Substance Abuse Professionals Research Articles

Utah gets license for masters in addiction counseling

It took two years of work and a 50‐page report, but Richard Nance got Utah to create a new Office of Professional License Review to be the screening arm of the Division of Professional Licensure. Any new license had to go through an application and review process, he told ADAW. “We were the first,” said Nance, former president of the Association of Utah Substance Abuse Professionals (AUSAP). “In 2023, I had my senator run the [Medication Aide Certified] MAC license bill, but the head of the Senate Business and Labor Committee refused to allow it a committee hearing because it ‘hadn't been through the OPLR process.’ There wasn't an OPLR process yet. Once it was created, I spent the summer of 2023 writing the application and working with the OPLR people to fix errors in the process,” Nance said.

Exploring Reliability and Validity for the Professional Quality of Life Scale

\ The Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) instrument has been in use in some variation for decades with the most recent iteration becoming available in 2009. With twelve years of changes in the workforce plus applications of the ProQOL in novel professional groups, it is critical to determine if the tool is still reliable and valid. Data obtained from specific occupational groups, specifically college resident assistants (RAs) and substance abuse professionals (SAPs), will be utilized to explore if the measure holds up to past research claiming high reliability and validity. It is possible that the RAs (n=358) and the SAPs (n=40) will be outliers from these claims due to their unique positionality in their roles or due to the amount of time that has passed since the last update of the ProQOL.

Relationship between Housing Status and Retention Rates among HIV-Positive African Americans Enrolled in a Comprehensive Care Program

ABSTRACTService provision using “one-stop shopping” of medical, psychiatric, and case management services at the same location has been associated with superior client retention. The Yadumu project tested this premise, with attention to HIV-infected African Americans. Each client was assigned a case manager, who arranged meetings with mental health, substance abuse, and medical care professionals. The Center for Mental Health Services, National Outcome Measures (CMHS NOMs) questionnaire was used to evaluate client progress. Data were collected longitudinally and the program evaluation was performed by an outside center. Among 129 clients, 47% were male, 30% were female, and 22% were transgender. The majority (72%) were African American. Clients who lived in detox/drug treatment programs had higher completion rates (48%) than those who were homeless or otherwise housed (28%) (p = 0.04). Logistic regression was used to assess associations between independent factors and retention. Clients satisfied with their housing situation were less likely to retain in the program than those who were not satisfied with their housing situation (OR = 0.15, 95% CI: 0.03–0.78). High discharge rates among HIV-infected people were observed and may reflect the unstable circumstances of the population studied, but structured residential programs could be advantageous for improving retention.

Preliminary Development of a Brief Intervention to Prevent Alcohol Misuse and Enhance Sport Performance in Collegiate Athletes

Alcohol abuse prevention and mental sport performance programming are becoming increasingly significant in collegiate athletics. There are certainly advantages in the integrated provision of these intervention approaches. However, substance abuse professionals rarely address sport performance, and sport performance experts rarely address alcohol abuse prevention. Therefore, in this clinical trial, 201 NCAA athletes were randomly assigned with a significant other to participate in brief assessment, goal development, and contingency contracting or a wait-list control after completing the Sport Interference Checklist (SIC) and Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Results indicated that participants who were randomly assigned to the experimental program, as compared with participants who were assigned to the control group, reported significant decreases in alcohol consumption (AUDIT), dysfunctional thoughts and stress in competitive sporting events and academic and injury management factors that interfere with training, from baseline to 2 months post-baseline. No differences were found between the experimental groups in other SIC subscales. Future directions are discussed in light of the results.

The Early Detection and Proper Treatment of Bipolar Disorder: Implications for Social Work Practice with Substance-Abusing Clients

The article describes the history of bipolar disorder diagnostics and the emerging trends of earlier detection and treatment. It explores the link between bipolar disorder and frequent co-occurring disorders, including substance abuse. There are discussions regarding the need for early detection of mood disorders in these individuals and the impact that treatment of mental health issues have on substance abuse prevention in this population. The practice implications for medical, substance abuse, and mental health professionals are examined.

