Professional Portfolio

The Art of Quitting for Good

In 2020 I was picking up the pieces of my life. I was spent, but needed change, so I knew that change would have to be easy to do, and gentle on my fried systen, because I quite frankly didn't have the capacity for anything else. What ensued was an accidental development of a method to quit smoking (among other things) that was gentle, free of withdrawal, and built skills of metacognition and interoception.

It took me three years to self publish the method as a step-by-step guide for quitting smoking, as well as a sister guide to quit vaping. However, it soon became clear that the method itself had wide potential to help heal other addictions, so sales have been paused while I pursue research partnerships, and teaching the method as a practice. Please reach out if you'd like to discuss learning and licensing the Method.

IPSUM

The Integrated Placebo-Substitute Method

Most addiction treatments focus not on healing addiction itself, but on maintaining abstinence through the withdrawal period. While withdrawal eventually subsides, many individuals remain trapped in a prolonged state of abstinence that leaves the underlying drivers of addiction unresolved, often resulting in relapse or the substitution of one addiction for another. From an anthropological perspective, addiction develops when fundamental human needs—such as coping, connection, identity, habit, and ritual—become yoked to a physiologically addictive substance or behavior. As a result, quitting involves more than physical withdrawal; it also requires disentangling deeply embedded psychological and behavioral patterns. Withdrawal can create a profound mind-body split, producing shock, grief, and a perceived void that undermines recovery efforts. By addressing physiological addiction and psychological dependency as distinct but interconnected processes, and by emphasizing gradual pacing, interoception, and metacognitive awareness, this approach seeks to strengthen the mind-body connection in measurable ways and support genuine healing rather than mere abstinence.

IPSUM Protocol - Theoretical Basis

Speaking, Training & Licensing

I provide keynote presentations, workshops, professional trainings, and retreat experiences centered on a new framework for understanding addiction, recovery, and behavioral change. Drawing from the Integrated Placebo-Substitute Method and its anthropological foundations, my trainings help organizations, treatment providers, peer professionals, educators, and community leaders understand addiction as the intersection of physiological dependency and human needs such as coping, ritual, identity, and connection. Trainings combine theory with practical application, equipping participants with measurable tools that strengthen interoceptive awareness, metacognitive skills, and long-term recovery outcomes. Licensing opportunities are available for organizations seeking to implement the methodology within their programs, services, or educational initiatives.

Metacognition and Interoception

Trauma | Addiction | Grief | Growth

My direct work is informed by lived experience with trauma, mental health challenges, addiction, and recovery. Having navigated these experiences personally, I understand the complex relationship between survival, coping, and behavioral dependence. Through a trauma-informed and strengths-based approach, I help individuals develop greater interoceptive awareness and strengthen metacognitive skills while learning to identify and respond to the distinct physiological and psychological dimensions of not only addiction. Rather than focusing on abstinence, my work explores the needs addiction serves in real time, ways to strategically respond in ways that behaviorally severs the addiction from the met need, and practically and gently reconditions the mind and body into an empowered state, free of addiction. The goal is sustainable growth, self-understanding, and meaningful change grounded in both evidence-informed principles and lived experience.

My specific lived experience has also afforded me deep insight in the recovery process from relational trauma, maladaptive attachment patterns, coercive dynamics, and chronic emotional invalidation. Through deep cognitive reframing, insight development, and practical skill-building, my direct work seeks to empower individuals to disengage from harmful relational patterns, establish healthier boundaries, and cultivate a greater sense of agency, self-trust, and psychological resilience.

Peer Workforce Advocacy

Uniting the Recovery Workforce