Behind the Miracle Sierra Tucson

Dr. Luke Peterson and Addiction Nurse Kristina Cabalfin have created a new program at Sierra Tucson to help people survive addiction. They provide patients with naloxone to block the effects of opioids, which can save lives. Dr. Alex Danvers talks to them about the work they do educating Sierra Tucson patients about naloxone, harm reduction, and the often negative stereotypes people hold about this approach to treating addiction.

In this episode, we will hear from associate counselor Chris Bradshaw, who will be leading a discussion focusing on men's mental health.

Dr. Maureen Schwehr is here to help you overcome your chronic pain. Dr. Schwehr has long taken an integrative, mind-body perspective on medicine, so it is no surprise that she's adding a new tool to her arsenal for treating chronic pain: Pain Reprocessing Therapy. In this episode, Dr. Alex Danvers discusses with her the way that dealing with trauma and perceptions can help people overcome long term pain that comes from brain processes--not necessarily physical damage to the body.

Dr. Irfan Fauq is bringing intramuscular ketamine treatment to Sierra Tucson! In this episode, Dr. Alex Danvers interviews Dr. Fauq about how he's been using esketamine treatment to benefit mood disorder patients at ST, why he's so excited about bringing intramuscular injections of ketamine here, and how this treatment changes his approach to difficult, previously treatment-resistant forms of depression.

In this episode, Dr. Ryan Drzewiecki, Chief Clinical Officer at Sierra Tucson, talks about the integrative care model that he champions for mental health treatment. He discusses the way that specialty therapy is integrated with group therapy, one-on-one therapy, and medical care to create great patient outcomes. He also discusses why Ted Lasso has been such an inspiration to him and the clinical staff, and how he helps therapists grow throughout their career.

In this episode Kory Silva talks about his experience in leadership at Sierra Tucson, and how his perspective has been shaped by his own journey of recovery. Kory is one of several Sierra Tucson staff members who might be described as “wounded healers”—mental health professionals who have struggled with their own mental health to arrive at a place of healing. He talks about his personal experiences of growth, and how that helps him save lives at Sierra Tucson.