Brown Bag Lunch Series

The Emotional Logic of Addiction Understanding Addiction from a Neuropsychoanalytic Perspective

with Cassio Campello, MD, LPC

Wednesday, January 28, 2026 | 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EST

On Zoom Only – 1 CE

Participation is FREE

$17 Admin Fee for each CE

Registration closes January 28 at 10:00 AM EST

This workshop introduces a neuropsychoanalytic framework for understanding addiction not simply as maladaptive substance use, but as a disorder of affect regulation. It explores how early disruptions in emotional development and attachment can mobilize aggression in the service of restoring psychological equilibrium, and how this repetitive process may evolve into shutdown states and compulsive patterns of self-regulation.

Addiction is conceptualized as a substitute regulatory mechanism—one that temporarily manages overwhelming internal distress while simultaneously reinforcing dependency. Clinical implications include a shift in therapeutic focus from symptom suppression toward enhancing affect tolerance, restoring adaptive aggression, and strengthening relational and symbolic capacities.

Course Objectives – Participants will be able to:

• Describe addiction as a disorder of affect regulation from a neuropsychoanalytic perspective.
• Identify the role of aggression in the development and persistence of addictive dynamics.
• Integrate neuropsychoanalytic concepts into clinical formulation and treatment planning to enhance affect tolerance and psychological functioning.

Cassio Campello, MD, LPC, is a psychoanalytic clinician and educator with extensive experience integrating neuroscience, affect regulation, and psychotherapy. He is an Advanced Psychoanalytic Candidate at the Academy of Clinical and Applied Psychoanalysis (ACAP) and a Licensed Professional Counselor in New Jersey. Dr. Campello practices at the North Jersey Consultation Center (ACAP) and in private practice, and serves as an Adjunct Instructor of Psychology at Caldwell University. His prior career as a board-certified anesthesiologist informs his neuropsychoanalytic approach to addiction, trauma, and emotional regulation.

ACAP is an approved CE provider for:

Art Therapists

Counselors

Marriage and Family Counselors

NJ Psychoanalysts

Social Workers

NY Creative Arts Therapists

Psychologists

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CE @ ACAP/BGSP-NJ