Understanding The Opioid Crisis Through The Lens Of Compassion with Lori Vadakin

OPEN TO THE PUBLC | We are all susceptible when it comes to opioid use disorder. The need for pain relief is what makes us human and subject to developing an addiction. Lori Vadakin ran an adolescent substance abuse group at UCS in the nineties when Opiates hit the streets. She has followed the devastating impact over the past 30 years. She will talk about how the drug forever changes the pleasure site in the brain by releasing endorphins helping people feel good. The person then continues to seek the feeling of relief and thus develops tolerance, now at the point of dependence use is no longer a choice.

Lori Vadakin is the Director of Substance Use Treatment, Outpatient and Community Rehabilitation Services at United Counseling Services in Bennington. Lori, formally the past Director of trauma integrated services at VPI South and the Past Director of the Bennington Child Advocacy Center. Lori is certified in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapist and consultant. Lori has her master’s degree in counseling psychology from Antioch New England in Keene, New Hampshire. Lori holds a Vermont license as a Drug and Alcohol counselor. She has advanced certifications in Equine Assisted Psychotherapy, Equilateral, EMDR-Sandtray, EMDR-Child Specialist. Lori was one of the first clinicians trained in Attachment, Self-Regulation and Competency (ARC) in the state of Vermont.