Lloyd Sederer, M.D.: A Leader In Public Health Discusses The Future Of Addiction Treatment

Lloyd Sederer, M.D., is currently an adjunct professor at the Columbia University School of Public Health. He has won many top awards in the field of psychiatry, and he has served as a leader in the field of public health in New York for the past two decades. In the 90s, Dr. Sederer was the chief psychiatrist at McLean hospital, the psychiatric teaching hospital for Harvard Medical School. He has published thirteen books, and he has published hundreds of articles in top medical journals and newspapers.<br /><br />What is the future of the treatment of addiction? According to Dr. Lloyd Sederer, the path to saving more lives from addiction going forward will involve providing better access to the tools that we already have. We already have harm reduction strategies, including the opioid overdose rescue drug, naloxone. And, we have effective medication-assisted treatments for opioid use disorder and alcohol use disorder.<br /><br />Our understanding of the functioning of the brain is more advanced than ever before in history. A wide variety of therapies can be applied to target various regions of the brain that are affected by addiction. In addition to existing medications and therapies, there are also new medical treatments on the horizon, including the drug, psilocybin. <br /><br />With psilocybin, an existing, ancient form of medical therapy is being brought up to date with current medical science. Safe, synthetic forms of the drug have been studied in major research centers with promising results.<br /><br />Just as important as therapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing, and contingency management, and medications, such as methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone, are the forming of relationships to promote abstinence and recovery.<br /><br />Dr. Sederer believes that, to be successful in helping people to recover from active addiction, we must meet them where they are and understand why they are using drugs or alcohol. Drugs serve a purpose for people who use them and it is impor