Treatment of Substance Use Disorders

Unit 1 Discussion 1&2

Studies

Readings

Use your Becoming an Addictions Counselor text to read the following:

• Chapter 1, “Introduction to the Treatment of Substance Use Disorders,” pages 2–19.

Use the Capella University Library to read the following:

• Knudsen, H. K., & Roman, P. M. (2015). Innovation attributes and adoption decisions: Perspectives from leaders of a national sample of addiction treatment organizations. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 49, 1–7.

Use the Internet to read the following:

• National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2018). Drugs, brains, and behavior: The science of addiction – Drugs and the brain. Retrieved from http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugs-brains-behavior-science-addiction/drugs-brain
• National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2019). Treatment approaches for drug addiction. Retrieved from http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/treatment-approaches-drug-addiction
• National Institute on Drug Abuse. (n.d.). Drugs of abuse. Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse

Discussion 1  The Counseling Relationship

According to Myers and Salt (2019):

A supportive, empathetic counseling relationship is the glue that binds the client and counselor through assorted treatment stages, facilities, anxieties, and growing pains. The importance of the collaborative, therapeutic alliance cuts across and indeed supersedes the particular therapeutic approach or model employed. (p. 3)

For this discussion, give your opinion on the difference between a counseling relationship and other types of relationships and conversations. Do you consider the dialogue in a session, a conversation? Why or why not?

Reference

Myers, P. L., & Salt, N. R. (2019). Becoming an addictions counselor: A comprehensive text (4th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

 Discussion 2 Twelve-Step Groups

“Alcoholics Anonymous is a peer self-help group, mutual-aid society, or, as members call it, a fellowship of people with an alcohol use disorder in recovery” (Myers & Salt, 2019, p. 14).

For this discussion, speak to your opinion on the use of self-help groups and do you feel they should be a part of treatment or the only form of treatment?

Reference

Myers, P. L., & Salt, N. R. (2019). Becoming an addictions counselor: A comprehensive text (4th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.