President

Thomas Joyce LCDP, CPRS, CCHW, Director of Recovery Support Services at the East Bay Recovery Center, is a Licensed Chemical Dependency Professional, as well as a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist, specializing in opiate use disorders, adolescent substance abuse and peer to peer recovery support services.  A person in recovery himself, he is an advocate for the recovery community on local and national levels while developing innovative peer to peer recovery support programs to provide services and education to the community. Thomas is a member of The Rhode Island Board of Licensed Chemical Dependency Professionals, President of the RI Council on Problem Gambling, Co-Chair of the Governors Overdose and Intervention Task Force, and is associated with multiple local substance abuse prevention task forces in the community.

Immediate Past President

Lisa Peterson, LMHC, LCDP, LCDS, MAC, is the COO of VICTA, an agency providing integrated substance use, mental health, and ambulatory medical services in Providence, RI. Over the past 27 years, Ms. Peterson has provided direct clinical care and leadership in a variety of treatment settings, with a long-term focus on integrating all aspects of care. She is also the co-founder and co-chair of the Substance Use Policy, Education, and Recovery PAC where she has had extensive experience working for policy and legislation that aligns with current knowledge and best practices in addressing substance use and substance use disorders.

Treasurer

George A. O’Toole BA, CPRS, CCHW; has been the Associate Director of Recovery Support Services for East Bay Recovery Center & East Bay Community Action Program since January 2022. I was previously with TPC for over ten years holding various positions as Manager. I graduated from College Unbound/Charter Oak State College in 2018 with a Bachelor of Science degree. I have been a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist since January 2014 as well as a Peer trainer since 2016 and a Recovery Coach Ethical Considerations Trainer since 2018. I hold multiple other training certificates as well. I was the President of the Rally4Recovery RI from 2013 – 2022; I have been an appointed member of the Governors Council on Behavioral Health since 2014 – current. RI Certification Board from 2018-2022, Governors Overdose Task Force Recovery Work Group Co- Chair 2022 – current; serve on the re-entry alliance committee of RI and serve on several other non-profit boards in different capacities. I was a key contributor in the beginning developing and implementing the Peer Recovery Specialist in the Emergency Departments around Rhode Island from its inception till 2021. My goal is to provide the best services for the clients we serve and give the staff I supervise the leadership they so deserve to help them grow and prosper as individuals; ending the stigma associated with substance use disorders and mental health.

Secretary

Normand Brissette, MA, LCDP, CCSP, has been working in the addictions and mental health field for over 21 years. His experience includes community mental health/substance use treatment, medicated assisted treatment, residential treatment, prison treatment and most recently, private practice. When Normand is not working, he enjoys traveling with his family, seeing live music, art and spending time with his dogs. His future goals include doing more advocacy work, making more time for his hobbies and expanding his private practice. 

At Large Board Member

Ronna Leigh Cabral, LCDP, QPTC, CCSP, AS, is the Clinical Supervisor at Acadia Comprehensive Treatment Centers in Providence, Rhode Island. She has been in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health field for 30 years. Her career began at Talbot Treatment Centers in 1992 before it was acquired by The Providence Center, where she was employed for 15 years. She then went on to work as a Substance Use Counselor for Acadia Comprehensive Treatment Centers also known as Discovery House. She is also currently working at CCRI Drivers Retraining, Department of Transportation Education, conducting DUI assessments for the state of Rhode Island since 2016.