Captain Hooked: The Addiction Project

Dr. Wiplove Lamba and Jean-Paul Michael went through Matthew Perry Audiobook, ‘friends, lovers, and the big terrible thing’ on his recovery journey. It was a moving and powerful experience. They learned about early attachment trauma, substance use, and the internal and extremely dangerous life threatening struggles he has faced. They also learned about his experience in various treatment programs...

A follow up to our episode #136 on ‘Alex Murdaugh: '$50,000 per week drug habit?', Addiction Professionals offer their insights’ https://youtu.be/A19RS7IOMYo We attempt to address some of our viewer’s addiction medicine related questions and comments. 0:00 Thank you for your curiosity 1:18 Why this followup podcast? 2:23 wouldn’t someone’s family know? 5:02 substance use changes the brain 6:23 doe...

Addiction psychiatrist Dr. Wiplove (Wip) Lamba and addictions case manager and former addict Jean-Paul (JP) Michael attempt to offer their insights on Alex Murdaugh Trial, where it has been claimed that Mr. Murdaugh spends $50,000 per week on his substance use, Addiction Professionals offer their insights. State of South Carolina v. Richard Alexander Murdaugh is an ongoing American criminal case i...

Dr. Wiplove Lamba is trying to figure out where to start in terms of making an organization harm reduction capable. This is a QnA session, likely the first of many, as we try to figure out what is harm reduction, what’s needed and where to a start. In previous podcasts, Addictions case manager and former addict Jean-Paul (JP) Michael provides a brief overview of harm reduction as it pertains to ad...

Addiction psychiatrist Dr. Wiplove Lamba saw a podcast about Temple Grandin and her current goals of helping people find a specific trade that really allows them to excel. This inspired him to go through her autobiography. https://www.amazon.com/Autistic-Brain-Thinking-Across-Spectrum/dp/B09HVDV578/ref=mp_s_a_1_13?qid=1675286221&refinements=p_27%3ATemple+Grandin+PhD&s=books&sr=1-13&text=Temple+Gr...

After cigarettes and tobacco, alcohol has the highest morbidity and mortality of any drug of abuse. It is also legal. Recently in the news, Canada has shifted its approach from sharing what makes you at risk for addiction to what are the actual risks of drinking when compared to those that don’t drink. Here we discuss the new low risk drinking guidelines for Canada, the medical professions involve...

Learning objectives In this talk, the attendee will A) learn about the the loose connection between the Indian gods and meditation, and the general origins of mindfulness, and how it connects the various psychotherapies. B)At the end, the attendee will wonder which type of meditative practice to explore further. Summary Wip has always wanted to learn how to meditate better. And here, he explore so...

Addiction psychiatrist Dr. Wiplove (Wip) Lamba and addictions case manager and former addict Jean-Paul (JP) Michael attempt to do an honest apolitical assessment of 'Everything Feels Broken'. 'Everything Feels Broken', features Mr. Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. Mr. Poilievre speaks on many issues in this video. We are exclusively focusing on the areas of this substa...

Dr. Sanjeev Arora developed project ECHO (extending community health outcomes) in New Mexico to help the generalist to pick up the skills to treat Hepatitis C. This modal has spread throughout the world with over 100 plus echos throughout the world covering many topics. In Canada, CAMH has been a leader in developing and spreading the model as it relates to mental health. Addiction psychiatrist Dr...

After discussing what is trauma informed care, how to take a trauma history, what is and how to offer seeking safety - a stage 1 treatment for trauma and substance use, the natural next step was to discuss PTSD and it’s treatment. Here we discuss why it is important, does the self meditation hypothesis exist, how wip learned CPT, what are the major components of it, and the importance of hope. We...

Addictions case manager and former addict Jean-Paul (JP) Michael has given multiple talks to trainees over the last 5-7 years on what it was like to use drugs, how harm reduction saved his life, what the recovery process was like and the transition to working as a peer support worker and now a clinical case manager. He always tells the audience there is nothing off limits. Here, JP has compiled th...

Featuring addiction psychiatrist Dr. Wiplove (Wip) Lamba, addictions case manager and former addict Jean-Paul (JP) Michael, along with their guests discuss all things related to substance use, addiction, addiction medicine, psychotherapy, harm reduction, treatment and recovery. Wip and JP share their motivation, curiosity, and passion for their craft. JP works on a daily basis in a renown inner ci...

