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Addiction symposium offered to healthcare professionals, educators

Nationally-known experts on addiction and compulsive behaviors, including Tennie McCarty, star of the Oprah Winfrey Network’s “Addicted to Food,” will speak at a symposium for healthcare professionals and educators Saturday, Oct. 22, at the Baptist Heart Center Auditorium. The event will be from 8 a.m. to 3:45 p.m., with registration at 7:30 a.m.

Invited are physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, licensed professional counselors, licensed marriage and family therapists, psychologists, substance abuse counselors, licensed social workers, pharmacists and clergy. Teachers and school counselors also are encouraged to attend. Continuing Medical Education credit hours are available for several professions. Lunch is provided, and space is limited. Register by Oct. 20 by phoning (270) 575-2723. The fee is $30.

“Addiction and compulsive behaviors are very commonplace, involve a variety of substances or behaviors and are frequently hidden out-of-sight,” said cardiologist Patrick Withrow, M.D., Western Baptist Hospital vice president and chief medical officer, who will moderate. “This symposium, in its fifth year, offers an important resource to the mental health and addiction professionals in our area for continuing education. It has gained a regional reputation as an outstanding educational opportunity and a valuable educational resource.”

Topics and presenters include:

“Abstinence vs. Moderation,” by Burns Brady, M.D. addiction consultant for The Healing Place, a 400-bed men and women’s homeless shelter recognized in the Top 5 in the U.S. He is a clinical instructor on alcoholism for the University of Louisville, the University of Kentucky and Pikeville Schools of Medicine.
“Women’s Health and Addiction Issues: Gender Differences in Chemical Dependency,” by Terry L. Alley, M.D., medical director of The Right Step Dallas/Fort Worth facility. He has limited his practice to addiction medicine since 1985.
“Chronic Psychiatric and Neurological Conditions Secondary to Substance Abuse & Addiction,” by Quinn Chipley, M.D., coordinator of Health Sciences Counseling Services at the University of Louisville.
“Women in Pathological Gambling,” by Herbert E. “Bud” Newman, clinical manager of The Morton Center in Louisville. He is certified as an alcohol, drug and compulsive gambler counselor.
“Dual Diagnosis,” by Omar Manejwala, M.D., medical director of addiction treatment programs at Hazelden in Center City, Minn.
“Addicted to Food and Gaining Recovery” by Tennie McCarty, founder and CEO of Shades of Hope, a treatment center for multiple addictions, including eating disorders, alcoholism, chemical dependency, sexual addiction, self-injury histories and co-dependency, in Buffalo Gap, Texas.