Dr. Drew Pinsky One-on-One: How Real Is "Celebrity Rehab"? (Hint: No spa treatments allowed)

amp160The title of the show Celebrity Rehab with Dr Drew premiering at 10 pm ET Thursday VH1 comes loaded with possibilities Given cableamp8217s recent track record with reality shows revealed to be scripted deceptively edited and cast with amp8220charactersamp8221 this one could easily have turned into another cheap hype job exploiting the shady behavior of cameracraving participants amp160But the name in the title belongs to the real star of this eightpart series Dr Drew Pinsky the boardcertified addiction specialist and stillpracticing physician who until now has been most famous for dispensing frank sex advice toamp160anxious amp160teenage callers latenights as host of the nationally syndicated Loveline radio show amp160Itamp8217s Pinskyamp8217s participation on and offcamera in the new VH1 show that makes this series one of the most raw compelling and honest looks at the tragic consequencesamp160of substance abuseand the hard work it takes to conquer itever put on television His presence adds a muchneeded dose of integrity to the proceedings even when the celebs involved threaten at times to run it off the railsamp160Pinsky is the real deal working with addicts every day as top doc at a treatment center in Pasadena California The 49yearold USC med school grad has written books about addiction and abuse and published a research study of celebrity narcissism In recent weeks heamp8217s become the goto doc in the infotainment biz for comments about the deteriorating state of all things Britneyamp160But you wonamp8217tamp160find him trying to ambush the frazzled pop princess in a hospital room amp224 la Dr Phil Pinskyamp8217s a bythebook guy whose strong ideas about the right ways to treat addicts famous or not come through clearly in Celebrity Rehab His regimen condones no coddling no excuses and no fancy spa treatments Even better No selfaggrandizing on the part of the doctoramp160In the nofrills Pasadena clinic where the series was filmed roundtheclock documentarystyle over 21 days last August Pinsky and a small staff of counselors and medical professionals guided nine celeb addicts through an intensive program of recovery In the first two episodes the ravages of drug and alcohol abuse are evident in each case Actor Jeff Conaway arrives so drunk and drugaddled heamp8217s drooling and delusional Porn star Mary Carey checks in drunk too and has to be warned about overt sexual behavior toward another of the celeb addicts young rock musician Seth amp8220Shiftyamp8221 Binzer a fivetime rehab dropout whose drug of choice is crack Brigitte Nielsen Joanie amp8220Chynaamp8221 Laurer sitcom actressturnedporn performer Jaimee Foxworth Ricco Rodriguez and Jessica Sierra endure the shakes sweats DTs and nausea of 48 hours of amp8220detoxamp8221 the first hurdle toward sobriety Actor Daniel Baldwin whoamp8217s fought drug addiction since the 1980s arrives clean and sober but Pinsky hints that problems emerge toward the later stages of treatmentamp160In this oneonone interview Dr Pinsky talks about his troubled celebrity patients and their motivations for putting private pain on public view He also reveals here exlusively what heamp8217s had to sacrifice to keep Loveline heard on 100 radio stations on the airamp160TV Maven How real is Celebrity RehabDr Pinsky Itamp8217s very real Itamp8217s basically showing how treatment works This is treatment just documented treatment The only thing unusual or different about this situation is that we had nine people simultaneously coming in Usually we have oldtimers who are already in treatment who are there to help the newcomers We had nine addicts hit the ground running in a new program Thatamp8217s not how it usually isamp160TV Maven Were you convinced that the motivations of your nine celebs were for real Some participants in the show seem to be as addicted to celebrity as they are to drugsDr Pinsky Clearly Jessica Sierra and Seth Binzer were downandout severe drug addicts desperate for treatment and glad to have it Chyna and Jaimee even they were not so sure at first The motivations these people have are all somewhat different Usually people heading into treatment are afraid theyamp8217re going to die Others are afraid of the legal system A subdiscipline of my field is trying to create motivation in drug addicts For the show I was able to work more intensely with them than I normally am Usually if you stress an addict youamp8217ll have problems But these people all