Full Course Description

Trauma and the 12 Steps: The Fusion of Tradition and Innovation in Therapy

The interplay between unhealed trauma, dissociation, and addiction can stump even the most seasoned clinicians and leave clients who struggle feeling frustrated and hopeless. Although the popular 12-step approaches to addiction treatment can be appropriate for clients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other trauma-related diagnoses, rigid application of the disease model and 12-step principles may prove more harmful than helpful for clients in need. Many professionals have written off the clinical utility of the 12-steps for this reason. In this recording, participants will learn how to blend traditional knowledge about the disease of addiction and 12-step approaches to recovery with the latest research and practice knowledge on trauma and dissociation. As a result, participants will be able to better connect with addicted clients who struggle with trauma, and deliver the help that they so desperately need in a way that honors their lived experience. Interaction, group participation, and experiential learning are all featured in this recording, sure to be a learning experience unlike any you have had before!

Program Information

Objectives

Appraise the phenomena of trauma and dissociation in a complete manner for clients at all levels of care.
Theorize how certain features of 12-step recovery are productive for working with addicted survivors of trauma stress and identify how these features can be implemented into treatment.
Describe how certain 12-step approaches, slogans, and customs may be counterproductive when working with a traumatized client, both in treatment and in recovery communities.
Develop a plan for working 12-step recovery strategies alongside appropriate treatment at any level of care.
Apply at least two clinical techniques from various psychotherapeutic approaches to help clients attain addiction recovery in a trauma-sensitive fashion.

Outline

Updates to what works about 12-step models with language that is more trauma-informed and trauma-focused
Working with your clients on meaningful life style changes through 12 steps
How the often misunderstood clinical concept of dissociation is the key to better defining, understanding, and treating addictions

Target Audience

Addiction Counselors
Counselors
Marriage & Family Therapists
Physicians
Psychologists
Social Workers
Other Mental Health Professions

Copyright : 10/06/2022

Medication Treatment of Substance Use Disorders: What Therapists Need to Know

Over 100,000 people died of drug overdoses from April 2021 to March 2022, with over 70% of those deaths due to fentanyl or other powerful synthetic opioids. Medications like methadone, buprenorphine, naltrexone, and naloxone offer the best results in treating opioid use disorder, but many clients lack access to these treatments. Mental health clinicians need to be knowledgeable about medications for opioid use disorders (MOUD), and how to engage clients who are considering MOUD, or who receive MOUD. Effective behavioral health treatments that can be integrated with MOUD will be discussed, including case studies from the field. We will also examine how stigma continues to keep MOUD, and SUD treatment in general, from making a greater impact in our communities.

Program Information

Objectives

Catalogue the primary substances that are killing Americans at the highest rate in history.
Analyze how traumatic events have a “special” connection with opioids, and why this must be considered in all treatment settings.
Appraise the medications used to treat opioid use disorder, and medications under study to treat stimulant use disorder.
Practice strategies to engage clients considering MOUD and clients who are already engaged in MOUD.
Theorize how stigma impacts MOUD delivery and ways that you can advocate for your clients and your community.

Outline

Common Myths of SUD and MOUD
The Most Common Drugs That Cause Mortality
The Medications for Opioid Use Disorder
“A Special Relationship” Trauma and Opioids
Engaging Clients in Medication Assisted Treatments
Going Beyond the Individual

Target Audience

Addiction Counselors
Counselors
Marriage & Family Therapists
Physicians
Psychologists
Social Workers
Other Mental Health Professions

Copyright : 10/06/2022

Grief Yoga from a Chair: Transform Addiction into Recovery

When addiction takes over, it can leave us feeling ashamed and helpless as our life becomes unmanageable. Whether the addiction is alcohol, drugs, sex, relationships, or even social media, it can leave us feeling powerless, out of control, and disconnected from others and life. This transformative flow guides us to break free from old habits and patterns that we depend upon that no longer serve us, to connect to more strength within, and to a power greater than ourselves.

