White/Black Part 1: A Tale of Two Opioid Epidemics
Black-White, A Tale of Two Opioid Epidemics PPT
As the more publicized institutionally racist and oppressive practices like police brutality, poverty, and the racial wealth gap continue to ravage the Black community, there is a significant issue that has been allowed to permeate society with little notice for nearly a decade. This is the opioid epidemic, with the Black community seeing some of the highest rates of overdose deaths in America since 2016. Framed as a public health issue of middle-class White America, there has been little effort put forth in developing culturally relevant programming or public awareness outreach initiatives targeting this population.
The goal of this presentation is to bring awareness of this issue to the psychotherapy and addiction treatment community and task them with bringing an end to the stigmatization and criminalization of opioid addiction in the Black community. By identifying and changing America’s long history of systemic racism towards the Black community we can provide Black people suffering with addiction respect and treatment rather than criminalization and incarceration.
About the Presenters
Joseph Phipps, BA
Joseph has a BA in Psychology and is currently a Graduate student in the Co-Occurring Disorders Master’s program at Metropolitan State University. Previously, Joseph worked for 13 years in the banking industry, where his focus and training was in wealth management and consumer home ownership, which further informed and strengthen his resolve to educate and work to improve Black communities across the Twin Cities. Joseph’s passions are teaching mental health and overall wellness, substance use disorder treatment and recovery, and financial and wealth building education.
Ian McLoone, LPCC, LADC
Ian McLoone is the lead therapist at Alltyr Clinic, and has been working to co-develop the Alltyr approach to addiction treatment with clinic founder, Dr. Mark Willenbring, since 2013. Ian is a member of the community faculty at the University of Minnesota and Metropolitan State University, teaching courses on psychopharmacology for counselors, harm reduction and person-centered care, and integrated approaches for mental health and substance use disorders. You can find some of his writings in outlets like Filter Magazine and TheFix. Ian is passionate about scientifically informed approaches to addiction treatment and making 21st century care available to all.