SUDterranean
The Underground Blog on Substance Use Disorder
Publications
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Holding the Weight: Supporting the Peer Workforce Through Loss | National Council for Mental Wellbeing, In Press
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9 Key Language Principles for Substance Use Disorder | National Council for Mental Wellbeing, Sept 2024
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Top 21 AI & Emerging Tech Use Cases for Behavioral Health in 2024 | SUDterranean Newsletter, Sept 2024
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(Research) Applying Communication Science to Substance Use Prevention Messaging | The Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research, Aug 2024
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Unanswered Questions Around the Evolving Role of Lived Experience | Recovery Review, Jun 2024
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Demystifying Relapse: A Recurrence of Symptoms (Issue Brief Series) | National Council for Mental Wellbeing, Mar 2024
Demystifying Relapse: Rethinking Return to Treatment (Issue Brief Series) | National Council for Mental Wellbeing, Mar 2024
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Lessons to Accelerate MOUD Prescribing Among Behavioral Healthcare Providers | National Council for Mental Wellbeing, Mar 2024​
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Competing Ideologies: The Quest for a Consensus on SUD Outcomes | National Council for Mental Wellbeing, Feb 2024​
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(Research) Factors associated with indirect exposure and knowledge of fentanyl among youth | Journal of Adolescent Health, Feb 2024
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Lived Experience Safeguard Guide and Scale: Protecting Individuals with Lived Experience in Public Discourse | National Council for Mental Wellbeing, Dec 2023
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Toward Standardization of Service Intensity Assessment | National Council for Mental Wellbeing, Dec 2023
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The 3 Ripple Effects of Harm Reductions’ Historical Exclusion from the Addiction Continuum of Care | Recovery Review, Nov 2023
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Is Harm Reduction a Fad? | STAT News, Nov 2023
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From the Sidelines to Center Stage: Harm Reduction’s Entry into the Continuum of Care | Recovery Review, Oct 2023
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To Share, or Not to Share, That Is the Question | National Council for Mental Wellbeing, Sept 2023; CA Cortney Lovell
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How Artificial Intelligence Will Get More Americans to the Summit of Sustained Recovery | Recovery Review, Sept 2023
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Harm Reduction: The Warmth and Chill of Mainstream Acceptance | Recovery Review, Aug 2023
Redefining the Narrative: Health Equity in Substance Use Campaigns Series, Part II | National Council for Mental Wellbeing, Aug 2023; CA Cortney Lovell
Redefining the Narrative: Health Equity in Substance Use Campaigns Series, Part I | National Council for Mental Wellbeing, Aug 2023; CA Cortney Lovell
Rugged Individualism vs. The Opioid Epidemic | SUDterranean Newsletter, Jul 2023
Let’s Talk: Using Motivational Interviewing to Strengthen the Behavioral Health Workforce | National Council for Mental Wellbeing, Jul 2023; CA Pam Pietruszewski
The Road to Recovery: The Six Rights of Reuse | National Council for Mental Wellbeing, May 2023
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Delivering Substance Use Messages That Pack a Punch | Social Work Today, May 2023
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The Double-Edged Sword: Lived Experience, Tokenism and the Portrayal of Addiction Recovery Stories | National Council for Mental Wellbeing, May 2023
Understanding Morals is Key to Accepting Safe Injection Sites | Scientific American, Oct 2022
Why the Mixed Messages When it Comes to Substance Use? | National Council for Mental Wellbeing, Nov 2022; CA Dr. John Kelly
Substance Use Challenges in Older Adults | National Council for Mental Wellbeing, Nov 2022
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Continuum Capital: Shared Successes and a Shift in Perspective | SUDterranean Newsletter, Nov 2022
Role of Connection to School Community in Preventing Youth Substance Use | National Council for Mental Wellbeing, May 2022; CA Pam Pietruszewski
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The Good, the Bad, and the Unknown for Addiction Treatment in the Telehealth Explosion | SUDterranean Newsletter, Jul 2022
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"Buyer Beware" When It Comes to Addiction Treatment | Harvard Health, Aug 2018
6 Keys to Finding a High-Quality Addiction Treatment Center | Harvard Health, Aug 2018
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Remove the Barriers to Addiction Recovery | Originally Published in The Fix, Feb 2017; CA Dr. John Kelly & Dr. James R. McKay
Press
Avoiding the Addiction Affliction Podcast | Never Too Old to Get Help
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Scope of Practice Podcast | Philosophical Thunderdome! Abstinence Based vs. Moderation
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Behavioral Health Business | Alcohol-Related Deaths Spike By 29% in US, But Opioid Crisis Overshadows Alcohol Use Disorder
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COX Media Group | Narcan is now approved for over-the-counter sales, this is what you need to know
ABOUT
"Addicted people have long been cloistered in subterranean subcultures with their own language, values, symbols, and folkways... That alternative world has been under construction for many decades and is now undergoing rapid development. Recovering people and their families are awakening both culturally and politically. The long-term effects of this awakening on the future of addiction treatment and recovery in America are unclear, but it is already exerting a profound influence on addiction treatment." William White excerpt from Slaying the Dragon
Alexandra Plante
Alexandra Plante is a Senior Advisor - Substance Use Disorder at the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, and works alongside the United Nations Office of Drug Control and Crime (UNODC) on unethical practices in substance use disorder treatment and recovery.
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Previously she has served as a consultant to U.S. federal agencies and state policymakers, international agencies, and private entities such as Google. Her writing has been featured in outlets such as Harvard Health Publications, Psychology Today, and Scientific American. She holds a M.A. in Quantitative Research in Communications, and previously served as a Director at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School - Recovery Research Institute and DynamiCare Health.