Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, later called simply Rehab with Dr. Drew, is a reality television show that aired on the cable network VH1 in which many of the episodes chronicle a group of celebrities as they are treated for alcohol and drug addiction by Dr. Drew Pinsky and his staff at the Pasadena Recovery Center in Pasadena, California. The first five seasons of the series, on which Pinsky also serves as executive producer, cast celebrities struggling with addiction, with the first season premiering on January 10, 2008, and the fifth airing in 2011.
The sixth season, which filmed in early 2012, featured non-celebrities as treatment subjects, and the series name shortened to Rehab with Dr. Drew. Season 6 premiered on September 16, 2012.Black, Elizabeth (May 1, 2012). "Rehab With Dr. Drew To Premiere In September 2012". Vh1. In May 2013, Pinsky announced that season six was the final season, explaining that he had grown weary of the criticism leveled at him after celebrities that he treated had relapsed into addiction and died.Sang, Zach. "Dr. Drew Interview" . Zach Sang & The Gang. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
Recurring cast The following are staff of the Pasadena Recovery Center (PRC), where the series is filmed. Casts for individual seasons are seen in sections for those seasons. Dr. Drew Pinsky – Pinsky is the star of the show, and the lead specialist who treats the patients. A board-certified internist and addiction medicine specialist, he rose to fame as the host of the nationally syndicated radio talk show, Loveline. In addition to Celebrity Rehab, he also appears in its spinoffs, Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew and Sober House. Shelly Sprague – The resident technician who runs the floor.Pinsky introduces her as the "Resident Tech" to the Season 2 cast near the end of the second-season premiere. She also describes her job thus in the third-season premiere. A recovering addict herself,She explains her former addiction to heroin and crack cocaine to Heidi Fleiss in the third-season premiere, and mentions her alcoholism to the group in the following episode. she has also appeared on Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew. She met Pinsky through Bob Forrest, a fellow recovering addict and colleague of Drew's with whom Sprague used to do drugs. She runs a center at Las Encinas Hospital in Pasadena, California. Pinsky observes that she becomes more personally involved with the patients than other technicians like Loesha do."Examining Rehab 2 With Dr. Drew – Episode 2", VH1.com, accessed March 5, 2010 Bob Forrest – Pinsky's head counselor, who appears during group sessions.O'Neill, Ann (December 14, 2011). "Risen from the gutter, he whispers hope to Hollywood's junkies". CNN.Pinsky refers to Forrest as his Head Counselor in the second-season premiere of Sober House. A rock musician who fronted the bands Thelonious Monster and The Bicycle Thief and a recovering addict since 1996, Forrest is the chemical dependency program director at Las Encinas Hospital, where he was hired by Pinsky. Loesha ZeviarAlthough this VH1 webpage gives the spelling of her first name as "Luisha", it was given as "Loesha" when she appeared in the sixth episode of Sober Houses second season. Other sources, such as this TV Guide page and Jeff Apter's 2004 book, Fornication: The Red Hot Chili Peppers Story, corroborate this. – A Resident Technician who first appears in the second episode of Season 2. Responding to observations that Loesha receives more abuse than Sprague, Pinsky describes her as more staid than Sprague. Pinsky has referred to her as one of the strongest staff members at the PRC.Pinsky made this statement in the sixth episode of Sober House's second season. Dr. Charles Sophy – psychiatrist and director of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. He is also the author of Side By Side The Revolutionary Mother-Daughter Program for Conflict-Free Communication, and is the lead psychiatrist of the Celebrity Rehab and Sober House production team. Although he only appears occasionally, he was present throughout the filming of the second season of Sober House."The Celebreality Interview – Dr. Charles Sophy" VH1, April 23, 2010 Sasha Kusina – A nurse at the Pasadena Recovery Center. Although seen as early as Season 2,During the second-season premiere, Kusina speaks to Jeff Conaway during his physical examination, and later to Gary Busey regarding his prescriptions. Pinsky introduces her to the group as "Sasha the Nurse" in the beginning of that episode's last Act. it is in Season 5 that her full name is revealed and she is seen speaking with the other staff, in regards to her rapport with patient Bai Ling, whom Kusina convinces to take her prescribed psychiatric medication. Jennifer Gimenez – A model and actress and former addict who credits her recovery to Pinsky,Bacon, Caleb. "Meet Jennifer Gimenez: VH1's 'Sober House' Mom" LAist, February 4, 2009The View, ABC, March 17, 2010 Gimenez was the sober living house manager on the Celebrity Rehab spinoff Sober House, and began working as a rehab technician at the Pasadena Recovery Center in Season 5 of Rehab."Intake Sneak Premiere", Season 5, Episode 1, VH1.com, accessed June 22, 2011. Dr. John Sharp – Dr. Sharp is a board certified psychiatrist, best-selling author, and media expert. He is part of the faculty of both the Harvard Medical School and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, dividing his time between Boston and Los Angeles. He first appeared as the on Call Psychiatrist in Season 5,"Rehab With Dr. Drew: Cast: Dr. Sharp". VH1. Retrieved November 13, 2012. and serves in that role and as the Associate Medical Director beginning with season 6. Simone Bienne – A relationship therapist who first appears in season 6.
