Welcome to Speaking of Psychology, a bi-weekly podcast from the American Psychological Association.

I'm your host, Caitlin Luna.

Every day in America, 130 people die from overdosing on opioids, including prescription pain

medication, heroin, and

synthetic opioids such as fentanyl. That's according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

It's estimated that nearly 2 million people around the country are grappling with opioid addiction

and its devastating families and communities. In the face of these grim statistics, psychologists are offering new

solutions to help end the opioid epidemic, including non-pharmaceutical treatment for pain

and other interventions. The opioid crisis is the topic of a special report in the June

2019 issue of the Monitor on Psychology, APA's magazine for members that covers the science and practice of psychology,

as well as how psychology influences society at large. You can read the special report at

APA.org slash monitor. Our guest for this episode is APA CEO Dr. Arthur C. Evans Jr.

Dr. Evans has worked previously in the areas of substance use disorders

and addiction and has approached these issues in a variety of ways. As a clinician, he's worked

directly with individuals providing direct services and case management. He's served as an

administrator and program director where he's overseen treatment programs for people with opioid

dependency.

He's also worked on studies examining different types of treatment for substance use disorders and has engaged in many years of policy work focused on substance use, addiction, and recovery.

Most importantly, he's had a family member impacted by substance use problems. Welcome, Dr. Evans.

Thank you. I'm very delighted to be here.

The opioid crisis is one of the biggest societal issues the U.S. is dealing with right now.

Do you think enough is being done to address it? Actually, I don't think we're doing enough as a

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