Bloomington, Ind. – September 1 marks “Recovery Month,” a national annual effort to increase awareness and understanding of mental and substance use disorders and to celebrate people in recovery. This year’s theme is “Recovery is For Everyone: Every Person, Every Family, Every Community.”
IU experts are available to comment on people in recovery and how COVID has impacted this population; stigma and its impact on recovery; prevention efforts for youth and supporting pregnant women and young mothers who have substance use disorder.
Melissa Cyders
Recovery, substance use disorder, clinical psychology
Melissa Cyders is a professor of psychology in IUPUI’s School of Science. Her research concerns how impulsivity and its underpinnings in the brain affect risk for a wide range of clinical problems and disorders, in particular focusing on alcohol and substance use disorders. Her current work focuses on the impact of medication assisted treatment on long-term opioid use disorder recovery and how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted people in recovery.
Debra Litzelman
Substance use in pregnant women, innovative health care system workforce development and patient-centered behavioral change strategies
Debra Litzelman is a senior research scientist at the Regenstrief Institute, where she conducts research in innovative health care system workforce development and patient-centered behavioral change strategies. Litzelman also is principal investigator of WeCare Indiana, a program to improve infant mortality rates in Indiana. The CARE Plus project is building on that foundation to reduce infant mortality, with a special emphasis on the reduction of substance and opioid use in pregnant and postpartum women.
Brea Perry
Substance use disorder, stigma, social networks, social determinants and consequences of mental illness, addiction, cognitive aging
Brea Perry is a professor of sociology at IU Bloomington and an affiliated faculty member of the IU Network Science Institute. Her research investigates the interrelated roles of social networks, biomarkers, social psychology and social inequality in health and illness, with a particular focus on mental illness and substance use disorders. Her current work looks at Indiana residents’ thoughts on people with substance use disorder, the impact stigma has on people seeking support for substance use disorder and the development of campaigns and programs to address barriers to treatment.
Ellen Vaughan
Mental health, addictions, substance use disorders, Latinx mental health, counseling and psychotherapy, counseling psychology
Ellen Vaughan is an associate professor in the Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology at IU Bloomington. Her research focuses on substance use and substance use disorders among adolescents and emerging adults, with emphases on Latino and college student populations. Her work includes development of a parent-based prevention program for incoming college students to reduce risk for alcohol-related sexual assault and cognitive behavioral therapy interventions for college students with substance use disorder. She developed a specialty practicum, CHGUnido, to train Spanish-speaking students in the provision of mental health services in Spanish and to increase access to Spanish-language mental health services in the Bloomington community.
Tamika Zapolski
Clinical psychology, health, substance abuse and addictions
Tamika Zapolski is an associate professor of psychology in the IUPUI School of Science. Her Prevention Research in Substance Use and Minority Health lab works on risk for substance use and other health behaviors among youth and young adults, and the development of school/community-based interventions to mitigate risk. Her work focuses on risk processes among racial/ethnic minority populations. Zapolski’s previous work focused on alcohol use, and her current research focuses on understanding sociocultural and biological factors that may explain disparities in substance use and health outcomes among African American populations, which can inform culturally relevant interventions to mitigate risk.
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