Joan Borsten was born and raised in Hollywood. Her father was a film industry publicist, screenwriter, studio executive and author of several books. Her mother was one of the country’s first ten female Naval officers. Joan got a bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley and after serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in rural Panama, earned a masters degree from the University of Southern California. She spent 12 years in Europe and the Middle East writing for the “Jerusalem Post” and “Los Angeles Times.” before returning to Hollywood and the film industry. She worked as a producer on several feature films and then with her husband Oleg Vidov, one of the Soviet Union’s most popular actors, bought a little known library of 1200 animated Soviet films. Joan and Oleg popularized the award-winning animation around the world and then after winning several landmark court cases, sold it back to the Russians.

In 2007 Joan and Oleg partnered with family to found the Malibu Beach Recovery Center, a high end alcohol and drug treatment program licensed and certified by the State of California. The treatment program combines individual therapy, group therapy, and family therapy with a holistic approach developed in Europe. Dr. Kenneth Blum, one of the leading experts on the link between addiction and genetics, describes the Malibu Beach treatment program with its focus on diet, exercise and food supplements, as unique among U.S. treatment centers because it is “dopamine building.” As Dr. Blum concluded over several decades of research, addicts tend to have low dopamine levels which causes them to self medicate. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter found in the brain and commonly associated with the reward system which provides feelings of enjoyment and positive reinforcement.

Although the Malibu Beach Recovery Center specializes in the treatment of alcoholics, drug addicts, the depressed and anxious, Joan has focused much of her attention on the growing prescription drug epidemic sweeping California and the nation. She is particularly concerned about the growing number of clients who arrive on lethal cocktails of prescription pain medications, all legally prescribed. She has led a delegation of Malibu Beach Recovery Center alumni to Sacramento to support passage of a State Senate bill that would create an online real time data base doctors could check to determine if patients were doctor shopping for narcotics. She has been named to participate in an advisory committee which will help Assemblyman Bob Blumenfield craft new legislation aimed at curbing prescription drug abuse.

Education

• University of California Berkeley, BA, Comparative Literature, 1970
• University of Southern California, MS, Education, 1973

Pat Olsen is a journalist and author whose writing specialties are health and business. She’s a lead writer for “The Boss” column in The New York Times and writes for numerous other national publications and for corporations. Pat is also the author, with Dr. Petros Levounis, of Sober Siblings: How to Help Your Alcoholic Brother or Sister – And Not Lose Yourself. (DaCapo Lifelong, 2008). Pat can be reached at www.patolsen.com.

Licia Jaccard - Born in the U.S. and raised in France, Licia comes from a family of restaurateurs, caterers and chefs. After going through formal training in France, she took her passion for food on tour, travelling through Europe and then the United States, discovering new cultures as well as a considerable collection of original ethnic dishes.  Licia will be writing about the Malibu Beach Recovery Diet and sharing some of our best recipes.