Toriello named chair of Dept. of Addictions and Rehabilitation Studies
Paul Toriello
Dr. Paul Toriello has been named the new chair of the Department of Addictions and Rehabilitation Studies at East Carolina University effective Aug. 1.
In the addictions and rehabilitation field since 1991, Toriello has worked as a paraprofessional, case manager and clinician. He also spent several years as the training director and then clinical director of a 108-bed residential facility serving adolescents with behavior disorders and substance abuse issues.
Toriello joined ECU in 2005 after four years at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center. He has directed the PhD program in rehabilitation counseling and administration since 2009, and has served as the College of Allied Health Sciences’ interim assistant dean for research grants since 2011. In the role of principal investigator, Toriello conceived and started an addictions treatment clinic in 2007, and developed it into a state-licensed substance abuse intensive outpatient program.
He has participated in more than $5 million in projects funded by the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, National Institute on Drug Abuse, the U.S. Department of Defense and other agencies. He is president-elect of the American Rehabilitation Counseling Association.
Toriello earned his Doctor of Rehabilitation, specializing in substance related disorders, from the Rehabilitation Institute, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. He received a bachelor’s in psychology and master’s in rehabilitation counseling from Wright State University. He is a board-licensed clinical addictions specialist and a board-certified rehabilitation counselor and clinical supervisor.
Toriello replaces Dr. Lloyd Goodwin, who served as interim department chair for several years on two separate occasions.
Goodwin facilitated the new department name change to reflect its expanded emphasis; combined two graduate degree programs to improve their visibility and reflect current and future practice; and initiated the application for a new national accreditation to broaden student recruitment and employment markets for graduates, according to Dr. Stephen Thomas, dean of the College of Allied Health Sciences.