Maryland Addiction Recovery Center is proud to announce the addition of psychiatrist Dr. Alfred Forrester, MD, to the MARC team! With the complexity of mental health and psychiatric issues faced by many patients also dealing with a substance use disorder, we believe the availability and access to key medical and psychiatric staff is imperative for patients in order to recover. Dr. Forrester will work within the MARC medical department with Medical Director Dr. Doug Woodruff and nurse practitioner Sam Boateng to provide the highest quality of medical and psychiatric care for MARC patients.
“We are very excited to bring Dr. Forrester on board to work within our medical department alongside our clinical programming,” said Maryland Addiction Recovery Center cofounder and Director of Business Development Zach Snitzer. “Dr. Forrester has extensive experience in the area of pharmacology and truly understands the need for collaboration between medical and psychotherapeutic staff in order to bring a comprehensive approach to addiction and dual diagnosis care. This will allow us to offer double the psychiatric coverage for patients, especially those dealing with co-occurring issues.”
Dr. Forrester received his undergraduate degree in psychology from Yale University in 1975 and graduated from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD, in 1979. He went on to complete an internship and residency in Internal Medicine at the Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, MA; and a residency in Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, followed by a clinical fellowship in Affective Disorders at the same institution. He has received academic appointments at Harvard Medical School, the Institute of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Board-certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, Dr. Forrester has a breadth of clinical and research experience encompassing both public and private sectors, in academic, inner city clinic, hospital, and outpatient private practice settings. He has provided internal medical support on the inpatient services at the Bon Secours Hospital in Baltimore, MD; he has been a full-time attending psychiatrist at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions and the Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital; he was the first Director of Psychiatric Services at the Chase-Brexton Health Services; and he addressed mental health and addiction issues among the undergraduate population while serving as a Consulting Psychiatrist at the Towson University Counseling Center At Towson University.
Additionally, Dr. Forrester has multiple published research articles in the area of affective disorder among populations of patients following myocardial infarction, traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury; he is a Lifetime Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a member of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, the Maryland Psychiatric Society and the American Medical Association; and his achievements have been recognized by Marquis’ Who’s Who in America and the Continental Who’s Who Registry.
After having provided general adult psychiatric services in a private office setting for the past 20 years, with a focus on the pharmacologic management of mood and anxiety disorders and ADHD, Dr. Forrester for the past 2 years has shifted his clinical attention to the management of co-occurring conditions in the context of a comprehensive addictions program.
“With the recognition of opioid use disorder as an exponentially increasing cause of morbidity and mortality impacting all strata of society, it seems obvious to me that the assessment and treatment of patients with co-occurring conditions is a natural progression of my professional career, since psychiatric and substance use disorders are often closely intertwined, “Dr. Forrester said. “I am fortunate to have joined a superb group of clinicians and support staff at MARC who are committed to working in a multidisciplinary treatment community where the pertinent biological, environmental and psychosocial influences on patient functioning can be recognized, addressed and remediated, to promote optimal clinical outcomes.”
With patients seeking treatment younger and younger and dealing with many complex co-occurring disorders taking place alongside substance use disorders, Maryland Addiction Recovery Center is extremely excited to have Dr. Forrester on board to offer the highest quality of psychiatric patient care.
If you or someone you know is in need of help because of drug and/or alcohol abuse or addiction, please give us a call. Maryland Addiction Recovery Center offers the most comprehensive dual diagnosis addiction treatment in the Mid-Atlantic area. If we aren’t the best fit for you or your loved one, we will take the necessary time to work with you to find a treatment center or provider that better fits your needs. Please give us a call at (410) 773-0500 or email our team at info@marylandaddictionrecovery.com. For more information on all of our drug addiction and alcohol addiction services and recovery resources, please visit our web site at www.marylandaddictionrecovery.com.