Program Information

Target Audience

Addiction Counselors
Counselors
Marriage & Family Therapists
Physicians
Psychologists
Social Workers
Other Mental Health Professions

Copyright : 10/07/2022

Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence

Dr. Lembke, Chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic, has long been one of the clearest voices regarding problems that come with over-prescribed medications and the unprecedented access to high-reward, high-dopamine stimuli in general. In this question-and-answer recording, Meadows Senior Fellow Dr. Kevin McCauley and Dr. Anna Lembke will discuss how technology, including smartphones and social media, can become “drug-ified,” as well as the difficult but effective strategies that restore the brain’s balance of pleasure and pain and allow us to rediscover passion and find new ways to be free.

Program Information

Objectives

Catalogue the three qualities that make a substance or behavior addictive.
Analyze the effects of compulsive overconsumption and repeated exposure on the function of the brain’s dopamine system.
Develop 5 strategies that restore the balance between pain and pleasure as part of recovery from addiction.

Outline

The adaptive value of dopamine
Dopamine and it’s role in addiction
The pleasure/pain balance
Intervention: resetting the pleasure/pain balance
Rules for safe use of social media: ways to be free

Target Audience

Addiction Counselors
Counselors
Marriage & Family Therapists
Physicians
Psychologists
Social Workers
Other Mental Health Professions

Copyright : 10/07/2022

Soulbriety: Soul Centered Healing From Addiction and Trauma

Recovery is not just about being sober; it’s about true wellness. In this recording we will explore together the unconscious root system, discuss the phenomenology of the soul and the history of the concept in the history of psychotherapy and addiction treatment and recovery, and travel through the individual hero’s journey through addiction and trauma.

Program Information

Objectives

Analyze the phenomenology of “soul” as it’s commonly experienced and been defined in the psychological sciences.
Demonstrate the use of active imagination in addiction treatment and recovery.
Demonstrate story-telling and meaning making in addiction treatment and recovery.

Outline

Exploring the phenomenological experience of soul in addiction recovery
Addiction as a crisis of meaning with existential implications
Three aspects of working with the language of the soul that amplify treatment
Active imagination practices
Story-telling and meaning making practices

Target Audience

Addiction Counselors
Counselors
Marriage & Family Therapists
Physicians
Psychologists
Social Workers
Other Mental Health Professions

Copyright : 10/07/2022

Finding the Wounded Child Inside the Monster: Applying a DBT-Focused Lens to Trauma and Addiction

Studies indicate that approximately 2/3 of all people with substance use disorders report experiencing some form of physical or sexual trauma during childhood. These studies suggest the primacy of utilizing a trauma-focused lens in addressing both addiction and the inherent attachment disturbances and trauma in the treatment space. We’ll cover the key features for successful work with dually-diagnosed client diagnosed with PTSD with Borderline Personality Disorder features and substance abuse disorders. These clients are impacted by early and ongoing developmental trauma. Dr. Webb integrates top-down and bottom-up strategies for addressing the traumatized minds and bodies of clients who have been failed so many times that they have sought “externalized caregivers” in the form of drugs and alcohol. This approach promotes adherence to treatment and strengthens the therapeutic alliance through “authoritative therapy” which promotes a new lens to understand the attachment trauma inherent in PTSD and BPD and to validate the need for a means to regulate an overreactive body and invalidating environment.

Program Information

Objectives

Apply authoritative DBT-based therapy techniques to promote felt safety for clients with complex trauma and addiction.
Demonstrate 4 regulating strategies to client with addiction to manage their overtaxed systems.
Utilize DBT-grounded and embodied skills to help clients reclaim a sense of their worthiness to live after trauma and addiction.

Outline

Trauma and the developing mind
Typical patterns of trauma-related addiction
Unique factors in creating a felt sense of safety with clients experiencing addiction
DBT-based strategies specifically for trauma-based addiction recovery
DBT-based embodied skill building
Meaning making in addiction recovery

Target Audience

Addiction Counselors
Counselors
Marriage & Family Therapists
Physicians
Psychologists
Social Workers
Other Mental Health Professions

Copyright : 10/07/2022

Leveraging Neuroscience to Slow the Cycle of Childhood Trauma and Addiction

Most chemicals that people use to medicate or enhance reality have both risks and benefits, at different times and for different people. Nonetheless, regular use of any mind-altering substance causes the exact opposite states to a drug’s original effects. Chronic stimulants result in lethargy, sedatives lead to anxiety and insomnia, and euphoriants guarantee misery. This session will explain how the brain adapts to addictive drugs by creating the states of craving, tolerance, and dependence that characterize addiction. We’ll address the synergistic influences of genetic predispositions, childhood trauma, and drug use during development that make some people more vulnerable than others.

