Dianne Doyle Pita was born in New Hampshire, she grew up in New Hampshire and Maine with her three brothers. Upon graduating from high school, she moved to Boston to begin college at the University of Massachusetts, Boston (UMB). She fell in love with Boston. In 1978, she graduated with research honors for her study in college-age drinking. She believes that UMB provided her with a top-notch and affordable education that prepared her well for her graduate studies. She moved to Baltimore, Maryland and graduated from Loyola College in 1980 with a Master's degree in Clinical Psychology. Her Master's thesis was in cognitive processes in persons with alcohol dependence. She also worked at NIH conducting clinical research on hypertensives using biofeedback. She moved back to Boston and began her graduate studies at Boston University, psychology department, graduating in 1986. Her dissertation examined gender differences in Erikson's constructs of intimacy and identity development. She considers her advisor, Kathleen Malley-Morrison, to be the most significant mentor in her life. Dr. Malley-Morrison continues to inspire and motivate her BU students. Dianne became a licensed psychologist in 1988.She returned to BU at the Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation in 2000. Here she focused on the assistance of persons with co-occurring disorders (COD) in achieving life goals such as employment. She taught a seminar in integrated COD treatment and co-edited a book (2002) on the integrated treatment of persons with COD, with her instructor Leroy Spaniol. She co-authored a study on Personal Care Assistance (PCA) for people with SMI.She began working as an addictions counselor in the addictions treatment field in 1986 and treated persons at all levels of care--from DUI education to detoxification to residential, inpatient and outpatient. Populations varied from medical professionals in a residential program called "Nightingale" in Brighton, MA to a women's halfway house called "Hello House" managed by Volunteers of America of MA. From the professional to the adolescent dropout, from substance to behaviors, addictions counseling is essential the same. In 1986, she also began teaching at the University of Massachusetts Boston in the Addictions Counselor Education Program (ACEP). ACEP is a program that teaches people how to become addictions counselors. The student population is diverse with students' academic backgrounds ranging from GEDs to medical and legal degrees. Approximately half of the student population is themselves in recovery from substance use disorder and/or mental health issues. This program provides an opportunity for people in recovery, often with limited educational background, to obtain a license in substance abuse counseling. Dianne developed an online version of ACEP in 2007 and later that year became the program director of both the on-campus and the online versions of ACEP. To the core curriculum she added Criminal Justice and Substance Abuse Treatment and Co-occurring Disorders Treatment. She also introduced an affordable self-directed online learning platform (Digital Chalk) with courses such as "NIDA Research (heroin, MDMA, marijuana)". During her tenure as director she tripled enrollment. She literally taught over one thousand students, primarily from the Boston-area. Her addictions counseling book was first published in 1994 and a revised edition in 2004, both by Crossroads Publishing, New York. Her most recent addictions counseling book (2014) is presented in a workbook version and helps professionals learn best practices and obtain a substance abuse credential. The most frequently asked question of Dianne is what sparked her interest in addictions counseling. As with most people who work in the addictions field, the impetus was a family member with a substance abuse problem. For Dianne, that family member was her brother, Steven, who began using substances as a teenager. At the age of 45 he died of a methadone overdose. In retrospect, Dianne believes that her brother would have benefited from integrated treatment of COD rather than treatment of the substance use disorder alone. Further, she believes that too often methadone clinics are driven by profits rather than quality of care of the individual. She believes that treatment needs to be directed toward improving quality of life and not just maintaining patients on a drug regimen for the rest of their lives. She hopes that she has instilled this belief in her students. Dianne and her husband moved to Sarasota (to escape the cold weather of New England) in 2011. She has two sons, one who lives in Boston and the other in Orlando. It is with great pleasure that she continues to oversee the online ACEP and she is grateful for the continued support of UMB, her alma mater. You can find out more about ACEP by going to: caps.umb.edu/acep and Digital Chalk courses at: umbacep.digitalchalk.com. You can contact Dianne at: dianne.doylepita@umb.edu or find her on LinkedIn.