David Casey grew up in a rural Oregon timber town and started doing construction work with his father when he was just 4-years-old. Much of his early adulthood was spent doing construction work, primarily as a journeyman tile-setter, with the exception of a couple of years spent in the military.

His hometown was similar to where he currently practices in Columbia County; poverty was high, opportunities were few, and addiction was rampant. Resources for addiction were limited and underfunded, and many of the people he knew were not able to get the help they needed. When the economy tanked in 2009 and his family ran out of construction work, Casey had the opportunity to go to college through the Trade Act, which he quickly accepted.

Since starting college, his goal has always been to improve the quality and availability of addiction treatment in  rural communities, so that others might be able to get the help that wasn't available to the people he knew growing up.

In his years of practice, he has learned about addictions as a whole, and most specifically about those involving opioids. His passion in this work is to ultimately revolutionize the ways in which addiction treatment is provided by using research to explore the link between trauma and the experience of addiction. 

"Working with people who are struggling with addiction is emotionally heavy work," he says, "but it is also some of the most rewarding work a person can do...I am constantly humbled by the determination of people with addictions to reclaim their futures, and the efforts they will make to find their recoveries." 

Casey still loves doing construction work in his free-time, as well as reading epic fantasy novels, training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and backpacking.