Penn State’s Department of Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS) will host “A Conversation with David and Nic Sheff” on Wednesday, March 23 at 6 p.m., via Zoom Webinar.

Nic’s heartbreaking, yet ultimately inspiring, journey through meth addiction is at the heart of “Beautiful Boy,” a bestselling memoir written by his father, David. It is also now a major motion picture by the same name, starring Timothée Chalamet and Steve Carell. The film also draws from Nic’s New York Times bestselling memoir, “Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines.” Both memoirs share an unglamorized and authentic story of mental illness, addiction and recovery. Sober since 2011, Nic, along with David, now use these experiences to put a human face on our nation’s substance misuse epidemic and encourage those who struggle to seek and embrace help.

Join David, Nic, and Molly Countermine, HDFS associate teaching professor, as they discuss the journey of a family navigating the troubled waters of addiction, alone and together.

Attendees can submit questions prior to the event or via the Q&A function during the event. Closed captioning will be available.

Nic Sheff writes and travels the country speaking about his personal experiences with substance abuse, mental health, bipolar disorder, and recovery. He is also the author of four books on these subjects. Nic has drawn upon his own history as a writer for shows on Netflix and ABC Family/Freeform. He has also developed TV series with Warner Brothers, USA, Amazon, and Paramount Television and has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Today Show, CNN with Sanjay Gupta, and ABC with Diane Sawyer.

David Sheff, Nic’s father, is the author of “Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction,” a New York Times bestseller and American Psychological Association award winner for “outstanding contribution to the understanding of addiction.” In 2009, David was named to the “Time 100,” Time Magazine’s list of the “World’s Most Influential People.” He is the author of six other books and has received awards from the Partnership for Drug-free Kids, the College of Problems on Drug Dependence, the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, and the American Society of Addiction Medicine. In December 2019, David became the first recipient of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry Arts and Literature Award. David recently launched the Beautiful Boy Fund, devoted to making quality, evidence-based treatment available to people who need it and identifying and supporting research to further the field of addiction medicine.

“A Conversation with David and Nic Sheff” will be facilitated by Molly Countermine. Among other courses, Countermine teaches HDFS 254N Reading Our Lives: Understanding Diversity and Human Development through Memoirs, which uses personal narratives, including “Beautiful Boy,” to explore the diversity of the human experience. Countermine is the chair of the HDFS Committee for Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, and is a champion for diversity initiatives in the department.