POSTPONED: Drug Addiction, Survival, and Hope – OPIOID COMMUNITY OUTREACH EVENT

Speaker

• Dr. Geri Lynn Utter-Godfrey Medical Science Liaison
  

  Dr. Geri Lynn Utter-Godfrey

  Medical Science Liaison

  My name is Geri Lynn Utter-Godfrey, PsyD. I am a clinical psychologist who specializes in working with individuals who struggle with drug addiction and severe mental illness. Throughout my career, I have conducted psychological evaluations for the Court on incarcerated individuals in an effort to ensure they receive the appropriate mental health and drug and alcohol treatment both during and post-release from prison. Currently, I work on the Medical Affairs team for a small pharmaceutical company that specializes in manufacturing and developing medication designed to help individuals struggling with opioid dependence. People often ask me if I have been fearful of the incarcerated individuals I evaluated, and the truth is, I always felt very comfortable. This is probably because of how I grew up. I am the child of a mother and father who have both struggled with drug addiction and have also witnessed countless addicts who lived and died in my parents’ wildly dysfunctional and often blatantly criminal inner circle, during my childhood, in one of the roughest areas of Philadelphia. My view of addiction was formed by witnessing its effects on real people long before I cracked open a book on the subject. The familial and personal challenges that I was confronted with during my youth helped me become a clinician with rare, real-world insight into addiction.

  More specifically as it relates to drug addiction, I work with individuals who struggle with opioid addiction from pain medication, heroin and fentanyl. My father struggled with heroin addiction from the late 60s into the 70s, before transitioning to manufacturing, distributing, and abusing methamphetamines in the late 70s and 80s. Meanwhile my mother struggled with binge-drinking and was eventually prescribed opioid pain medication (i.e. Percocet), in the early 90s for tooth pain. Untreated depression and anxiety mixed with severe trauma propelled her into becoming addicted to pain medication. Not to mention, the fact that getting a monthly prescription for 90 Percocet was as easy as going to the supermarket and buying Tylenol, at that time. In other words, her doctor was loose with his prescription pad. As her addiction to opioid pain medication grew more severe and more expensive, she started to buy additional pills off the street (illicitly) and was inevitably introduced to the devil himself: heroin.

  Oddly enough, rather than joining in on the action of using drugs and engaging in criminal behavior with my family and those I considered my friends, I went as far as I could in the opposite direction because I wanted a better life for myself and truly believed that I deserved it. Many of my life experiences have left permanent scars in my mind and on my soul, but rather than perceive them as scars I see them as marks of wisdom that have helped to shape my understanding of people and human behavior. I have always been very curious, the kind of person, who tries to understand what makes people do the things that they do, even if it is deviant or just plain f**ked-up. And, that curiosity in conjunction with an innate desire to help others is what drove me to pursue my career as a psychologist.

  My motivation to write and publish a book comes from my desire to share my story and instill hope. For those of you who live with addicts, I want you to know that you can survive this with your mind and soul intact. And, for those of you who are struggling with addiction or those of you who treat addicts, there is hope.

  Please see the following link for my website: www.drgerilynnutter.com which includes my bio as well as the trailer for the documentary.
  Check out my new book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Mainlining-Philly-Survival-Resisting-Addiction-ebook/dp/B085HDVZ5S
  94.1 WIP radio interview: https://www.radio.com/media/audio-channel/conversations-with-peter-solomon-04-12
  The links below for the radio interview Geri did on 95.7 BEN FM
  Radio interview: https://957benfm.com/episodes/dr-gerilynnutter/
  94.1 WIP radio interview: https://www.radio.com/media/audio-channel/conversations-with-peter-solomon-04-12
  Article authored in the Chestnut Hill Local:
  https://www.chestnuthilllocal.com/2020/02/20/chc-grad-overcomes-horrors-authors-opioid-crisis-book/