Gatekeeper training outcomes: enhancing the capacity of staff in substance abuse treatment programs to prevent suicide in a high risk population

There is a heightened risk for suicide among individuals currently in addiction treatments or who have a prior history of substance abuse. However, few professional and paraprofessional staff working in substance abuse treatment programs have been previously trained on how to intervene or to manage individuals who may also be experiencing a suicidal crisis. The aim of this pilot study is to examine the impact of an educational intervention for suicide prevention on the training outcomes of perceived self-efficacy and declarative knowledge of substance abuse professionals and staff. Fifty employees of a multi-site substance abuse treatment facility who attended suicide prevention training were surveyed upon completion of the training. Measures attained information for an educational needs assessment and on post-training outcomes. Eighty-eight percent of the staff had previous exposure to an individual at high risk for suicide. Significant training-related gains in perceived self-efficacy were demonstrated ...

Assessing the Attitudes Substance Abuse Professionals Have Toward 12-Step Culture: Preliminary Results

Despite the wide incorporation of 12-step programs into substance abuse treatment, many clients fail to engage them. The lack of engagement might arise for multiple reasons, but the attitudes referring substance abuse professionals have toward 12-step culture might be a contributive factor. Although several available instruments measure client participation, none focus on substance abuse professionals' attitudes toward the culture of 12-step programs. This study reports on the initial development of an instrument designed to measure this construct. Factor analysis of relevant items suggests multiple potential components of attitude toward 12-step culture, laying a foundation for subsequent work.

A three-wave longitudinal examination of perceived organizational support, affective professional commitment, personal recovery status and turnover intentions among substance abuse professionals

Turnover is a problem in addiction treatment (Eby et al., 2010, 2012; Garner et al., 2012). Research on other professionals finds that both perceived organizational support (O'Neill et al., 2009) and professional commitment (Weng & McElroy, 2012) predict turnover intentions. However, little longitudinal research exists and no research investigates these associations in addiction treatment. Using a three-wave study we examine the mediating effect of affective professional commitment on the organizational support—turnover intentions link. We also examine recovery status as a moderator. Data were collected from 353 addiction treatment professionals at three time periods. Results indicate that organizational support predicts subsequent turnover intentions (β=−.39, p<.001) and affective professional commitment partially mediates this relationship (β=−.32, p<.001). The model held for counselors but not clinical supervisors. Counselor recovery status moderated the perceived support–commitment link. Findings suggest that increasing organizational support reduces turnover intentions via professional commitment, particularly for counselors not in recovery.

Substance abuse professionals’ attitudes regarding harm reduction versus traditional interventions for injecting drug users

Investigations of attitudes regarding harm reduction have usually assessed the acceptance of specific interventions, but investigators have rarely compared the ratings of harm reduction interventions to the ratings of traditional interventions or tested whether the perceived value of harm reduction interventions varies as a function of client characteristics. Therefore, using a vignette describing an injecting drug user, we tested whether clinical administrators of substance abuse treatment agencies and licensed chemical dependency counselors rated the beneficence (on a 7-point scale from “Extremely Harmful” to “Extremely Beneficial”) of injection-related harm reduction interventions (e.g., cleaning needles with bleach, muscling, non-injecting routes of administration) differently from the beneficence of traditional treatment interventions (e.g., self-help group, individual and group counseling), and whether client gender and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status impacted such ratings. In Study One, a set of traditional interventions was rated as more beneficial than a set of harm reduction interventions. Study Two showed that a subset of harm reduction interventions designed to prevent transmission of blood-borne diseases was seen as more beneficial than a subset designed to prevent overdose fatalities. Clinical administrators rated harm reduction as more beneficial for HIV-negative clients than for those whose HIV status was described as unknown (Study One), but there was no impact of HIV status on perceived beneficence of harm reduction among licensed chemical dependency counselors (Study Two). Gender of the vignette client did not influence the beneficence ratings in either sample.

Perceived coercion in substance abuse treatment: The eye of the beholder?

