Substance Abuse Counselors Research Articles

Table of Contents

Alcoholism & Drug Abuse WeeklyVolume 17, Issue 25 p. 1-8 Table of Contents First published: 19 August 2005 https://doi.org/10.1002/adaw.20201725AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Abstract Pharmacists Becoming Positive Ally in Efforts to Treat Heroin Addiction Substance Abuse Counselors Seeing More Patients with a PTSD Diagnosis Pharmacists and Prescription Opioids NAADAC and IC&RC Take Next Step Toward Unification Methamphetamine Maintains Grip on Twin Cities Region Adult Antisocial Syndromes Common Among Substance Abusers Survey: Fathers Need to Talk More to Kids About Drugs Briefly Noted Coming Up… Volume17, Issue2527 June 2005Pages 1-8 RelatedInformation

The Relationship Between the Clinical Orientation of Substance Abuse Professionals and Their Clinical Decisions

In this study, the authors examined the relationship between the clinical orientations of substance abuse professionals (SAPs) and their clinical decisions. Cluster analysis grouped a sample of 245 SAPs on two clinical orientations that differed in their relative endorsement of traditional versus contemporary substance abuse counseling processes and beliefs. Logistic regression revealed that SAPs' clinical orientations, labeled neo-traditional and precontemporary, could be predicted by their clinical decision-making tendencies and education level. Implications for rehabilitation counselor education, supervision, and research are discussed.

Attitudes of College Students in a Predominately Hispanic University Regarding Alcohol Use

ABSTRACT The focus of this particular study is to determine the drinking-related attitudes of college students in a predominantly Hispanic university, and to determine if there are ethnic and gender-related differences in two areas: acceptable levels of consumption; and situational alcohol use. Study findings reflect the need to insure that substance abuse initiatives, planning, informational and counseling programs for students take into account the cultural implications associated with alcohol use as well as acculturation issues.

Native Americans and Alcoholism Therapy

ABSTRACT Substance abuse counselors recognize the diversity of their clients and the fact that specific people have distinct needs and vulnerabilities. Native Americans suffering from alcoholism reflect this reality. Here, the work and perspectives of Handsome Lake, a 19th century spiritual leader of the Iroquois Nation who overcame seemingly incurable alcoholism, are used to show how reaffirming a cultural heritage and regaining sobriety can go hand in hand. Beyond merely providing an historical example, this paper generalizes that approach so it can be adapted to the needs of a wide range of indigenous people.

Effects of diversion on adults with co-occurring mental illness and substance use: outcomes from a national multi-site study.

This quasi-experimental non-equivalent comparison group study examines outcomes for participants in eight programs conducting criminal justice diversion for people with co-occurring serious mental illness and substance use disorders compared with jail detainees eligible for diversion, but who were processed through standard criminal justice methods without diversion. Nearly 2000 participants were interviewed at baseline, and 1500 at 3 month and 1300 at 12 month follow-up to baseline. In these interviews, outcome measures of re-arrest, mental health functioning, substance abuse, quality of life, and service utilization were obtained. Those diverted were more likely to have received mental health counseling, mental health medication, and mental health hospitalization than those not enrolled in a diversion program, but were equally likely to have received substance abuse counseling. Overall, the differences in proportions receiving services between the two groups were small, even when these differences were statistically significant. The effect associated with diversion differed somewhat across the individual sites. However, overall cross-site pooled analyses revealed no outcome differences between groups on measures of mental health symptoms, substance use, criminal justice recidivism, or quality of life. Although the immediate benefit of diversion as an access mechanism to community treatment is indicated in pooled cross-site results, such access was driven by more coercive (pre-booking and court) models and results suggest that effecting substantially greater access to services or services use did not occur. The findings also suggest that mental health, substance abuse, and criminal justice outcomes remain dependent on the treatment intervention received, perhaps moderated by type of diversion intervention, rather than on a generic and initial diversion event.

Book Review: The Practical art of Suicide Assessment: A Guide for Mental Health Professionals and Substance Abuse Counselors

Book Review: The Practical art of Suicide Assessment: A Guide for Mental Health Professionals and Substance Abuse Counselors

Training rural practitioners to use buprenorphine: Using The Change Book to facilitate technology transfer

The Opiate Medication Initiative for Rural Oregon Residents trained physicians and counselors in Central and Southwestern Oregon to use buprenorphine and develop service models that supported patient participation in drug abuse counseling. The Change Book from Addiction Technology Transfer Centers was used to structure the change process. Fifty-one individuals (17 physicians, 4 pharmacists, 2 nurse practitioners, and 28 drug abuse counselors and administrators) from seven counties completed the training and contributed to the development of community treatment protocols. A pre-post measure of attitudes and beliefs toward the use of buprenorphine suggested significant improvements in attitude after training, especially among counselors. Eight months after training, 10 of 17 physicians trained had received waivers to use buprenorphine and 29 patients were in treatment with six of the physicians. The Change Book facilitated development of county change teams and structured the planning efforts. The initiative also demonstrated the potential to concurrently train physicians, pharmacists, and counselors on the use of buprenorphine.

