Shelly F. Greenfield, MD, MPH is Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the Kristine M. Trustey Endowed Chair of Psychiatry at McLean Hospital where she also serves as the Chief Academic Officer. She is the Chief of the Division of Women's Mental Health and the Director of Clinical and Health Services Research and Education in the Alcohol, Drug and Addiction Treatment Program at McLean Hospital. Dr. Greenfield is an addiction psychiatrist, clinician and researcher. Dr. Greenfield has served as Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator on federally funded research focusing on treatment for substance use disorders, gender differences in substance disorders, and health services for substance disorders. She received a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)-funded career award in substance use disorder patient oriented research (2005-2016). Funded by grants from NIH/NIDA, she developed and tested a new manual-based group therapy for women with substance use disorders, the Women’s Recovery Group (WRG) resulting in a dissemination manual Treating Women with Substance Use Disorders: The Women’s Recovery Group Manual. She is Past President of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry; current member and past chair of the American Psychiatric Association's Council on Addiction Psychiatry; member of the Advisory Committee on Services for Women for the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (2011-2017); and a member of the NIH/NIDA National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse (2021-2024). She has been elected to the American College of Psychiatrists and the College on Problems of Drug Dependence and is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. She received the R. Brinkley Smithers Distinguished Scientist Award from the American Society of Addiction Medicine, Harvard Medical School’s A. Clifford Barger Award for Excellence in Mentoring, the Stuart A. Hauser Award for Mentoring from the Department of Psychiatry, and the 2022 Dean’s Award for Community Service for the Mass General Brigham/McLean Hospital Outreach Program with Indian Health Service.
Summary:
This presentation will review trends in the epidemiology of gender differences in the prevalence of substance use and substance use disorders in the U.S. highlighting the narrowing gender gap and rising rates of substance use and substance use disorder in women and girls. There will then be presentation of the evidence for the telescoping course of alcohol use disorders in females and a brief review of the physiology contributing to this illness trajectory. Data regarding opioid use disorders in women and girls will also be presented. There will be a brief overview of the risks for substance use disorders in women and the role of gender-specific therapies in treating women with substance use disorders. The presentation will then present the indications and evidence for the Women’s Recovery Group (WRG), an evidence-based manualized gender-specific group therapy for women with substance use disorders that is now disseminated into clinical practice. It will then present new research examining digital adaptations of the WRG and potential for future adaptations to meet the needs of diverse populations.
Suggested Reading:
Educational Objectives:
At the end of this lecture, you will be able to:
Disclosures: