Samar Tehrani, M.ED., CATIV, CSAC, is a New Paradigm Recovery Staff Therapist whose early work helping young people in the juvenile justice system and a desire to work in the corporate world inform her current clinical practice and her focus on the importance of psychoeducation.
In this conversation, New Paradigm Recovery CEO Joey Zabel asks Samar to reflect on how her earliest aspirations to work in corporate education evolved into working in the behavioral healthcare field. This discussion illustrates how Samar’s path was shaped by a compassionate alliance that formed after she began meeting and treating more individuals and families affected by substance use disorder. As Samar’s clinical career matured, she developed a more profound emotional resonance and a desire to support clients impacted by addictive disorders fully.
With a degree in educational psychology from the University of Denver, Samar is especially skilled at understanding the importance of making curriculum relatable. During this interview, Samar suggests that education is essential to helping individuals, families, and healthcare professionals think differently about the disease of addiction and that this learning can eliminate the stigma that continues to surround addictive disorders.
In her work at New Paradigm Recovery, Samar focuses on psychoeducation to help family systems and clients fully comprehend the nature of dual diagnosis and mental health conditions to approach treatment and recovery with a rational and informed outlook to improve family support and long-term treatment outcomes.
Samar asserts that “eradication of addiction is not about adjudication or treatment, but education.”