Dr. Corinne Gerwe, PhD (Biological Psychology), CCAS (Certified Clinical Addiction Specialist), CAS (National Certification), is a nationally and internationally recognized expert in addictions and behavioral health treatment.

Dr. Gerwe's work of the past 25 years has focused intensely on creating the Gerwe Orchestration Method (G-OM), a treatment methodology that addresses patterns of behavior created by repeated use of addictive drugs. This revolutionary approach to the prevention and treatment of addiction addresses pivotal developmental issues in relation to chronic addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and other co-occurring disorders. The method is based on her years of counseling patients in the field of substance abuse treatment and mental health within hospital, prison, and military based systems.

Dr. Gerwe's book The Orchestration of Joy and Suffering: Understanding Chronic Addiction (Algora Publishing 2001), has been widely hailed as a pioneering work in the effort to understand violence and addictive behavior. Readers have commented, “Dr. Gerwe has written a remarkable book. Her creative talent has transformed research and technical information into a highly readable and fascinating conception. The integration of psychological findings with stories and case histories is particularly well done. . . . This work reminds me of the transitional breakthrough of B.F. Skinner's ‘Walden Two’ and ‘Beyond Freedom and Dignity.’ A must read for students of human behavior. . . and for those of us who just struggle to survive.”

Dr. Gerwe conducts clinics around the United State s and abroad to train professionals in her treatment methodology. Her method and research underlying the G-OM, originally published by Elsevier Science in three consecutive articles in the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment (2001), are currently featured at major international congresses of substance abuse professionals and in the Journal of Groups in Addiction & Recovery (2008) (Haworth Publishing). She is centrally involved in international collaborative efforts through the National Peace Foundation to address the youth addictions/HIV crisis that is severely damaging the social fabric of the Russian Federation, and the effects of trauma in relation to the problem of addiction worldwide. 

Now her Handbook is available as well: The Art of Investigative Psychodynamic Therapy: The Gerwe Orchestration Method (G-OM) (Algora Publishing 2010).

Dr. Gerwe currently heads the Group for Chronic Addiction Research, Inc. (GCAR), based in Saluda, North Carolina and is a clinical associate professor on the Clemson University faculty.

The Art of Investigative Psychodynamic Therapy is designed to train substance abuse professionals in an innovative and successful treatment methodology.�  The Gerwe Orchestration Method addresses pivotal developmental issues in relation to...

The Art of Investigative Psychodynamic Therapy is designed to train substance abuse professionals in an innovative and successful treatment methodology.�  The Gerwe Orchestration Method addresses pivotal developmental issues in relation to chronic addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and other co-occurring disorders in detail. This manual provides the background information and the tools and templates for conducting group sessions.

The Gerwe Orchestration Method (G-OM) was developed to identify and address persistent emotional/behavioral conditions stemming from pivotal/traumatic life-altering experiences. Case study research conducted during the early stages of G-OM development indicated a high correlation between high impact developmental experiences and a propensity toward substance abuse upon first initiation and subsequent substance abuse disorders (SUDs) and SUDs chronicity (Gerwe, 2000, 2007). Continued development of G-OM recognized similar compounding conditions from later high-impact life-experiences that had consistent PTSD symptom factors identified more in relation to the pivotal experiences than SUDs onset and progression. SUDs appeared to be a co-occurring disorder post or coinciding with conditions stemming from extreme/novel life events. Treatment for these conditions using G-OM investigates the experiential history of each person in order to identify crucial lifespan episodes and the nature of their impact on the individual. A psychodynamic group process, the Gerwe Orchestration Group Process (OGP) was created for this purpose. OGP helps the collective group understand the consistent dynamics that can occur during and after extreme/traumatic experiences. OGP experientially demonstrates how these consistencies, when ineffectively addressed and/or not resolved can develop into repetitive continually evolving emotional conditions and respondent behavioral patterns that, over time, can become deeply entrenched in the personality of the individual and the neuronal structure of the brain. G-OM can be implemented at the initial stage of treatment within a case-management or other clinical structure. The ideal situation would involve an 8-week program with four three-hour sessions of G-OM per week built within the case-management activities. G-OM is manualized and has many assessment and worksheet tools, and small work-group exercises that support the Orchestration Group Process (OGP). The following overview outlines the G-OM order of procedure. The following chapters describe the G-OM in detail with illustrations. Step One: Assessment Questionnaire The program begins with the Gerwe Assessment for Behavioral Health (ABH). ABH is the first G-OM exercise in identifying the most predominant current feeling states, associated physical symptoms, and related behavioral responses of the individual, their approximate period of origin, and the approximate percentage of time these symptoms are generated within each current 24-hour period. Note: The ABH has been unofficially implemented within military clinical treatment and is believed by many to have enormous potential in benefiting the military and returning soldiers struggling with internal controls, violence, post-traumatic stress, substance abuse, and the isolation experienced when unable to relate to loved ones back home. ABH was implemented for three years within a criminal justice system pilot project studying the G-OM within the over-all study of their project resulting is favorable outcomes and ongoing implementation. Step Two: Introduction to the Orchestration Group Process (OGP) Rules and Guidelines This involves a 20 minute overview of instruction and group configuration demonstration. The structure of the group creates boundaries that represent the identifiable components of life-altering experiences revealed in hundreds of documented cases upon which G-OM was founded. This structured approach, addressing what for many erupts as a persistent overwhelming emotional/physical distress conditions dependent on the behavior that was constructed to relieve them, helps the individual begin to understand the driving factors associated with their most problematic emotional states and actions. Thus, increased insight and ability to identify their own individual reaction formation to extreme events forms the basis for creating therapeutic and cognitive/behavioral treatment strategies directly related to these formations, rather than a generalized approach. When the introduction is completed, the group process can immediately follow. OGP is both educational and experiential as each participant begins to reveal individual reactions to experiences shared by one person per . . .