BENTON HARBOR — For a second season, The Economic Club of Southwestern Michigan Speakers Series, hosted by The Mendel Center at Lake Michigan College, is presenting a professional development and networking event for young professionals in the region when it welcomes author, recovering addict and subject of the major motion picture “Beautiful Boy” Nic Sheff at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 11. Tickets are on sale now to the public.

Sheff’s struggle with substance abuse disorder is the story of “Beautiful Boy,” starring Timothée Chalamet as Nic and Steve Carell as his father, David. The film, which earned Golden Globe and SAG nominations for Chalamet, is based on Sheff’s New York Times bestselling memoir, “Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines” and David’s bestseller of the same title. Sharing an unglamorized, authentic and heart-touching story of substance abuse and recovery that is rooted in mental illness, Sheff has been recognized as “a life-changing speaker,” said organizers.

Sober since 2011, Sheff continues to write and travel the country speaking about substance abuse, mental health, bipolar disorder and recovery. His talks cover areas ranging from prevention and talking effectively to teens to using prayer and meditation to quiet the unquiet mind.

Sheff is also the author of four books on these subjects: “High: Everything You Want to Know About Drugs, Alcohol, and Addiction,” “Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines,” “We All Fall Down: Living with Addiction,” and “Schizo,” his critically acclaimed novel about a teen’s downward spiral into mental illness.

Sheff drew upon his own history of self-harm and attempted suicide as a writer for Netflix’s controversial series, “13 Reasons Why” and upon his experiences in rehab as a writer for ABC Family/Freeform’s series “Recovery Road.” Sheff was also a writer on AMC’s crime drama “The Killing” and has written several features and developed TV series with Warner Brothers, USA, Amazon and Paramount Television. He has also appeared on “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” “The Today Show,” “Fresh Air with Terry Gross,” and on CNN with Sanjay Gupta and ABC with Diane Sawyer.

Sheff said he hopes that the intense notoriety and media attention being paid to the film version of “Beautiful Boy” will elevate awareness, create more empathy for those who struggle with substance abuse disorder and inspire more to recognize danger signs and get help. A self-identified “bipolar addict,” he also seeks to raise awareness of dual diagnosis and the frequent interconnection between substance abuse and types of frequently untreated mental illness.

In his presentation “Tweak: A Harrowing, but Hopeful Portrait of Addiction,” Sheff puts a human face on our nation’s substance abuse epidemic, encouraging those who struggle to embrace help and bringing hope to all who are touched by it, organizers said.

A pre-presentation dinner and discussion event will be hosted in newly renovated Grand Upton Hall. The buffet dinner begins at 5:30 p.m. At 6:30 p.m. a panel discussion titled “The Local Path Forward from Opioid Addiction” will be presented.

According to the state of Michigan, there were more deaths in 2018 from opioid addiction than from car accidents. This panel of addiction specialists will examine how the opioid epidemic is affecting our local community, discuss the treatment pathways available for those struggling with addiction, and the harsh stigma that so often prevents individuals from seeking that treatment.

Panelists are:

• Jeannette Holton, LBSW, CADC, MPA, is the west Michigan division leader for Sacred Heart Rehabilitation Services. She leads a residential treatment facility in Berrien Center, recovery housing in Benton Harbor, peer-based recovery support in local emergency departments and outpatient services in Watervliet. Before that, she was a counselor at a local outpatient medication-assisted treatment program, where she witnessed the devastating effects of stigma on people receiving treatment with methadone for heroin use disorders. Her focus there was helping women who have experienced severe trauma. She also served as a medical and psychiatric social worker and in healthcare management for 20 years with the predecessor organizations to Spectrum Health Lakeland.

• Cara Poland, MD, M.Ed, FACP, DFASAM was trained in internal medicine at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and in addiction medicine at Boston Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts. She has an interest in educating healthcare providers and providers-in-training to improve care for patients with substance use disorders and alcohol use disorders. She is an assistant professor at Michigan State University, is the past president of the Michigan Society of Addiction Medicine, and is the medical director of addiction medicine at Spectrum Health and collaborates with other providers in Spectrum Health’s GREAT MOMs program to treat pregnant women with substance use disorders.

• Kaye Sanders is a licensed professional counselor currently employed with Community Healing Centers as the Berrien County supervisor, supervising the Niles outpatient staff and Carol’s Hope. She is also the women’s specialty and recovery house coordinator overseeing six recovery houses and the pregnant and parenting program. Sanders has focused her counseling career on trauma informed care, and has spent the past three years focusing on gender specific care specifically working with women who suffer from substance use disorder. Sanders owned and operated her private practice for five years before joining the Community Healing Center team. Sanders has a master’s degree in professional counseling and specialized training in interpretive arts counseling, missing and exploited children and EMDR therapy.

• Panel moderator Kendall Troyer serves as vice president of organizational excellence and quality and chief quality officer at Spectrum Health Lakeland where his goal is to ensure safe, high-quality patient care, he said. Since beginning his career in the Lakeland laboratory, Troyer has served the organization in a number of positions including as director of outpatient services at the Lakeland Health Park, project director of Lakeland’s electronic health record system and chief operating officer for Lakeland Medical Practices. Troyer holds a bachelor’s degree in clinical laboratory science from Michigan State University, a master’s degree in health services administration from the University of Michigan, and is currently enrolled at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health anticipating a doctoral degree in public health in 2022.