously served as the Director of Communications for CBS EcoMedia, a social enterprise of the CBS Corporation. In her former life as a journalist, Lindsay has written for publications including Martha Stewart Whole Living, Cottages & Gardens, Edible, Huffington Post, and many others.