The NOCE Dose: The Opioid Crisis Unplugged

The Nevada Opioid Center of Excellence (NOCE)
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Mental Health
  • Updated Weekly

The NOCE Dose: The Opioid Crisis Unplugged is a concise and insightful podcast offering a deeper dive into the realities faced by professionals and champions combating the opioid epidemic within Nevada. Join us as we reconnect with expert panelists from our Listening Sessions, providing a behind-the-scenes look at their work and insights into the pressing issues of prevention and diversion, harm reduction, opioid use treatment, recovery, and reoccurrence prevention.

  1. Season 3 Episode 3 Mean Girls and Ministry: Faith, Trauma, and the Danger of Image Over Healing

    3d ago

    Season 3 Episode 3 Mean Girls and Ministry: Faith, Trauma, and the Danger of Image Over Healing

    In this episode of The NOCE Dose, Bianca D. McCall is joined by Gabrielle Burton, LMFT, for a powerful conversation at the intersection of faith, trauma, and care work. Together, they explore what happens inside helping spaces—especially faith communities—when image becomes more important than authenticity.From “mean girls in ministry” to cover-up culture and spiritual bypassing, Gabrielle names the realities many experience but few openly discuss. Leaders are often expected to carry grief, addiction, and crisis for others while managing their own struggles in silence—creating environments where vulnerability feels unsafe and healing is delayed.This episode dives into the difference between belonging vs. fitting in, the impact of unresolved personal wounds on leadership, and why faith spaces must move beyond “pray it away” responses toward trauma-informed, relational care. It also highlights the need for collaboration between mental health professionals and faith leaders to truly support both communities and the people serving within them.Grounded in both clinical insight and lived experience, this conversation challenges listeners to confront what’s hidden, rethink leadership, and create spaces where people can show up fully—without having to perform, conform, or hide. Because healing doesn’t happen in environments built on performance—it happens where people feel safe enough to be seen.

    52 min
  2. Season 3 Episode 2: When You’re Carrying Everyone’s Everything: Boundaries, Burnout, and the Work of Letting Go

    May 21

    Season 3 Episode 2: When You’re Carrying Everyone’s Everything: Boundaries, Burnout, and the Work of Letting Go

    Jewels Crable completed her Bachelors of Social Work and a minor in Addiction Treatment at University of Nevada, Reno where she excelled and received special honor from the faculty of her program. During her senior year internship at NAMI Western Nevada, she felt at home with the Peer Work perspective and the ability to pull from her own lived experiences to help others. Having been personally impacted by mental health struggles, substance use disorder, suicidality, and domestic violence, Jewels felt instantly connected to this work.Since joining NAMI Western Nevada, Jewels has been grateful to continue receiving trainings to elevate her skills and she recently added Community Health Worker to her titles. Beyond working the NAMI Warmline, Jewels also works outreach where she joins community events in her rural county and others to offer resources and connection. She also recently began working with students from 3rd to 12th grade in Churchill County to help support their mental health needs.In the future, Jewels hopes to find the opportunity to earn her Master’s degree in Social Work and to continue to find innovative ways to serve her community and those who are working to improve their mental, emotional, physical, and social wellness.

    46 min
  3. The NOCE Dose Season 3 Listening Session Helping the Helper Part 1

    May 12

    The NOCE Dose Season 3 Listening Session Helping the Helper Part 1

    This Listening Session addresses the emotional, cognitive, and professional impact of opioid-related crises on those working in prevention, treatment, and recovery, including clinicians, peers, first responders, and systems leaders. Drawing from suicide postvention frameworks and lived experience, the session explores the invisible injuries of care work, such as compassion fatigue, secondary trauma, and moral distress. Attendees will hear from colleagues who have navigated the grief and ethical ambiguity that follow overdose loss or suicide, while also gaining insight into sustainable work-life integration practices and emotional recovery strategies.

    1h 50m
  4. The NOCE Dose Season 3 Preview

    May 7

    The NOCE Dose Season 3 Preview

    Season three of The NOCE Dose, hosted by Bianca D. McCall, centers the people doing the work—and the often invisible costs of caring. This season amplifies the voices of clinicians, peer support specialists, first responders, crisis teams, and community providers across Nevada who show up every day in response to the opioid crisis. Through powerful testimonies and expert insight, we explore how identity, access, and systemic expectations shape who receives support—and who suffers in silence. Each episode offers practical strategies to sustain the workforce, highlighting supervision, peer connection, physical health, and realistic approaches to self-care. Because supporting those on the frontlines isn’t optional—it’s essential.