Program Information

Objectives

Analyze how genetic vulnerabilities, socio-cultural influences, and developmental changes impact the brain to give rise to substance use disorders.
Construct a model demonstrating how the brain adapts to regular drug use by creating an "opponent process" to maintain homeostasis, leading to the hallmarks of addiction: tolerance, dependence and craving.
Theorize how addictive drugs exploit and undermine brain circuits that benefit healthy development.

Outline

What we know about genetic vulnerabilities and socio-cultural influences on the brain that give rise to substance use disorders
The impact of traumatic stress during development
How the brain adapts to drug use
The opponent process and how it leads to the hallmarks of addiction: tolerance, dependence and craving

Target Audience

Addiction Counselors
Counselors
Marriage & Family Therapists
Physicians
Psychologists
Social Workers
Other Mental Health Professions

Copyright : 10/07/2022

Young Adults & the Addictive Cycle: What Lies Beneath

Rates of anxiety and depression among young adults have been skyrocketing for years. Unsurprisingly, an increase in addictive behaviors tracks closely. Although most therapists understand how depression and other clinical issues fuel the addictive cycle, they’re often not aware of how effective treatment for young people differs from approaches targeted toward adults. In this session, presenters explore common experiences negatively impacting this age group as well as practical interventions that elicit and work with young people’s core beliefs to direct treatment. You’ll discover how to:

Uncover critical experiences, such as cyberbully, sexual assault, emotional abandonment, and loss, that often underlie co-occurring disorders
Effectively address clients’ deep-rooted views about themselves and the world
Use practical tools, such as the Addiction Interaction Template and Behavioral Acting Out framework, to offer direction for healing and an understanding of the function of addictive patterns related to behavior
Explore the interplay of trauma and technology

Program Information

Objectives

Distinguish five critical experiences that fuel the mental health and addiction problems of young people.
Implement two practical tools in sessions to disrupt the addictive process.
Theorize how multiple addictions can interact with each other impacting treatment, particularly in youth.
Categorize the stages of the Acting Out cycle.

Outline

Identify five critical experiences that fuel the mental health and addiction problems of young people
Apply the core elements to a healthy treatment process
Describe the interplay of various forms of trauma with use of technology
Describe practical tools for clinical use

Target Audience

Addiction Counselors
Counselors
Marriage & Family Therapists
Physicians
Psychologists
Social Workers
Other Mental Health Professions

Copyright : 10/07/2022

Leveraging Neuroscience in the Treatment & Recovery of Trauma and Addiction

More than 10,000 people die each day from excessive use of mind-altering chemicals. This session will discuss how advances in neuroscience might account for, and help to reduce, suffering from addiction through better treatments. General principles will be applied to illustrate specific risk factors and neural changes associated with addiction to cannabis and opiates, and we’ll brainstorm about how brain science can help inform more effective prevention and intervention efforts.

Program Information

Objectives

Theorize how the endocannabinoid system facilitates the trajectory from child to adult, and why marijuana use during adolescence has negative impacts on brain structure and mental health.
Demonstrate how neural circuits related to stress and pain give rise to opiate addiction, and how finding ways to better cope with these states can facilitate recovery.
Appraise the impact of prenatal and multigenerational effects of addictive drugs foster the cycle of trauma and addiction.

Outline

How the endocannabinoid system facilitates the trajectory from child to adult
Why marijuana use during adolescence has negative impacts on brain structure and mental health
How neural circuits related to stress and pain give rise to opiate addiction, and how finding ways to better cope with these states can facilitate recovery
How prenatal and multigenerational effects of addictive drugs foster a cycle of trauma and addiction

Target Audience

Addiction Counselors
Counselors
Marriage & Family Therapists
Physicians
Psychologists
Social Workers
Other Mental Health Professions

Copyright : 10/07/2022

Grief Yoga from a Chair: Transform Trauma into Resilience

Trauma can be anything that overwhelms our capacity to cope and respond. When feeling helpless and out of control, it’s important to tap into resources that we can turn to feel safe and self-regulate our mind and body. This transformative flow is a guide to feel more centered and present with your breath and body, to safely discharge and release traumatic stress, and to offer more compassion and kindness within to embody resilience.