Production According to a December 2009 article in The New York Times, Drew Pinsky, who was alarmed by tabloid portrayals of addiction as an indulgence of the rich and famous, and a group of independent producers, approached VH1 with a proposal for a reality television series which would authentically depict addiction, as a sort of media intervention. According to executive producer John Irwin, casting for the first season was the most difficult, as the representatives of the celebrities who had been arrested or had publicized bouts with addiction refused to speak with him and the other producers. The process became easier after the first season aired. Actor Tom Sizemore, for example, who was cast for Season 3, had been sought after since Season 1. Producers have reportedly offered actress Lindsay Lohan six figures to appear on the show.Norris; 2009; Page 6 of 6 Pinsky, who focuses on the treatment side of the production, is not usually involved with casting, though he reportedly visited Rachel Uchitel personally in order to convince her to join the fourth-season cast."Rachel Uchitel Goes to 'Rehab'...For a Price". TMZ.com. July 19, 2010
A multitude of cameras are employed, which film twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, during the 21-day treatment cycle. Because some dramatic incidents occur early in the morning when the camera crews are not present, automated cameras are mounted all over the clinic to capture them. The exception to this are the bathrooms, which nonetheless are equipped with microphones to monitor unusual sounds, such as patients attempting to use drugs. In addition to receiving the free treatment (which would normally be worth approximately US$50,000–60,000), the patients receive a salary for their appearance on the series, which is prorated, and distributed once a week as an incentive to stay. Celebrity Rehab spun off two other shows. The first spinoff is Sober House, which depicts Rehab alumni living for 30 days at a sober living facility, as an interim step for recovering addicts between the completion of rehab and their eventual return to their old life.Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew . Episode 1.09 VH1. Accessed October 3, 2010 The second spinoff is Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew, in which Pinsky and his staff treat celebrities for sexual addiction.
In May 2013, Pinsky announced that season six was the final season, citing the criticism leveled at him following the relapse and death of cast members, saying, "I'm tired of taking all the heat. It's very stressful and very intense for me. To have people questioning my motives and taking aim at me because people get sick and die because they have a life-threatening disease, and I take the blame? Rodney King has a heart attack and I take blame for that? It's just ridiculous." Pinsky insisted that his practices depicted on the show were the same ones he, Bob Forrest and Shelly Sprague engaged in for decades, with the sole difference being the presence of cameras. Despite his decision not to continue the series, Pinsky stated a number of people achieved sobriety due to Celebrity Rehab who would not have attained it without the show, and cites as the biggest success story Sizemore, who struggled with Pinsky's program for 10 years before finally achieving sobriety after being on the show.
Reception While Pinsky and the series has won praise from both former addicts and other addiction specialists, many take issue with Pinsky's methods. Jeffrey Foote, a clinical psychologist and substance abuse expert, stated, "The velvet-glove confrontational stuff Pinsky does is what works for TV, but it's not what works for patients." The web site for Foote's Center for Motivation and Change uses a clip from Celebrity Rehab to demonstrate poor techniques. Foote added, "The dramatic confrontations seen on the show are actually more likely to drive less-severe substance abusers, who are by far the majority, away from seeking treatment." Critics also maintain that the patients' needs and the show's needs constitute a conflict of interest, with Dr. John J. Mariani, director of the Substance Treatment and Research Service at Columbia University stating, "The problem here is that Dr. Drew benefits from their participation, which must have some powerful effects on his way of relating to them. He also has a vested interest in the outcome of their treatment being interesting to viewers, which is also not in their best interest. Treatment with conflicts of interest isn't treatment."
Pinsky has responded to such criticism by saying his medical peers "don't understand television. You have to work within the confines of what executives will allow you to put on TV. Otherwise, we've not done anything, we've not really struggled to change the culture at all." Regarding the series airing on a network that broadcasts other reality shows featuring uncritical depictions of sexuality and alcohol as recurring themes, he said, "The people that need what we have are watching VH1. Not the people watching educational TV, the NPR crowd. You gotta give 'em what they want so you can give 'em what they need."Norris (2009), Page 4 of 6 Defending the practice of paying addicts to attend rehab, producer John Irwin said, "Whatever it takes to get them through the door so they can start treatment—that's the goal." Pinsky offered a similar response, saying, "My whole thing is bait and switch. Whatever motivates them to come in, that's fine. Then we can get them involved with the process."