From RC Productions comes an urgent look at the national drug addiction crisis that is ravaging local communities across the U.S., including the filmmakers’ own in Northwest Connecticut.

At an innovative retreat organized by addiction and trauma counselor Hope Payson (LCSW, LADC), six people from varying walks of life — each affected by childhood trauma — come together to share their stories, emerging from darkness through community, connection, and compassion.

Through the metaphor of a tree bearing a network of roots, Payson helps each attendee recognize the foundation of their trauma —abandonment, learning differences, sexual molestation, violence — and how it manifests and permeates through life, opening the door to fundamental healing.

Interweaving these stories with uplifting, up-to-the-minute accounts of collective action in the face of a growing public health crisis — from an equally diverse group of activists, officials, volunteers, caregivers, and experts — Uprooting Addiction is a mosaic-like portrait of a single community coming together to take on one of the most critical challenges of our times.