hang on to the end Some of them were really transformedamp160TV Maven Just some Dr Pinsky In Daniel Baldwin some things happen later on in the series that will surprise you But Brigitte Nielsen is still sober and not drinking or smoking Seth is now in a sober living facility and has been since the show endedamp160TV Maven Postrehab Jessica Sierra relapsed and ended up in jail Youamp8217ve since helped get her transferred from a Florida jail to your treatment facility in Pasadena for a year to serve out the remainder of her sentence while working on sobriety What happens to her on the show is quite dramatic in terms of whatamp8217s revealed about her family background Very painfulamp8230Dr Pinsky Jessica worked hard in treatment and it just wasnamp8217t enoughamp8230Iamp8217m just glad sheamp8217s aliveamp8230she was on the streets when they picked her upamp160TV Maven Did you choose the celebrities for treatment initiallyDr Pinsky No the producers picked the people I told them whether it was possible or appropriate in each case Some people we looked at were too sick and needed hospital treatment amp160TV Maven If you do another season of Celebrity Rehab is there anything youamp8217d do differentlyDr Pinsky Not really If once this thing is aired and it has not been harmful I would be willing to contemplate a second one But Iamp8217d beef up the staff We were all burned out by the end And one thing you donamp8217t see on TV is that we were very careful to not discuss the 12step process too much on camera We keep that offcamera to protect the amp8220anonymousamp8221 part of it That made for a little bit of slipping and sliding with patientsamp8217 willingness to do the steps Next time they would have to make all the meetings we ask them to makeamp160TV Maven When does your fame get in the way of your doing medicineDr Pinsky When youamp8217re working with drug addicts it does take a lot of energy and time away from doing medicine Back when I first started Loveline 1982 I thought Iamp8217d do this media thing here and there and practice medicine full time Around 1997 I decided I could use media to do something good The more attention I paid to it the more time it took away from doing medicine Addicts sometimes use that his fame as a way of driving a wedge into my position of authorityamp160TV Maven To borrow a question you frequently ask on Loveline What IS wrong with the world that so many people are broken addicted and depressedDr Pinsky What I always get to is their childhood experiences We have seriously disturbed families Thatamp8217s the bottom line here People having screwedup kidsamp160TV Maven In your media work you have become a father figure for a couple of generations of troubled young people OK with thatDr Pinsky I look at that as a blessing I think itamp8217s a better sign that theyamp8217re looking to me than to Axl Rose I always thought when I was on MTV that I was a guy with white hair doing thisamp8230look itamp8217s a good sign to me that they welcome me in Iamp8217m very grateful to work with young peopleamp160TV Maven Even while promoting Celebrity Rehab youamp8217ve kept up a grueling schedule that includes your medical practice scads of media interviews about the Brit mess a working vacation to NYC with your wife and your 15yearold triplets plus Loveline live for two hours at midnight Pacific time and now a new daytime radio show Dr Drew Live on Los Angeles station KGILAM which also podcasts and livestreams the show Ever get tired of talkingDr Pinsky I do get a little tired these days But I love the challenge I was not by nature a verbally gifted individual by any stretch before I started doing all this I like challengesamp160TV Maven Why do another radio show Are you hoping to syndicate the daytime show nationally too Like you need another jobDr Pinsky I did not want to do it at firstamp160Letamp8217s just say I was convincedamp160 to do it It was a way to make sure Loveline keeps going But Iamp8217m really enjoying it Iamp8217m truly enjoying it The opportunity developed My longterm goal is to go to daytime but for now itamp8217s a way to make sure Loveline stays on the airamp160TV Maven Thanks Dr DrewDr Pinsky Talk to you soon

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Dr. Drew Pinsky One-on-One: How Real Is "Celebrity Rehab"? (Hint: No spa treatments allowed)

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Dr. Drew Pinsky One-on-One: How Real Is "Celebrity Rehab"? (Hint: No spa treatments allowed)

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