Davina Moss, PHD, CASAC, CRC, NCC
Founder & President,Positive Direction and Associates, Inc.® (NYS MWBE certified)
Dr. Davina Moss a native of Buffalo, NY is the Founder and President of Positive Direction and Associates, Inc.(R) (2014) a consulting company that also provides educational seminars for medical professionals in the community and closely navigates pregnant women prescribed Medicated Assisted Treatment through pregnancy, delivery and postpartum. Dr. Moss is a trained Perinatal Mental Health Counselor, Certified Rehabilitation Counselor, a National Certified Counselor and a Credentialed Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counselor and has been a substance abuse counselor for 28+ years. Dr. Moss received her Master’s Degree from New York University in 1998 in Deafness Rehabilitation and Doctorate degree in Counselor Education with honors in 2005 from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Her world acclaimed dissertation “Unresolved Grief and Loss Issues Related to Substance Abuse” was published as a book titled “Unresolved Grief and Loss Issues Related to Heroin Recovery,” in 2009. Her most recent book published January, 2017 is “The Positive Direction Model©: Opioid Use and Pregnancy” a self-help book which focuses on the model her company uses to guide physicians and pregnant women with opioid use disorder / substance use disorders to have a successful pregnancy as well as delivery.
Dr. Moss’s research interests are opioid use, the medical – patient relationship to reduce stigma and Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome. She has written an international accredited on-line course for NetCE titled “Opioid Dependence during Pregnancy” (2015, rev. 2017), along with an article entitled Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome – the Negative Effects on Our Future” (2015) in the WNY Family Magazine. She has also been a contributing author in Substance Abuse Counseling: Theory and Practice, 5th Edition and 4th Edition (2017, 2013) by Smith and Stevens.
Dr. Moss has been an adjunct professor at Canisius College’s Counselor Education and Human Services Department, Buffalo, NY. since 2010 and an adjunct professor at New York University’s The Steinhart School of Culture, Education and Human Development Department of Applied Psychology Master of Arts Program in Mental Health and Wellness (2018). Dr. Moss is also an instructor for NetCE for medical professionals.
Dr. Moss offers training programs approved by NYS Office of Addiction Services and Supports via Positive Direction and Associates, Inc.(R) in the WNY area for the medical professional as well as substance use disorder counselors and behavioral health specialists. Some of the training programs are: The Four Components of Heroin Addiction, Lifestyle Changes during Recovery, Substance Use and Breastfeeding, and Substance Use and Women / Pregnancy: Counseling and Treatment Strategies
Dr. Moss a current member of the Trustee Board for Mount Saint Mary Academy, Dr. Moss is a friend of the Board of Directors for the Erie County Council for the Prevention of Alcohol and Substance Abuse, and a former member of the University at Buffalo’s School of Management Alumni Board for the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership along with a former board member of the North Towns Boys and Girls Club.