Dr Stephen Jurd has been instrumental in developing and establishing successful addiction recovery services and 12-step recovery centres in Australia and the US. He created the Royal North Shore Hospital Drug and Alcohol Services from 1984 to 2006 and founded the Phoenix Unit, a prominent Minnesota model rehab that he went on to direct for 14 years. Dr Jurd is currently on the Board of The Sydney Retreat, and conducts weekly educational talks on “Addiction and the Brain” to the guests at the rehab.

In addition to founding and establishing rehabilitation centres, Dr Jurd chaired the alcohol and other drugs section for six years and was the inaugural Chair of the Subcommittee for Advanced Training in Addiction Psychiatry.

Since 2006 he has shared his expertise as Director of Postgraduate Training in Psychiatry in Northern Sydney and as chair of the RANZCP Committee for Training from 2008 to 2014. He was granted the title of Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Sydney and is now Honorary Assoc Professor Macquarie University.

Dr Jurd advocates strongly for Twelve Step Facilitated (TSF) recovery from drug addiction and alcoholism. He considers the Sydney Retreat to be the best option for facilitating long term recovery.

Listen to Dr Jurd’s talk about addiction at The Sydney Retreat here