The impact of acceptance and commitment training and multicultural training on the stigmatizing attitudes and professional burnout of substance abuse counselors

Empirically validated methods for reducing stigma and prejudice toward recipients of behavioral health-care services are badly needed. In the present study, two packages presented in 1-day workshops were compared to a biologically oriented educational control condition in the alleviation of stigmatizing attitudes in drug abuse counselors. One, Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT), utilized acceptance, defusion, mindfulness, and values methods. The other, multicultural training, sensitized participants to group prejudices and biases. Measures of stigma and burnout were taken pretraining, posttraining, and after a 3-month follow-up. Results showed that multicultural training had an impact on stigmatizing attitudes and burnout post-intervention but not at follow-up, but showed better gains in a sense of personal accomplishment as compared to the educational control at follow-up. ACT had a positive impact on stigma at follow-up and on burnout at posttreatment and follow-up and follow-up gains in burnout exceeded those of multicultural training. ACT also significantly changed the believability of stigmatizing attitudes. This process mediated the impact of ACT but not multicultural training on follow-up stigma and burnout. This preliminary study opens new avenues for reducing stigma and burnout in behavioral health counselors.

What place does naltrexone have in the treatment of alcoholism?

Despite two recent negative trials, most controlled clinical studies have found that when naltrexone is added to substance abuse treatment or counselling, significantly less heavy drinking is done by the patients who are willing to take most of the prescribed naltrexone. Naltrexone also reduces urges to drink and makes any slips back into drinking less pleasant. Therefore, naltrexone can be a useful adjunct to substance abuse counselling or rehabilitation programmes, as one of many tools that clinicians and patients use. However, beneficial effects are limited in scope. Naltrexone mostly does not increase the chance of staying completely abstinent but rather reduces the intensity or frequency of any drinking that does occur. Many alcohol-dependent individuals are medically ineligible or are unwilling to take naltrexone, many who start naltrexone do not continue with it and many who comply with it do not benefit. Compliance is greater for individuals who experience fewer adverse effects and who have stronger beliefs in the benefits of naltrexone, suggesting that clinicians can increase compliance by helping patients to manage adverse effects and by bolstering patients' beliefs in the benefits of naltrexone. Alcohol-dependent individuals who are most likely to benefit from naltrexone seem to be those with close relatives who also had alcohol problems, or who have stronger urges to drink or who are more limited in cognitive abilities. Some individuals may benefit from a higher dose, particularly people with lower blood concentrations of the medication, and individuals who achieve good results may benefit from a longer course of treatment with naltrexone. In these ways, treatment can be targeted to increase the likelihood of beneficial outcomes with naltrexone.

Perceptions of a Prison-Based Substance Abuse Treatment Program Among Some Staff and Participants

Almost 90% of all State and Federal prisons in the U.S. offer some form of substance abuse counseling, and one in eight prisoners have participated in a substance abuse treatment program while incarcerated. Evidence indicates that these programs can be successful in stopping prisoners' substance abuse. While some data are available about the success of these programs, little is known about program administrators', counselors' and participants' experiences with and perceptions of these treatment programs. These experiences and perceptions remain important because they may be helpful for understanding areas of agreement and conflict in staff-participant relationships. The more understanding we have for these relationships, the more likely it is that we will be able to improve staff-participant communications, program effectiveness, and participant success. The results suggest similarities and differences between staff and participants in the areas of participant motivation, staff-participant communication, race, institutional support, and counselor contacts. Implications of the results of this inquiry for prison-based substance abuse treatment programs are discussed.

Psychosocial factors and 2-year outcome following bariatric surgery for weight loss.

How psychosocial factors may impact on weight loss after bariatric surgery is not well understood. This lack of knowledge is problematic, because there is a high prevalence of psychosocial distress in patients seeking treatment for obesity in hospital-based programs. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between preoperative psychosocial factors and eventual weight loss. Between 1987 and 1998, all individuals undergoing Roux-en-Y gastric bypass for weight loss in our institution had psychologic preoperative evaluations. Patients who were followed prospectively were studied. The relation of having received mental health treatment to percentage of excess weight loss at 2 years is examined using t-tests. 62 women and 18 men completed a 2-year follow-up. Patients who had received treatment for either substance abuse (n=10) or psychiatric co-morbidity (n=39) lost more weight compared with those without such histories (P<0.05, P <0.001 respectively). Given these results, it is plausible that a history of having received either psychiatric treatment for a disorder or counseling for substance abuse should not be a contraindication to bariatric surgery, and, in fact, may be prognostic of favorable outcome. Further research examining psychosocial factors and outcome from bariatric surgery is clearly warranted.

The Practical Art of Suicide Assessment: A Guide for Mental Health Professionals and Substance Abuse Counselors

The Practical Art of Suicide Assessment: A Guide for Mental Health Professionals and Substance Abuse Counselors

Alcohol and other drug abuse counselors' attitudes and resources for integrating research and practice.