As a former aspiring neuroscientist and a current practicing psychiatrist, I really admire the quantity, the quality and the pragmatism of Dr. Huberman’s podcasts. They have helped me learn the neuroscience basis of many psychological clinical approaches, their relevance to personal self development and also to patient care. I invite all of you to pick just one of his podcasts that is related to a...

We are both proponents of seeking safety as a therapy for people with trauma and substance use. This is a very low barrier treatment for both the therapist or peer support worker to learn AND for the patient to get access to. For myself, when I’m working with people who use drugs, it’s a great standalone treatment AND a great gateway therapy to more intensive work. Here are some resources: Seeking...

Wiplove gives a brief overview of the didactic content of motivational interviewing. This covers the spirit which include partnership, acceptance, compassion and evocation. He talks about the skills the therapist needs, like the use of open ended questions, affirmations, reflections and summaries. He also discusses the goal, change talk. MI has moved away from “unmotivated” language to “change tal...

Jean-Paul Michael has recently started a career as a community case manager and is going through a motivational interviewing training session. Addiction psychiatrist Dr. Wiplove (Wip) Lamba is a member of the motivational interviewing network of trainers, has led many workshops in the past. Today, JP and Wip have a conversation about Origins of motivational interviewing. Featuring addiction psychi...

Contingency Management In this talk. We discuss why addiction case manager JP cares about CM, an example where he used it in his work and personal life, addiction psychiatrist Wip shared two examples where he used it with his kids, and they went over the key concepts in Nancy Petry’s phenomenal book and guide. JP loves evidence based topics, and he also also knows CM has the best evidence for stim...

Hey! How do I learn more??? CRA (community reinforcement approach) and CRAFT (community reinforcement approach and family training) are the two best therapies for people who use drugs and their family members respectively. Maybe a little bit of bias in that statement lol. The outcomes are solid, but it hasn’t had the marketing you see in regular CBT and other psychotherapies. In this video, Wip sh...

TLDR: buy the book! Addictions case manager and former addict Jean-Paul (JP) Michael reached out to addiction psychiatrist Dr. Wiplove (Wip) Lamba this week, seeking info on CRAFT (Community Reinforcement, And Family Training). Seeing there was an audiobook, he started reading the version for family members. (Wip and JP currently prefer audiobooks to paper). For substance use disorders care, we us...

We have always admired strong women. Wip’s Grandmothers and his mother were incredibly inspiring to him, and now he learns great life lessons through his wife and daughter on a regular basis. In over a decade of clinical work in psychiatry, both Wip and JP have worked under many strong women leaders. This memoir was incredibly inspiring to us for several reasons. 1. This is a person at the peak of...

Viola Davis quotes Anton Chekov at the start of her book. Psychiatrist Dr. Wiplove (Wip) Lamba didn’t realize who he was. “I think human beings just have faith or must look for faith, otherwise life is empty, empty. To live and not to know why the cranes fly, why children are born, why there are stars in the sky. You must know why you are alive, or else everything is nonsense, just blowing in the...

Trauma informed care is a buzzword with different definitions and different implementation protocols depending on who you talk to. In this podcast, addiction psychiatrist Dr. Wiplove (Wip) Lamba and addictions case manager and former addict Jean-Paul (JP) Michael discuss the challenges in working with people who have trauma, difficulty creating a safe place within large institutions, lessons from...

This is a talk about the Community Reinforcement Approach developed by Robert Meyers, a scientist and psychologist who did his training under Dr. Nathan Azrin. The key principle for the Community Reinforcement Approach is that you want to make your sober life so interesting that you would not want to miss a day by using. Steps include happiness scale, goal setting, sobriety sampling, principles of...

Viola Davis quotes Anton Chekov at the start of her book. Psychiatrist Dr. Wiplove (Wip) Lamba didn’t realize who he was. Anton Chekov is a famous Russian writer and playwright whom some argue is only second to Tolstoy in his acclaim. He grew up in poverty in an abusive household. Medicine was his main professions and he described writing as his mistress. He believed it was his role to share reali...

Addictions case manager and former addict Jean-Paul (JP) Michael reached out to addiction psychiatrist Dr. Wiplove (Wip) Lamba this week, seeking info on CRAFT (Community Reinforcement, And Family Training). Seeing there was an audiobook, he started reading the version for family members. For substance use disorders care, we usually focus on the individual. The family is kept separate. Robert Meye...