Dr. Nzinga Harrison joins the podcast and shares her journey into medicine – and psychiatry and addiction medicine, in particular – including how being raised by activist parents impacted her career path. She also emphasizes that mental health issues and substance use disorders are chronic conditions and the importance of separating the person from the symptoms of their condition or illness.

Dr. Harrison shares the inspiration behind her recently-released book, Un-Addiction: 6 Mind-Changing Conversations That Could Save a Life, and what the writing process was like for her. She discusses the inheritability of addiction and how other factors (e.g., psychological, environmental) play into addiction as well. Dr. Harrison talks about the concept of pre-addiction vs. addiction and the spectrum of the illness. She emphasizes the importance of the whole care team and comprehensive care in addiction treatment.

Dr. Harrison also discusses stigma and stigmatizing language surrounding addiction and the importance and implications of states and organizations making changes to the language they use. She shares key takeaways from her own experiences hosting podcasts, including her latest, Un-Addiction. Finally, Dr. Harrison shares advice she would offer her younger self and the next generation of addiction medicine providers.

Dr. Nzinga Harrison is passionate and outspoken about the need to expand the addiction medicine workforce. She is the co-founder and chief medical officer for Eleanor Health, an innovative mental health and addiction treatment company, and has more than 20 years of experience practicing medicine. She is a double-board certified physician with specialties in general adult psychiatry and addiction medicine.

Dr. Harrison completed undergraduate training at Howard University in Washington DC, medical school at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and residency training at Emory University in Atlanta. She has spent her career as a physician treating individuals from marginalized communities with substance use and other mental health conditions. As a physician executive, she has served as senior vice president and chief medical officer, roles committed to creating and improving systems-based delivery of psychiatric and substance use disorder care.

She is a vocal advocate for stigma reduction and is passionate about the necessity for whole-person care as individuals and communities seek to recover from and prevent substance use disorders. You can read more about these issues in her new book, Un- Addiction: 6 Mind-Changing Conversations That Could Save a Life. She also appears in the award-winning documentary Tipping the Pain Scale, which addresses the crisis of addiction in America. Dr. Harrison holds an adjunct faculty appointment at the Morehouse School of Medicine and is vice-chair for the Practice Management and Regulatory Affairs Committee for ASAM. She has been married to her husband Joel for 20 years and has two sons, ages 17 and 18.

LINKS:

Un-Addiction: 6 Mind-Changing Conversations That Could Save a Life

Un-Addiction podcast (also available on other platforms)

Eleanor Health

Tipping the Pain Scale

Treat Addiction Save Lives Podcast

If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, you are not alone. Treatment is available and recovery is possible. Visit ASAM’s Patient Resources page for more information.

The information shared in this podcast episode is for educational purposes only and should not be taken as medical advice. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or ASAM management.