Program Information

Target Audience

Addiction Counselors
Counselors
Marriage & Family Therapists
Physicians
Psychologists
Social Workers
Other Mental Health Professions

Copyright : 10/07/2022

Navigating Racialized Trauma in the Context of Addictions

In this session, we'll look at the interaction of racialized trauma and addiction, on both the individual and collective levels. Then we'll explore a set of somatic healing practices that can support the healing of both trauma and addiction. Lastly, we'll use the lens of Somatic Abolitionism to examine how we can help our clients create positive feedback loops of growth, emergence, and healing.

Program Information

Objectives

Theorize how racialized trauma and addiction impact one another.
Assessing the distinctions between individual and collective traumatic stress through a racialized lens.
Propose interventions for racialized trauma in the context of addictive behaviors.
Demonstrate 5 interventions for racial trauma in the context of addictive behaviors.

Outline

The Five types of trauma responses
The differences between individual and collective traumatic experiences
How racialized trauma is experienced in the context of addiction
The Five anchors of healing and recovery
Tools of addiction recovery from a racialized trauma perspective
The collective healing of trauma and addiction from a racialized trauma perspective

Target Audience

Addiction Counselors
Counselors
Marriage & Family Therapists
Physicians
Psychologists
Social Workers
Other Mental Health Professions

Copyright : 10/08/2022

Plugged In, Turned On, Burnt Out: How Technology Affects Sexuality and Relationships

Each day we move deeper into a modern era where technology blends into every aspect of our lives, including sexual identities, expressions, courtship behaviors, and relationship formation. However, it can sometimes be hard for therapists to help when things go awry, because of an ever-shifting digital landscape which asks a never-ending question of what is right and what is right now? Change brings needed growth, but also unexpected consequences that we are grappling with in real time. This session provides a basic overview of some of the sexual technology currently out in the world, what may be on the horizon and the joys and challenges new technology bring to an already complex part of our lives.

Program Information

Objectives

Analyze 3 areas beyond pornography where technology has impacted modern sexuality.
Appraise the concept of technostress and how that applies to technology and sexuality.
Conduct assessments with at least 3 new questions related to sexuality and technology that they may add to the assessment process in their therapeutic practice.

Outline

Technology is more than we think it is
The broad spectrum of technology’s affects on sexuality and realationships
Therapeutic, medical, legal, and ethical implications of technological choices
The rise of the phenomena of sexual addiction and tech addictions
Intakes and screening for tech addictions
Uncovering issues early in assessment and treatment

Target Audience

Addiction Counselors
Counselors
Marriage & Family Therapists
Physicians
Psychologists
Social Workers
Other Mental Health Professions

Copyright : 10/08/2022

Where Addiction Recovery Meets Grief Work: A Critical Intersection for Therapy

All grief does not have trauma, but all trauma has grief. Addiction work often needs to include both. In this session, David will cover the intersections of grief, trauma and addiction as a professional who has worked in the field of grief for decades as well as a bereaved father.

Program Information

Objectives

Demonstrate 5 techniques, tools and principles in the field of addiction to help cope with all types of loss.
Propose 3 ways to use meaning to help create purpose.
Propose 2 ways to resolve the internal struggle of related to asking “why?”.
Utilize 2 ways that include new information on brain science to address guilt, shame and stigma associated with grief.

Outline

Meaning-making as a new tool for dealing with addiction
Techniques for strength-based grief counseling
Post traumatic growth vs Post traumatic stress
Seeing loss through the eyes of addiction
Witnessing vs “Fixing” Grief
The consequences of trying to find meaning too early
Loss by Addiction: Meaning-making for healing self-blame
Understand the roles they did and didn’t play in an addiction death
Help Clients Change Their Thinking Around Loss
Strategies to address addiction as an illness
Use positive psychology to increase the possibility of post-traumatic growth
How to decrease catastrophizing after loss
Learn ways to instill good memories instead of painful ones

Target Audience

Addiction Counselors
Counselors
Marriage & Family Therapists
Physicians
Psychologists
Social Workers
Other Mental Health Professions