    4 min
  5. Season 2 Episode 7: It’s Not Enough to Meet People Where They Are If We Still Judge Where They Came From

    12/16/2025

    Season 2 Episode 7: It’s Not Enough to Meet People Where They Are If We Still Judge Where They Came From

    In this episode of The NOCE Dose, we are joined by Amy Thatcher, a speech-language pathologist and neonatal feeding specialist with over fifteen years of experience supporting medically fragile and opioid-exposed infants. Together, we explore what truly family-centered care looks like in the NICU—from dismantling stigma and clinical bias to building trust with birthing parents and extended families. Amy shares why “meeting people where they are” is not enough if judgment remains in the room, and how small, intentional practices—calling babies by name, modeling caregiving, and inviting families into the healing process—can radically improve outcomes for infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). The conversation also dives into the long-term developmental implications of early opioid exposure, including feeding, oral-motor development, communication milestones, and theory of mind. We discuss the impact of the Eat, Sleep, Console model, the importance of early intervention services, and how awe, transparency, and compassionate education can quiet shame and empower caregivers. This episode is a powerful reminder that healing begins not only with clinical tools, but with humanity, trust, and the courage to break silence—one baby, one family, and one conversation at a time.

    42 min
  6. Season 2 Episode 6: The Mommy in the Mirror: Self-Worth, Nutrition, and Breaking Cycles of Trauma

    12/10/2025

    Season 2 Episode 6: The Mommy in the Mirror: Self-Worth, Nutrition, and Breaking Cycles of Trauma

    In this compelling episode, host Bianca D. McCall reconnects with Dr. Annie Lindsay to dive deeper into the gendered realities of opioid and stimulant use among women. Dr. Lindsay breaks down why women of reproductive age are one of the fastest-growing groups affected by substance use, highlighting the overlooked role of methamphetamine, the weight of trauma, and the profound impact of limited social and human capital. Together, they explore how biology, caregiving demands, body image pressures, and generational patterns shape women’s experiences with use, recovery, and the healthcare systems meant to support them. The conversation also shines a light on the critical—and often ignored—role of nutrition in early recovery. Dr. Lindsay explains how cravings, emotional eating, blood sugar instability, and nutrient deficiencies interact with anxiety, depression, and relapse risk. She offers practical pathways for integrating nutrition, supplementation, and family-based education into treatment, showing how these approaches can stabilize the brain, support healing, and help families “sidestep” harmful generational cycles. This episode is essential listening for providers, advocates, and anyone seeking a more complete picture of women’s recovery journeys.

    40 min
  7. Season 2 Episode 5: Doctors Are Human Too: The Courage to Activate Care Not Cuffs in Maternal Health

    12/02/2025

    Season 2 Episode 5: Doctors Are Human Too: The Courage to Activate Care Not Cuffs in Maternal Health

    In this episode of The NOCE Dose, host Bianca D. McCall, LMFT welcomes Dr. Eboni January—physician, author, and advocate—for a transformative discussion on empathy, maternal health, and the human side of medicine. Together, they examine how opioid use disorder impacts mothers and families, challenging traditional systems that punish rather than support. Dr. January shares her experiences as both a provider and a mother, emphasizing that true healing begins with compassion—for patients and practitioners alike. This conversation explores the power of education, cultural competence, and self-care in reshaping healthcare systems, inspiring doctors and communities to lead with care, not cuffs.

    44 min
  8. Season 2 Episode 4: Listening Session: Opioid Use Disorder Impact in Special Populations Part 2: Birth, Beyond, and Across the Lifespan

    11/18/2025

    Season 2 Episode 4: Listening Session: Opioid Use Disorder Impact in Special Populations Part 2: Birth, Beyond, and Across the Lifespan

    This second Listening Session continues our exploration of Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) in special populations, shifting the lens to the full lifespan. Building upon Part 1's focus on youth and Tribal communities, Part 2 will examine the intergenerational and biological effects of opioid exposure from the womb through later life stages. Panelists will include a speech-language pathologist and lactation consultant working with opioid-exposed infants in neonatal care, a nutritionist exploring how OUD affects metabolism and nourishment, a biomedical engineer sharing technological approaches for assessing long-term developmental impact, and a gerontological expert addressing OUD in older adults.

    1h 26m
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About

The NOCE Dose: The Opioid Crisis Unplugged is a concise and insightful podcast offering a deeper dive into the realities faced by professionals and champions combating the opioid epidemic within Nevada. Join us as we reconnect with expert panelists from our Listening Sessions, providing a behind-the-scenes look at their work and insights into the pressing issues of prevention and diversion, harm reduction, opioid use treatment, recovery, and reoccurrence prevention.

Information

  • Creator
    The Nevada Opioid Center of Excellence (NOCE)
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    33
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © The Nevada Opioid Center of Excellence (NOCE)
  • Show Website
    The NOCE Dose: The Opioid Crisis Unplugged