Bill Maher, Interventionist

Family Intervention Center of Virginia

Can we talk about alcoholism and Anthony Bourdain?

Anthony Bourdain and AlcoholismI didn’t know Anthony Bourdain, but felt like I did in one small important way. In him, I saw a drinking alcoholic with a front-stage vigorous attempt to do it successfully. His was a fantastic life-embracing show, with drinking taking a prominent role in the joie de vivre, and sometimes that made it hard for me to watch.

When he threw back shots, indeed got wasted, I saw a fellow alcoholic living dangerously whereas most viewers, I imagine, saw “a man who knew how to drink, knew how to live.” His state of mind will be called depression, and who can argue with that in the wake of his suicide. But can we please, people, start connecting the dots to alcoholism (also a disease of the mind), at least when it is screamingly evident?
Perhaps I should not presume to think I know, but I can at least invite the conversation where it is uncomfortably and amazingly absent. Did alcoholism (which brings depression or ineffectively “treats” depression) ultimately take down Bourdain?

Alcohol is a drug. “Drugs” and “alcohol” remain separate in conversations about addiction, like a “bad sister” doing outrageous unthinkable things while the “good sister” quietly nurses a prom hangover and shame from a blackout.

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COBE Town Hall Video

How addiction forms by looking at social media, fast food and other facets of daily life. A video of a talk by Judson Brewer MD, PhD given at the “From Research to Recovery Town Hall” at COBE (College Behavioral and Emotional Health Institute at
Virginia Commonwealth University). COBE collaborated with Field Studio Films to capture all of the talks on video to use as a community resource for education and dissemination of the important conversations between researchers, professionals and members of the community. We thought this talk from Dr. Judson Brewer, MD, Ph.D. was really important, and wanted to share it.

Dr. Judson Brewer, MD, Ph.D. — “The Craving Mind”

Dr. Brewer is the Director of Research at the Center for Mindfulness and associate professor in medicine and psychiatry at UMass Medical School. He also is adjunct faculty at Yale University, and a research affiliate at MIT.

You can see more of the videos from the COBE Town Hall here: http://cobe.vcu.edu/cobe-town-hall-2017/

Bill’s TED Talk

Watch Bill Maher’s Ted Talk given at the TEDXRVA in Richmond, Virginia.
The talk is titled: Saving Lives Through Connection

TEDX RVA Open Mic Presentation

Bill Maher gave this presentation during open mic night at the TEDxRVA in February of 2016. It won the competition out of 25 presentations to be invited back to talk during the TEDxRVA event in April, 2016. Watch Bill’s talk about the problem of Opiate addiction in our country.

Personalized Intervention Training

Oct 18-20, 2017.  Master Class for Interventionists.
Uplevel your intervention skills and increase your success rate.

In this training you’ll learn to:
• Disarm the disease and positively engage clients.
• Empower clients to shift from conflict with loved one to constructive dialogues.
• Place a motivated loved one into treatment.

DIP Board approved; worth 18 CEUs

Download the flyer for more information:
PersonalizedInterventionTraining2017

UNT Recovery Conference

Sept. 21, 2016. Bill will be a keynote speaker on the topic: “Recovery Skills for Families: Tools for Managing the Stress of Addiction” at the University of Northern Texas Recovery Conference being held in Denton, TX. The Recovery Conference is a national 2-day event that brings together behavioral health professionals, educators, researchers, students and industry leaders. For more information go to: https://recoveryresearch.unt.edu/content/recovery-conference

UNT Recovery Conference

Upcoming Events in April 2016

Bill Maher, Interventionist will be speaking at the following events coming up this spring:

April 8th – TEDxRVA, Carpenter Center (for more information or to buy tickets to this event go to TEDxRVA.com)

April 13th – Parents coffee at Sabot @ Stony Point – talking on warning signs of use and addiction

April 15th – Conference in Fredericksburg, Va

April 28th – 30th Action Intervention Training @ ONSITE, Cumberland Furnace, Tenn. See details.

May 12th – Community get together with treatment resources for professionals and family members – at Northstar Community, 563 Southlake Blvd, Richmond, Virginia

Intervention Training April 2016

Action Intervention Training

Using Action to Effect Change

April 28—30, 2016 at Onsite Workshops, Cumberland Furnace, TN

ADVANCED INTERVENTION
Addicted family systems are locked into unhealthy roles and behaviors. When conducting an intervention, it is crucial to utilize sociometry to lower anxiety, and warm up the family to change. In this didactic and experiential “learning lab” workshop, we will demonstrate the benefits of treating the entire family system, and how sociometry and psychodrama can motivate the family towards recovery.

Bill Maher, Interventionist will be a presenter at Action Intervention Training—Using Action to Effect Change. Advanced strategies, tools and techniques utilizing a combination of intervention modalities, sociometry and psychodrama techniques that can be applied to formal interventions as well as any facet of addiction/mental health services for clients and families.


Download the flyer for this training (pdf).
CEU Hours Available

TED Talks Richmond

February 24th, 2016. Bill Maher has been invited to speak at TEDxRVA —a Ted Talks event FREE in Richmond.

My talk will be on, “SOLUTION’s for the heroin pandemic,” we have in this country. We’re losing close to a 2,500 young adults a month to heroin and prescription painkillers (opiates)! 2,500 a month!

This event is FREE and open to the public. Doors open to the public at 6pm. The TEDXRVA will be held at the Richmond Public Library, 101 East Franklin St, Richmond, Virginia 23219. It’s anticipated to be crowded so get there early. This competition will be held in the library auditorium of the library, downstairs. At the end of the event the audience will vote for who was the best speaker. The winner will get a longer slot at the next TED Talk held on April 8th.

Intervention Training February 2016

Action Intervention Training

Using Action to Effect Change

February 25-27, 2016 at Hanley Center at Origins, West Palm Beach, FL

ADVANCED INTERVENTION
Addicted family systems are locked into unhealthy roles and behaviors. When conducting an intervention, it is crucial to utilize sociometry to lower anxiety, and warm up the family to change. In this didactic and experiential “learning lab” workshop, we will demonstrate the benefits of treating the entire family system, and how sociometry and psychodrama can motivate the family towards recovery.

Bill Maher, Interventionist will be a presenter at this workshop discussing advanced strategies, tools and techniques utilizing a combination of intervention modalities, sociometry and psychodrama techniques that can be applied to formal interventions as well as any facet of addiction/mental health services for clients and families.
Download the flyer for this training (pdf).
CEU Hours Available