Copyright : 10/08/2022

Integrative Harm Reduction Psychotherapy (IHRP) for Treating Addiction and Trauma

The widely accepted view of addiction as a disease has contributed an “abstinence-only” treatment system that has failed to be helpful to the large majority of people who struggle with substance use when trauma is a part of the picture. These patients must be welcomed into treatment while they continue to use substances so trauma can be identified and processed as a precondition for addressing the addictive response. This session will introduce an integrative harm reduction psychotherapy that engages people in therapy while they are actively using substances and addresses trauma and addiction simultaneously. A real clinical case of trauma and addiction that was successfully treated by Tatarsky will be presented to illustrate the approach.

Program Information

Objectives

Assess how addictive behavior reflects the interplay of biology, meaning, habit, and social context.
Theorize why the harm reduction stance is often essential to effective treatment of addiction when trauma is in the picture.
Describe seven therapeutic tasks combining relational, CBT, and mindfulness interventions.
Use strategies to address risky behaviors in the treatment of addictions, particularly when traumatic stress is involved.

Outline

Re-framing addiction in a way that supports treatment & recovery
The benefits of harm reduction as a therapeutic frame
Seven therapeutic tasks of harm reduction treatment
Seven strategies for facilitating positive change during harm reduction treatment

Target Audience

Addiction Counselors
Counselors
Marriage & Family Therapists
Physicians
Psychologists
Social Workers
Other Mental Health Professions

Copyright : 10/08/2022

IFS & The Treatment of Addictions: How to Embrace Addictive Parts

Therapists regularly treat clients who struggle with some form of addiction, whether it be from substances, food, gambling, or sex. Unfortunately, the treatment can itself sometimes induce guilt and shame, especially when discussing the negative impact commonly associated with most addictive substances. In this session we’ll discuss IFS therapy, a non-pathologizing treatment modality, helps clients “befriend” their addictive parts in a way that allows them to learn about their positive protective intention.

This product is not endorsed by, sponsored by, or affiliated with the IFS Institute and does not qualify for IFS Institute credits or certification.

Program Information

Objectives

Appraise the IFS model and how it applies to clients experiencing addictions.
Identify at least 2 roles of emotions, pain & trauma within a person to help indicate reasons for common client reactions such as substance abuse, suicidal thoughts, obsessing, conflict avoidance, binging, cutting and more.
Assess a client’s diagnosis and symptoms through IFS.
Summarize the process of befriending addictive parts.
Identify at least one intervention to deal with the conflicts (Polarizations) in relation to addictions.

Outline

The critical first step before trying to stop an addiction
How to offer an alternative solution apart from the addiction to overcome pain
Exploring the traumatic wounds and how they develop into addictions
How to address biology and habits in parallel to trauma recovery

Target Audience

Addiction Counselors
Counselors
Marriage & Family Therapists
Physicians
Psychologists
Social Workers
Other Mental Health Professions

The Seven Tasks of Integrative Harm Reduction Psychotherapy (IHRP): Practical Skills & Strategies

The integrative harm reduction model of therapy practically helps address how trauma and addiction intersect and how to treat both in therapy – without requiring abstinence, pre-conditions to treatment, or imposing pre-conceived values or agendas that can often de-rail treatment of addictions. This session will focus on implementing IHRP’s seven therapeutic tasks. We will demonstrate and practice practical skills and strategies associated with each task that participants can bring to their work.

Program Information

Objectives

Demonstrate Agenda-setting and treatment planning in IHRP.
Propose 4 unique engagement skills to facilitate positive change in trauma and addictions.
Utilize seven therapeutic tasks of IHRP in treating trauma-based addictions.

Outline

The practice of IHRP in dual diagnoses of trauma and addictions
The core harm reduction focus
The unique therapeutic engagement skills in working with addictions
Specific strategies for facilitating positive change

Target Audience

Addiction Counselors
Counselors
Marriage & Family Therapists
Physicians
Psychologists
Social Workers
Other Mental Health Professions

IFS & The Treatment of Addictions: Biology, Healing and Habits

Beneath addiction and traumatic stress lies important neurobiological processes that are altered. We will discuss, through the lens of Internal Family Systems Therapy and neurobiology, how to address behaviors and biological conditions commonly associated with many addictive behaviors and to help clients ultimately heal from the wounds beneath their addictions.

