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Faculty

Elizabeth Langmore-Avila

DO, MA, R-DMT
Addiction Psychiatrist
Behavioral Health Network

Elizabeth Langmore-Avila, DO is board certified in Adult Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine. Dr Langmore-Avila practices at Behavioral Health Network (BHN), a community mental health agency dedicated to providing services to underserved individuals in urban and rural communities throughout Massachusetts. She works in outpatient psychiatry and as an embedded psychiatrist within BHN’s SUD clinics, managing patients’ methadone, buprenorphine and other SUD medications along with psychiatric management, with a specific interest in addressing long-term management of PTSD.
Dr Langmore-Avila earned her medical degree from AT Still University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona, and completed her Psychiatry Residency at Baystate/UMass Chan Medical School, where she is currently an Affiliate Instructor.
Dr Langmore-Avila provides a large part of her care in Spanish to patients who do not speak English. Prior to medical school she completed a Master’s in Dance/Movement Therapy and Counseling Psychology with Alternate Route Drama Therapy at Antioch New England Graduate School. As a creative arts therapist and osteopathic physician, she is committed to providing comprehensive psychiatric care to patients, with inclusion of psychodynamic and body-based interventions as essential treatment plan components.

2026 Sessions

Difficult Medicines: Understanding the Opioid Treatment Landscape for Safe and Effective Outcomes

Medications for opioid use disorder are among the most effective tools in addiction treatment, yet their use requires careful clinical judgment, structured monitoring, and a deep understanding of pharmacologic differences. This session explores the benefits and risks of methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone, including patient selection, dosing and titration challenges, cardiac and overdose considerations, co-prescribed sedatives, and transitions between agents. Faculty will review best practices for managing side effects, ensuring safety, and supporting long-term adherence. Participants will gain practical guidance for integrating these powerful but demanding medications into comprehensive, person-centered addiction care.

Speaker

Friday, September 18 5:00–6:00 PM
Room Great Hall D
Difficult Medicines
Faculty

Elizabeth Langmore-Avila

DO, MA, R-DMT
Addiction Psychiatrist
Behavioral Health Network

Elizabeth Langmore-Avila, DO is board certified in Adult Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine. Dr Langmore-Avila practices at Behavioral Health Network (BHN), a community mental health agency dedicated to providing services to underserved individuals in urban and rural communities throughout Massachusetts. She works in outpatient psychiatry and as an embedded psychiatrist within BHN’s SUD clinics, managing patients’ methadone, buprenorphine and other SUD medications along with psychiatric management, with a specific interest in addressing long-term management of PTSD.
Dr Langmore-Avila earned her medical degree from AT Still University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona, and completed her Psychiatry Residency at Baystate/UMass Chan Medical School, where she is currently an Affiliate Instructor.
Dr Langmore-Avila provides a large part of her care in Spanish to patients who do not speak English. Prior to medical school she completed a Master’s in Dance/Movement Therapy and Counseling Psychology with Alternate Route Drama Therapy at Antioch New England Graduate School. As a creative arts therapist and osteopathic physician, she is committed to providing comprehensive psychiatric care to patients, with inclusion of psychodynamic and body-based interventions as essential treatment plan components.

Steering Committee

Arwen Podesta

MD, DFAPA, DFASAM
Psychiatrist
Podesta Wellness

Boarded in Psychiatry, Addiction Medicine, Forensic Psychiatry and Holistic & Integrative Medicine, Arwen Podesta MD works in Louisiana, with an office in New Orleans. She authored a book on addiction, HOOKED (available on Amazon, see her website, www.podestawellness.com). She was recently awarded the honor of distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatry Association as well as the American Society of Addiction Medicine and is the immediate past President of the Louisiana Psychiatric Medical Association. She consults to the Louisiana governor’s HOPE committee and is a member of the Attorney General’s Opioid Abatement Taskforce. She is a national speaker, she teaches, consults and is an advocate for integrative best practices for those with addiction and psychiatric needs.
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