The state of Wisconsin recently launched a Research-to-Practice Initiative. One aspect of the Wisconsin initiative was to survey Wisconsin-Certified Alcohol and other Drug Abuse Counselors (CADCs) to assess their attitudes, reported practices, and resources in regard to the integration of research and practice. The sample for the present study included 366 CADCs. Of the 366 respondents, 62 percent (n = 226) were female and 38 percent (n = 140) were male. The respondents were primarily Caucasian (90 percent) with the remaining respondents identifying as African American (4 percent), Native American (2 percent), Hispanic (1 percent), and Asian American (0.5 percent). The results from the survey indicated that the majority of respondents have access to computers, e-mail, and the Internet at their workplace; report being "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with their education and training; and tend to approve of the efforts to integrate research and practice. Incentives, barriers and strategies to integrate research and practice are discussed.

Substance abuse counselors' treatment philosophy and the content of treatment services provided to offenders in drug court programs

A study of treatment offered to drug court participants was designed to link the beliefs, philosophies, and knowledge of the counselors with the services offered in treatment sessions. The study is limited to four jurisdictions, two rural and two urban, but, within these four jurisdictions, the treatment services provided are representative of the services offered to the general addict community. Surveys were conducted with over half the treatment counselors providing services and structured observations were conducted with over half of the normal group therapy sessions offered in a given month. Survey findings reveal that treatment counselors support a number of different causes for substance abuse. Counselors also do not have a strong affiliation for any one model that defines their treatment approaches. Observations confirmed an eclectic approach to treatment sessions in practice. A number of technology transfer and management issues are identified from the study including the need for the development of a better understanding among treatment providers as to the recovery process, the role of treatment in the process, and critical components of therapeutic interventions.

Intervening Effectively with Drug Abusers Infected with HIV: Taking into Account the Potential for Cognitive Impairment

HIV-positive drug users play a significant role in the transmission of HIV infection. Substance abuse treatment programs can potentially reduce transmission by providing HIV preventive interventions to these individuals. However, there is growing evidence suggesting that, due to a variety of factors, a substantial proportion of HIV-positive drug users may enter addiction treatment with some degree of cognitive impairment in domains that could impede their ability to learn, retain, and execute HIV preventive behaviors. Hence, in order to optimize the effectiveness of these interventions, the client's level of cognitive functioning may need to be considered. In this article an Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills model of HIV preventive behavior is used to illustrate ways in which impairment in cognitive functioning could impede HIV preventive efforts, and present several practical strategies that front-line substance abuse counseling staff and other treatment providers can incorporate into interventions delivered to HIV-positive clients.

Substance Abuse Counselors and Ethical Dilemmas: The Influence of Recovery and Education Level

The authors examined the impact of substance abuse counselor (SAC) recovery status and education level on (a) SACS' sensitivity to ethical dilemmas and (b) extent to which training might help resolve dilemmas. Results revealed a significant difference between SACS with a graduate degree and SACS with an associate's degree/high school diploma regarding sensitivity to ethical dilemmas, with the latter being more sensitive. This study could be used to develop educational materials to improve SAC competency in resolving ethical dilemmas.

Substance Abuse Counselor Certification Requirements: Is It Time for a Change?

The minimum professional training requirements of 32 state certifying bodies for substance abuse counselors were analyzed. Only 14 of the certifying boards included any of the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs core knowledge areas in their training components for Certified Addictions Counselors. Specific training in counseling and drug and alcohol treatment issues also appeared to be minimal. The lack of specific drug and alcohol training brings the quality of preparation for substance abuse counselors into question.

A model of the effects of node–link mapping on drug abuse counseling

This paper examines the effectiveness of a promising cognitive enhancement technique called node–link mapping. Maps provide a concrete, visual, and computationally efficient means for exploring personal issues, and have received substantial empirical support. We introduce two models to provide a framework for understanding how node–link mapping improves substance abuse counseling. The TCU Process Model reviews the general process of substance abuse treatment. The second model reflects an effective treatment session. Implications of the models and node–link mapping findings are discussed, as well as future research directions.

Perceptions of the Impact of Childhood Relationships Among Chemically Dependent Women

Abstract The perceptions of childhood and adolescent relationships among chemically dependent women who are new in recovery are examined. Participants placed themselves in social and psychological contexts as they described the impact of significant inter-personal relationships on their lives. Two relevant and descriptive categories of responses were developed based on participants' narratives: “childhood marked by inconsistent family support” and “adolescence notable for adult disregard.” Implications for substance abuse counseling include emphasis on emotional support and encouragement for clients in enriching therapeutic environments.

Teaching Resiliency Theory to Substance Abuse Counselors

ABSTRACT Resiliency is the ability to cope in the face of adversity. One protective factor that promotes resiliency in substance-abusing dysfunctional families is family rituals and traditions. Social workers and substance abuse counselors can teach family members how to instill resiliency in their families and themselves through rituals and traditions. To work with their clients to promote resiliency, clinicians need to learn how to identify substance abusers in family systems, recognize the presence or absence of resiliency among family members, and determine the presence or absence of family rituals and traditions. To this end, Kolb's learning theory is presented along with its application to classroom instruction and an assessment tool to identify client family rituals and traditions.