This product is not endorsed by, sponsored by, or affiliated with the IFS Institute and does not qualify for IFS Institute credits or certification.

Program Information

Objectives

Organize the types of behavioral and substance-based addictions and the addictive cycle.
Assess the neurobiological correlates that are altered in traumatic stress and addictions and a person’s sense of self.
Theorize on the impact of trauma and addictions on a person’s sense of self.
Propose three primary targets of psychotherapy for addictions based on neurobiological research.

Outline

Common types and patterns of addiction
The important neurobiology behind the addictive process and how it guides therapy
What many addiction treatments miss: working with the client’s sense of self
Addressing “double trauma”
Current research into psychedelics and addictions
How addictions are healed through the lens of neurobiology

Target Audience

Addiction Counselors
Counselors
Marriage & Family Therapists
Physicians
Psychologists
Social Workers
Other Mental Health Professions

The Myth of Normal in an Insane Culture

In this address, Gabor Mate will discuss how in our hyper-stressed, materialistic society, physical and mental illness are not aberrations but natural outcomes of a way of life inimical to genuine human needs.

Treatment, therefore, must go beyond a focus on symptoms and diagnoses to address the causes of dysfunction from a bio-psycho-social perspective.

Program Information

Outline

Limitations of the Medical Model

Societal Increase of Drug Overdose, Diseases, Mental Health Issues
Mind & Body as Separate
Individuals as Separate from One Another
Individuals as Separate from Environment
Medical Model=Individual Biology
Addictions as Personal Choices or Genetic Pre-Disposition

Interpersonal Biology

Biopsychosocial Model
The Societal Epidemic of Loneliness
A Society that Engenders Isolation & Loneliness
Human Needs & Stressors

Societal Denial of Human Needs

Behavioral-Focused Parenting
Failure to Meet Attachment Needs

Brain Development

Impact of Environment on Brain Development
Impact of Early Childhood Adaptations on Adulthood
Quality of Parental Interaction on Psychological & Brain Development

Trauma

Recognizing Childhood Trauma
Trauma-Informed Care

Target Audience

Psychologists
Physicians
Addiction Counselors
Counselors
Social Workers
Marriage & Family Therapists
Nurses
Other Behavioral Health Professionals

Objectives

Evaluate the current model of behaviorally focused parenting by highlighting how the failure to promote attachment results in an interference of the development of children's brains.
Investigate how the impact of early childhood adaptability impacts adulthood, leading to adults with greater mental health, medical, and substance abuse problems.
Defend the importance of having a trauma-informed understanding when treating clients and the ability to recognize that trauma underlies many of the problems clients present with in psychotherapy and medical treatment.
Appraise how physical and mental illness are natural outcomes of a way of life inimical to genuine human needs, and the ways in which treatment must go beyond a focus on symptoms to address the causes of dysfunction from a bio-psycho-social perspective.

Helping Make the Unbearable Tolerable: Trauma & the Treatment of Addictions

Unlike stress, which resolves itself after the event is over, trauma causes people to become physiologically and mentally stuck — hyper-aroused and/or frozen, unable to manage their bodily arousal systems.

This recording will clarify the neurobiological underpinnings of these broken biological systems, clarify how addictive behaviors of all kinds are invariably rooted in desperate attempts to manage and discuss the evidence-based methods that are available to help re-regulate mind and body.

Program Information

Objectives

Determine the neurobiological underpinnings of the arousal system that lead to trauma and increase clients’ substance abuse and addiction cycle.
Employ several evidence-based methods that foster re-regulation of mind and body that can aid in reduction of symptomology.
Investigate how addictive substances are used as coping mechanisms for unresolved traumatic stress.

Outline

The Neurobiology of Trauma

The body’s arousal system in the face of trauma

The Interplay of Trauma and Addiction

How addictive substances are used as coping mechanisms
Evidence-based methods that can foster re-regulation of the mind and body

Target Audience

Counselors
Social Workers
Psychologists
Psychotherapists
Therapists
Marriage & Family Therapists
Addiction Counselors
Case Managers
Physicians
Nurses
Other Mental Health Professionals