Dr. DeFanti

After spending the last eleven years working in the detox and rehab arena, I have decided to focus on outpatient addiction treatment. Connecticut Addiction Medicine seems to be a good match for me, especially since, in the past, I have cared for quite a few of the patients here when they went through the local treatment facility. It is important to be able to provide wrap around services for people with addiction issues in order to create the best chance for living a clean and sober life. Having access to a mental health prescriber and counselor is essential for staying on the right tract. This combined with group therapy, where people with similar issues get the opportunity to share their troubles and provide each other with support, creates great potential for success.

Over my career, I have had the good fortune of practicing in various places and in different capacities. I originally trained as a family physician and spent two years on the Navajo Reservation and one year on the Chippewa Reservation. Following that, I found that my passion was delivering babies along with surgically correcting problems in the female reproductive system, so went back and trained in OB-GYN. For the next twenty years, I had the good fortune of helping thousands of babies come into this world while practicing in Maine.

For both personal and professional reasons, I stopped doing OB-GYN and moved back to my hometown of Stonington. Having realized that addiction was such a rampant illness, I went took a position at Stonington Institute where I worked with one the preeminent addiction psychiatrists in the state. Through his guidance, I was able to learn many of the ins and outs of addiction care and subsequently became board certified in the field. After 9 years, I then went to the Phoenix House in Exeter, RI where I helped manage both the detox and rehab programs. At this point in my career, it seems as though the best area to lend my expertise, experience, strength, and hope is in the outpatient setting. CAM is one of the best groups in the state to help me provide that care.