The Catalyst Podcast

Jessica Hulsey, President and CEO of the Addiction Policy Forum, joins us to discuss her advocacy work in the addiction and recovery field. Jessica was appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve on the Drug-Free Communities Commission and also served as a legislative aide in the U.S. House of Representatives, focusing on drug policy issues. In 2015, Jessica founded the Addiction Policy Forum. We discuss: 

• Her per...

For over 50 years, America’s “war on drugs” has been a war with unintended consequences. Framed as a battle to be won, it reshaped addiction not as a public health crisis but as a moral and criminal one. This rhetoric didn’t just stigmatize millions — it fundamentally altered the course of treatment and recovery for decades.

We sit down with Dr. John F. Kelly, Harvard Medical School’s first endowed professor in addi...

If you are among the many people confused about the One Big Beautiful Bill barreling through Congress and its implications for Medicaid, we have just the guy to walk you through it. Al Guida founded Guide Consulting Services, a 25-year-old consulting practice that helps corporate, government, and non-profit clients navigate Washington policy processes to achieve measurable goals. In this episode, Al breaks down Medicaid-re...

Austin Howald is the Director of Integrated Community Services at Chestnut Health Systems. His work targets the intersection of mental health, housing insecurity, and social drivers of health. The overarching theme of our conversation is "what innovation in healthcare looks like" through the lens of the Medicaid Innovation Initiative. We discussed: 

• The Fundamental lessons that have informed Austin's approach to his wo...

We are joined by Kevin Conlon (Founder and President) and Linda Shapiro (Executive Vice President) of Conlon Public Strategies (PS) to discuss the need for agile leadership in today’s volatile, rapidly changing landscape.  Conlon PS is a strategic advising firm dedicated to advancing the good work of nonprofits and businesses. We discuss: 

• Conlon's work supporting nonprofit health and human service organizations an...

Jim Wallis is  Director of Business Development with Chestnut Health Systems. He has over 32 years in behavioral health, starting his career in 1989 as a Deputy Juvenile Officer, working with at-risk adolescents in Missouri’s Pike, Lincoln, and St. Charles Counties. With Chestnut, he’s been instrumental in expanding Chestnut’s footprint across Missouri. We discuss:  

• How his background in criminology and crimin...

Chestnut’s Dennis Watson and Justin Bell join us to discuss the role of peer support specialists in substance use disorder treatment and the challenges they are facing in today’s environment.  Dennis is a senior research scientist, and Justin is a behavioral scientist.  They are among the authors of a recent article in the Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment titled “Advancing peer support workforce research: I...

Marvin Ventrell is the CEO of the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers (NAATP).  Since 1978, NAATP has served its membership by providing training, education, and technical assistance, while supporting the addiction treatment industry via thought leadership and policy advocacy. We discussed: 

1. How the Ventrell part of the Gannett and Ventrell law firm went from practicing law to his work with NAATP....

There’s no better person to help us navigate and understand today’s chaotic - her word - mental health ecosystem than Monica Oss, the CEO and founder of OPEN MINDS, an award-winning information source, executive education provider, and business solutions firm specializing in the health and human service industry. We discuss:

• What prompted her to start OPEN MINDS in 1987,  the changes that have had the most impact, ...

On this episode of the Catalyst Podcast we speak with Chestnut Health Systems' CEO Dr. Dave Sharar. We discussed: 

• Dave’s 35-year career at Chestnut Health Systems, including his current role as CEO and his previous leadership of Chestnut Global Partners, where he managed behavioral health services for over 600 employers and 1 million employees worldwide.
• The significant shift in public and political attitudes ...

We’re joined by Melissa Sienna, Executive Director of MDFT International (Multidimensional Family Therapy), and by Sandra Arguelles, National Trainer, also with MDFT International. MDFT transforms lives through family-centered treatment for youth struggling with mental health and other challenges, including 

• Substance Misuse
• Mental Health
• Crime & Delinquency
• Antisocial & Aggressive Behaviors
• School & Family...

Dateline: Washington, DC. This week’s guest is Chuck Ingoglia, President and CEO of the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, the. unifying voice of America’s community mental health and addiction treatment organizations. Together with more than 3,300 member organizations, they serve more than 10 million adults and children living with mental illnesses and addictions. For fifty-five years, the organization has been a voic...

There’s lived experience…and there’s lived experience. Patrick Hibbard, Assistant Research Scientist at Chestnut Health Systems, has had anything but a conventional career path. Patrick shares his journey, from incarceration to his current role with Chestnut, and how his background inspires and informs his work. We discuss:   

• How he uses econometrics and quantitative methods in evaluating public health interve...

Dale Shreve is  President and CEO of MHCA (Mental Health Corporations of America), a national association of innovative, entrepreneurial behavioral healthcare organizations focused on the development of C-suite executives. We discuss: 

• MHCA's Role in fostering executive development for behavioral healthcare leaders, highlighting the importance of peer connections among CEOs and the organization's evolution over 40 year...

Jordan Green is the Founder and CEO of Remble Health, developers of a mental health app that empowers individuals, providers, and clients with innovative AI tools, mental health resources, and 24/7 AI-powered chat support. With Remble, mental health support is accessible, confidential, and personalized to each user’s unique journey. We discuss: 

• What Jordan was seeing and experiencing during the pandemic that promp...

We have the two founders of CogniTrainer on to find out (spoiler alert: it can). CogniTrainer uses AI to create a simulated training environment for students and mental health professionals, ensuring that they’re prepared for real-world clinical encounters.  Michael Glowik, Emile Rutherford, and I discussed: 

• The gaps in mental health training and education CogniTrainer fills.
• The challenges in mental health ed...

A lot can change in just ten years. This conversation with Emory University’s Justine W. Welsh, MD, discusses recommendations for updating adolescent use treatment and policies that have been in place for over a decade.

Dr. Welsh is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Emory University School of Medicine, where she is Vice Chair of Child, Adolescent, and Young Adult Services,...

Dr. Michael Giles, a licensed psychiatrist, founded Sonara Health during his residency at UT Southwestern Medical Center - a remarkable feat by itself! Sonara makes it easier for people with opioid use disorder to commit to their methadone treatment program to achieve their recovery goals. 

In this episode, we discuss:

• Michael’s unconventional journey from residency to entrepreneurship, bypassing the traditional car...

Dr. Gracelyn Cruden is a Research Scientist at Chestnut Health Systems’ Lighthouse Institute-Oregon Group. Her research leverages systems science, decision science, and implementation science to develop tools, processes, and partnerships to implement evidence-informed programs and policies. We discussed: 

• What is “decision science”? How is it applied, and how does it help get groups to a consensus?   
• The preci...