Addiction Professional articles from July 2006

Addiction Professional archives from July 2006

A place for primary care.(Letter From the Editor)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2006... If you haven't yet read details of the COMBINE study that examined treatments for alcohol dependence at 11 academic sites, this partial list of the study's research team should make you take notice: Bankole Johnson, MD, PhD; Raymond Anton, MD;...

Treatment lessons register at end of inmate sentences.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2006... We enjoyed your review of the Barbara Sims book Substance Abuse Treatment with Correctional Clients in the January/February 2006 issue. It caused us to reflect on the relapse prevention groups we're facilitating at the Norfolk County Jail in...

Don't forget effects of drug laws.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2006... Carlton Erickson missed the obvious point of the anecdote with which he opened his commentary about caffeine addiction in the March/April 2006 issue. The reason no one holds up convenience stores at gunpoint to feed a caffeine habit is the same...

Today's meds offer better options.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2006... Regarding your magazine's recent comments on medications to treat addiction, the antimedication advocates in 12-Step programs go back a long way, but in the "old days" they had a better argument. At that time, the only available medications to...

A quick course on alcohol.(Commentary)(Column)
July 1, 2006... In my presentations around the country, I frequently am asked about how alcohol works in the body. Most addiction professionals have a good understanding of how excessive drinking causes problems in individuals and families, but they often are...

Providing a new start through meth treatment: a Texas agency for youths tries to make the most of limited inpatient stays.
July 1, 2006... Cedar Crest Hospital and Residential Treatment Center is located in Belton, Texas, in a largely rural community near the state's center. It serves children ages 4 to 17 from the entire state, and operates its own charter school. It has become...

A blended approach to methamphetamine treatment: the major deficits impeding recovery can be addressed concurrently.(care and treatment)
July 1, 2006... For the person in the grip of methamphetamine addiction, the psychological, behavioral, cognitive, and spiritual elements required for a comfortable existence all have been knocked out of balance. As is stated in the Basic Text of Narcotics...

Life meaning and purpose in addiction recovery: the counselor can help clients identify meaning that fits their value system.
July 1, 2006... Once you have no hope, no goals or no dreams, you're just waitin' to die. God gives you the means to get clean; now what you gonna do with that life? --Voices of recovering addicts in New York City In the transition from...

A moment of truth: effective postrelapse treatment requires a factual, nonjudgmental approach.(care and treatment)
July 1, 2006... The Chinese word for "crisis" translates to mean both danger and opportunity. What an excellent description this offers for the situation facing the relapsed client in danger of a downward spiral, as well as the therapist who can help the...

A new era in drug testing: expanded collection options bring potential for tailored approaches.
July 1, 2006... In the coming months, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will move to expand the kinds of specimens that may be tested under federal agency workplace drug testing programs. The proposed addition of hair, oral fluid, and sweat...

Look into 'Rx-ercise': fitness may be the missing ingredient to building youth resilience.
July 1, 2006... The family of three sat at the table, looking from one to another, then at me. "We are worried about him," the anxious mother admitted to me. "Since he's gotten into middle school he's different. He doesn't talk to us; he spends most of his...

Flexibility matters for DUI population: many offenders do not appear suited for abstinence-based approaches.
July 1, 2006... The profile of many individuals who arrive at treatment because of an offense for driving under the influence does not exactly spell "ideal candidate" for treatment. Many DUI offenders are not inclined to agree that they need to change their...

Catching the beat of the drum: drumming's effect on individuals, groups make it a promising complementary therapy.
July 1, 2006... Ed Mikenas was the director of a girls group home for the city of Lynchburg, Virginia, when he first introduced percussion instruments to a group of teens; the idea was to jam a little to relieve stress. By the end of the next three hours, the...

Treat eating disorders concurrently: treatment will require intensive monitoring at the outset.
July 1, 2006... Treating an addiction to drugs or alcohol along with an eating disorder poses a challenge for even the best practitioners. Unfortunately, professionals encounter this combination of problems frequently. The National Center on Addiction and...

A story of hope for Native Americans.(book review)(Book review)
July 1, 2006... Alcohol Problems in Native America: The Untold Story of Resistance and Recovery--'The Truth About the Lie' Don L. Coyhis and William L. White; White Bison, Inc.; Colorado Springs, Colo., (719) 548-1000; 2006; ISBN: 1-59975-229-8; softcover;...