Aims: To examine potential differences in subjective perceptions of coercion between substance abuse professionals and clients in how they view events that trigger entry to treatment. Such differences may influence both the clinician's approach and the client's response to treatment.Participants, measurement and findings: Seventy-four substance abuse treatment outpatients and 75 certified substance abuse clinicians rated 15 treatment entry-related events based on the degree of choice an individual would have in entering treatment. Clients perceived internal sources of coercion as more coercive, whereas the clinicians perceived external items as more coercive. Furthermore, clients' views of external coercive events appeared to be more uni-dimensional than for internal events, whereas clinicians perceived internal events as more cohesive relative to external events.Conclusions: Discrepant perceptions of treatment entry triggers may impact the development of a working alliance and the use of motivational strategies intended to enhance readiness to change. Further investigation into these divergent perceptions is needed to untangle the relationships among client and clinician assumptions, readiness for change, and treatment outcome.

Building Collaboration in Substance Abuse Treatment and Vocational Rehabilitation

ABSTRACT This study explored the perceived external and internal issues that may have an effect on collaborative ventures designed to provide vocational rehabilitation services to persons with substance use disorders. Participants in the study were professionals from substance abuse (SA) treatment and vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies in 1 state located in the north central United States. Analyses revealed SA professionals to have higher perceptions of their abilities in working with clients with substance use disorders than did VR professionals. In addition, participants ranked 10 potential barriers to employment for individuals with substance use disorders and provided 3 potential barriers to collaboration. The rankings of potential barriers to employment for clients with substance use disorders were similar for the 2 groups; however, SA professionals placed more emphasis on internal barriers, whereas VR counselors placed more emphasis on external barriers. The most frequently reported barriers to...

Treating Co‐Occurring Disorders: A Handbook for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Professionals

The American Journal on AddictionsVolume 15, Issue 5 p. 407-408 Treating Co-Occurring Disorders: A Handbook for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Professionals First published: 18 February 2010 https://doi.org/10.1080/10550490600860700Citations: 1Read the full textAboutPDF 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 No abstract is available for this article.Citing Literature Volume15, Issue5September‐October 2006Pages 407-408 RelatedInformation

Counselor Self-Care in Work with Traumatized, Addicted People

Abstract This chapter examines the impact on substance abuse professionals of working with traumatized, addicted clients in terms of secondary trauma, vicarious trauma, burnout, and countertransference. Each of these is examined in turn, and then individual, team, and organizational strategies and recommendations for counselor self-care are presented within a strengths-based framework.

Treating Co-occurring Disorders: A Handbook for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Professionals

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Book ReviewsFull AccessTreating Co-occurring Disorders: A Handbook for Mental Health and Substance Abuse ProfessionalsJudy Faberman, L.I.C.S.W.Judy FabermanSearch for more papers by this author, L.I.C.S.W.Published Online:1 Feb 2006https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.57.2.279AboutSectionsView EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail Treating patients with co-occurring disorders is incredibly complex and demanding. Daily challenges include decisions about which disorder requires more immediate attention, who is appropriate for programs, how to treat symptoms of co-occurring disorders simultaneously, and how to support clinicians who struggle with their own limitations in training and confidence. To top it all off, most treatment systems and aftercare options are set up to treat one disorder or the other, a reality that leaves a huge proportion of these patients underserved and improperly treated.Treating Co-occurring Disorders: A Handbook for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Professionals, by Edward Hendrickson, Marilyn Schmal, and Sharon Eckleberry, addresses many of these concerns. The book begins by identifying the need to treat co-occurring disorders simultaneously in one setting, pointing out that sequential or parallel treatment options are essentially inadequate. The authors use research and their own clinical experience in treatment, supervision, consultation, and training in presenting their positions. Underlying the entire book is the explicit understanding that differential diagnosis, assessment, and treatment are difficult because of the incredible diversity of the population itself and the continuum of possible symptom configurations.The first chapters outline the prevalence of specific co-occurring disorders, providing symptom descriptions directly from DSM-IV and how they interact with substance use. The authors present treatment implications that are direct and helpful for both new and experienced clinicians alike. They next address the complexities of differentiating substance-induced versus true co-occurring disorders by identifying assessment tools and diagnostic questions for clinicians. They discuss the implications of various combinations of severity and duration of substance abuse and mental illness, as well as their relationship to each other, stressing the importance of understanding why clients use substances.The authors devote a major portion of the book to the specific treatments for dual diagnosis in terms of individual case management as well as group and family treatment, providing useful information about treatment tasks, foci, and common traps. They do this comprehensively and use case examples. One of the most helpful assertions the authors make is that decisions about intake and treatment need to be tailored not only to patients' motivation levels but, just as importantly, to their impairment levels.Because it is clear that an appropriate treatment setting for every possible combination of disorders does not exist, the authors of this text address the need for clinicians to expand their skills and frames of reference in order to be effective. They also provide helpful direction for supervisors who are trying to make that possible. The book stresses the importance of understanding and accepting that matching the treatment setting to the patients' needs will not always be optimal and that clinicians need to adhere to a competency-based focus in which small changes are celebrated. Treating Co-occurring Disorders is an extremely valuable resource for professionals in the field. Practical, specific, and easy to read, it has helped immeasurably in my practice.Ms. Faberman is director of the alcohol and drug abuse partial treatment program at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts.by Edward Hendrickson, Marilyn Schmal, and Sharon Eckleberry; New York, Haworth Press, 2004, 263 pages, $29.95 softcover FiguresReferencesCited byDetailsCited byNone Volume 57Issue 2 February 2006Pages 279-279 Metrics History Published online 1 February 2006 Published in print 1 February 2006

