DAVID MCNAMARA

Founder, Executive Director

David McNamara is a Recovery coach, Substance Abuse Counselor, filmmaker and Zen practitioner. David is currently completing his certification in Harm Reduction Psychotherapy with Dr. Andrew Tatarsky (one of our advisors and collaborators.) David has worked and volunteered in the recovery field for over 10 years as well as having  training in Mindfulness Therapy and meditation. Prior to this he was a filmmaker for over 30 years. After many years into his own recovery he began to see the need for alternatives in the way that we treat addiction and the trauma underlying the addiction. In keeping with the contemporary wisdom for the treatment of addiction, David has spent much of his career investigating how recovery, spirituality and creative expression are integrally related. He began to develop a practice based on his own experience of recovery. Using his  Zen meditation experience, DBT training, and Harm Reduction Psychotherapeutic techniques he began a program called Mindfulness Based Recovery. He has implemented this practice into his work at a traditional Drug Treatment center with some very promising results.

Last year David embarked on a documentary film called “Disconnected” (Healing an addicted society). In the making of the film he has found an incredible group of therapists, teachers, mentors and advisors. In many ways meeting and interviewing these authors of the paradigm shift in the way we treat addiction gave birth to this idea and this center.

In my role as Executive Director of Samadhi I will guide the overarching philosophy of treating addiction with compassion, understanding and mindfulness. I will be responsible for finding new therapists and treatments along with experts in their respective fields. Samadhi will be a living, growing entity working together with our research department and staff to continually evolve.