In 1976, Marty Mann brought addiction out of the shadows.
Through Operation Understanding, she challenged stigma and made something clear: addiction does not just affect the individual. It impacts families, communities, and entire systems that, for too long, have gone unseen and unsupported.
Fifty years later, that truth still holds.
Despite decades of progress, many families are still navigating addiction in silence.
On May 8, 2026, that silence is the starting point for a different kind of conversation.
Dr. Tian Dayton and Samantha Quinlan convene leaders, clinicians, advocates, and pioneers for 50 Years of Understanding: Growing Up With Addiction — a free virtual event exploring how the field has evolved from awareness to deeper understanding of trauma, family systems, and relational healing.
This is not a retrospective filled with observers, but a gathering of the people who built the field.
Voices like Kevin McCauley, Jerry Moe, John Driscoll, Patricia O’Gorman, Ryan Hampton, Sheila Gilheany, and others who helped move the conversation from stigma to science, from silence to systems of care.
Together, they will explore:
• how public understanding of addiction has shifted
• what it means to grow up in the shadow of addiction
• the role of trauma-informed care in healing families
• what five decades of advocacy and research have taught us
• and what the field must do next
Supported by a coalition of organizations committed to recovery and advocacy, including The Meadows, Caron Treatment Centers, She Recovers Foundation, High Watch Recovery, Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, Ashley Addiction Treatment, Relational Trauma Repair (RTR), GXC Events, and Mobilize Recovery.
Marty Mann once said there was “no time to lose” in supporting the families affected by addiction.
Fifty years later, that urgency remains.
This conversation is about where we go next.
For more than thirty years, Dr. Dayton has been a leading voice in the fields of trauma healing, addiction recovery and experiential, embodied therapy. A clinical psychologist, licensed creative arts therapist, and certified trainer in psychodrama and sociometry, with a master’s in educational psychology she is a Senior Fellow at The Meadows and the author of over fifteen acclaimed books including Growing Up with Addiction, Treating Adult Children of Relational Trauma, The ACoA Trauma Syndrome, Sociometrics, Emotional Sobriety, Forgiving and Moving On, and Trauma and Addiction.
Her pioneering work integrates psychodrama, sociometry, and nervous system-informed approaches into a cohesive model Relational Trauma Repair (RTR) used by therapists and treatment centers across the world. As a Fellow of the American Society of Psychodrama, Sociometry and Group Psychotherapy, she has received their highest honors, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, the Scholar’s Award, President’s Award and Gratitude Award. She also served for eight years as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Psychodrama, Sociometry and Group Psychotherapy. She is on the scientific board of The National Association of Children of Alcoholics, (NACoA). In the addiction’s field, her contributions have been recognized with The Martie Mann Award The Mona Mansell Award and The Ackermann Black Award.
Dr. Dayton’s work is widely respected in both academic and clinical settings, as well as in the public sphere. She has been a guest expert on NBC, CNN, MSNBC, and other national platforms, and is a frequent speaker at leading conferences on trauma, mental health, and recovery.