Dr. Merrill Norton is an EMMY winning Clinical Associate Professor Emeritus of the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy with his specialty areas to include psychopharmacology and addiction pharmacy. He was most recently honored by the Georgia Addiction Counselors Association’s Board of Directors and Certification Board with being bestowed the first Certified Master Addiction Counselor (CMAC) credential in the state. His recently updated book, Understanding Substance Use Disorders Pharmacology, has been used to train thousands of mental health professionals nationally and his latest book, and The Pharmacist’s Guide to Opioid Use Disorders was released in December 2018.
Dr. Norton completed his undergraduate and graduate work at the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy. He accomplished a three-year addiction medicine fellowship under the direction of Douglas Talbott MD at Ridgeview Institute and has state, national, and international credentials in the treatment of mentally ill/addicted/chronic pain individuals. He has also been a faculty member of the Fairleigh-Dickinson University Postdoctoral Training Program in the Masters of Psychopharmacology, Alliant International University of San Francisco College of Psychology, University of Georgia School of Continuing Education, and Berry College in the areas of Psychopharmacology and Addiction Pharmacy. His areas of specialty in addiction pharmacy are the management of chronic pain in the substance use disordered patient and the neuroscience of substance use disorders. Since his recent retirement from UGA, Dr. Norton’s primary focus is to provide the latest scientific information to communities, educators, healthcare professionals, prevention specialists, treatment providers, and especially families, on the diseases of substance use disorders.
Understanding the Neuroscience of the Continuum for Substance Use Disorders and Recovery
In 2023, the DSM 5 describes addictive disorders as substance use disorders. This presentation will present the latest pharmacological research to cover such topics as reward circuits, the role of dopamine, the stress response, allostasis, psychological drug tolerance, and the new information on why individuals who have a substance use disorder do not seek help and how treatment dynamics improve the brain’s neurochemistry in recovery.
A substance use disorder involves the progression of acute drug use to the development of drug-seeking behavior, the vulnerability to relapse, and the decreas...Read moreed, slowed ability to respond to naturally rewarding stimuli. Dr. George Koob, Director of the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has categorized the three stages of addiction: preoccupation/anticipation, binge/intoxication, and withdrawal/negative affect. These stages are characterized, respectively, everywhere by constant cravings and preoccupation with obtaining the substance; using more of the substance than necessary to experience the intoxicating effects and alternating mood disturbances; then experiencing tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, and decreased motivation for normal life activities as a result of depression and anxiety disorders. Behavioral treatments create a stabilization and recovery from the effects of substance use disorders. All of these terms and specific treatment options will be explained in this presentation. Less...
Learning Objectives
- Discuss how substance use disorders cause a depletion of the human bonding system-the dynorphins and oxytocin.
- Explain the reward brain system and the anti-reward brain system, which result in mood disturbances.
- Describe how alcohol, benzodiazepines, and marijuana change the brain’s chemistry and alter mood stabilization.
- Recognize how the use of behavioral interventions can help brain chemistry recover from substance use.
Thursday, June 15, 2023
Live Interactive Webinar
04:00 PM EDT - 07:00 PM EDT
Register for this Webinar
$60.00
EARN 3 CE Credit Hours
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About the speaker
Merill A. Norton, Pharm. D., D.Ph., CMAC
Agenda
4:00-5:00pm The Neuroscience of Shame, Substance Use Disorders, and Trauma
5:00-6:00pm The Impact of Alcohol, Benzodiazepines, and Marijuana on the Mood Stabilization Mechanisms of the Human Brain
6:00-7:00pm Behavioral and Recovery Interventions that produce stabilizations in brain chemistry
CE Information - Earn 3 CE Credit Hours
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