Substance Abuse and Health Care Professionals

This study examined public perceptions of alcohol use by physicians on duty. A telephone survey was conducted with 408 adult residents of one Tennessee county who identified they were responsible f...

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.

Review of Treating Co-Occurring Disorders: A Handbook for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Professionals.

Review of Treating Co-Occurring Disorders: A Handbook for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Professionals.

Snapshot of the Substance Abuse Treatment Workforce in 2002: A Synthesis of Current Literature†

Substance abuse among adolescents and adults continues to be a major public health concern. Given the prevalence of substance use, abuse, and dependence in the United States, the treatment needs of the population who abuse substances are great. Adolescents and adults who abuse substances need competent, knowledgeable, and qualified staff to provide services to meet their treatment needs. However, providers of substance abuse treatment services are varied, ranging from those who have minimal formal training to those who have specialized degrees and credentials in the field. In addition, substance abuse professionals represent a variety of fields (social work, psychiatry, psychology, etc) as opposed to a single unifying discipline. Few studies have been conducted examining the background, qualifications, and professional development needs of treatment staff. This article represents an attempt to lay the groundwork for future research. It summarizes information on staff demographics, level of competency, training, recruitment, and retention. In addition, recommendations are made for the advancement of research. †The research for this article was developed under CSAT Cooperative Agreement #6UD1TI1143003. Critical support was provided by CSAT officials, members of the ATTCs, and substance abuse treatment association staff members across the country. Special thanks go to Susanne R. Rohrer, Chair of the CSAT Workforce Action Group, and other members of the Group for their insightful advice and leadership throughout the evolution of this project, and to Richard Landis who assisted with this project.

A Randomized Trial of Methods to Help Clinicians Learn Motivational Interviewing.

The Evaluating Methods for Motivational Enhancement Education trial evaluated methods for learning motivational interviewing (MI). Licensed substance abuse professionals (N = 140) were randomized to 5 training conditions: (a) clinical workshop only; (b) workshop plus practice feedback; (c) workshop plus individual coaching sessions; (d) workshop, feedback, and coaching; or (e) a waiting list control group of self-guided training. Audiotaped practice samples were analyzed at baseline, posttraining, and 4, 8, and 12 months later. Relative to controls, the 4 trained groups showed larger gains in proficiency. Coaching and/or feedback also increased posttraining proficiency. After delayed training, the waiting list group showed modest gains in proficiency. Posttraining proficiency was generally well maintained throughout follow-up. Clinician self-reports of MI skillfulness were unrelated to proficiency levels in observed practice.

Female Adolescent Smoking: A Delphi Study on Best Prevention Practices

The present researchers used a multi-wave Delphi methodology to determine what 14 knowledgeable substance abuse professionals believe are the most appropriate smoking prevention practices for female adolescents. While there was some agreement with the emerging literature, particularly on weight control issues and parental involvement, there was also endorsement of items that appear to be equally salient for both males and females. While the panelists generally acknowledged differential risk factors for females, and the need for prevention programming around these risk factors, more research on gender specific programming is needed before prevention experts are ready to agree on clear and specific practices for adolescent females.