Meth has captured lawmakers' attention.(Advocacy)
July 1, 2006... The message has been made quite clear: Lawmakers are concerned about methamphetamine, and not only because of the crime and threat to public health it carries with it. Damage to the environment, the threat of injury while it is being...

When the cops are at the door.(Road to Recovery)
July 1, 2006... Addiction professionals have a complex relationship with professionals in the criminal justice system. Sometimes it is hard to tell whether we view each other as partners, adversaries, or "persons of interest." We get referrals from the...

When fighting becomes compulsive: self-dialogue for change.(Adolescent Treatment)
July 1, 2006... The connection between drug use and youth violence has been well documented. The 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse noted that this relationship is "strong," and more recent data from this survey (now called the National Survey on...

Create a learning environment.(Clinical Supervision)
July 1, 2006... It is not uncommon for an experienced counselor to begin feeling somewhat stagnant in the quest for professional growth. Self-doubt about one's effectiveness with clients, and perhaps even disillusionment regarding one's continuation in the...

Group conscience as a source of compassion.(Group Psychotherapy)
July 1, 2006... Of the gifts that we offer recovering addicts in treatment, perhaps the most valuable is compassion. This gift is amplified when the compassion emerges from the therapy group, and is most powerful when the compassion is offered spontaneously,...

Managed care entity and provider partner on meth treatment approach.(Of Note)
July 1, 2006... Managed behavioral healthcare company ValueOptions has partnered with the Arizona Department of Behavioral Health Services and a Maricopa County addiction treatment agency to establish a methamphetamine treatment strategy linked to the county's...

Counselors among targets of foundation's workforce effort.(Of Note)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... A new national initiative established by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation seeks to support improvements in the way healthcare institutions, including addiction treatment agencies, train their direct-care workers. The four-year, $15.3 million...

CBT, incentives work well for marijuana clients.(Of Note)
July 1, 2006... A study of 90 adults diagnosed with marijuana dependence has found that a combination of cognitive-behavioral therapy and vouchers that could be redeemed for movie passes and other items worked better in encouraging abstinence than either of...

Data highlight problem of alcohol abuse in older adults.(Of Note)
July 1, 2006... Nearly half of substance abuse treatment admissions among adults ages 50 and older in 2003 were specifically for alcohol abuse, and a good percentage of these admissions were of first-time visitors to a treatment program, according to a report...

Documentary will chronicle women's recovery climb.(Of Note)
July 1, 2006... The marketing director at Residence XII, a women's addiction treatment center in Kirkland, Washington, is combining her business knowledge and a video production background for a project chronicling the efforts of recovering women as they...

Continuing education quiz.(puzzles)
July 1, 2006... Earn continuing education credits by taking this quiz on the article that begins on page 18 of this issue. A grade of 70% or above will earn you a certificate of completion for two nationally certified continuing education hours. This is an...

Meth education resource.(Addiction Professional Monitor)(Brief article)
July 1, 2006... Hazelden Foundation has launched Meth: Our Nation's Crisis: Toolkit for Change, a multimedia education product to raise community awareness about methamphetamine and to inspire individuals and groups to combat the drug's use. The toolkit...

Smoking-cessation drug.(Addiction Professional Monitor)
July 1, 2006... The Food and Drug Administration has approved Pfizer's antismoking drug Chantix[TM] (varenicline). Chantix is designed to reduce the severity of a smoker's craving and the withdrawal symptoms of nicotine. Moreover, if a person smokes a...

Web-based QI resource.(Addiction Professional Monitor)
July 1, 2006... Danya International, Inc., has launched a Web-based performance measurement resource (www.improveoutcomes.com) designed to enhance the quality of services from addiction treatment programs. ImproveOutcomes.com incorporates performance...

Addiction Professionals conference.(Addiction Professional Monitor)
July 1, 2006... The annual conference of NAADAC, The Association for Addiction Professionals, is September 28 to October 1 in Burbank, California. This year's meeting, with the theme "Strengthening the Addiction Workforce: Building for the Future," is being...

Primer on TC programs.(Addiction Professional Monitor)
July 1, 2006... The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has released the Therapeutic Community Curriculum training package, a collection of information designed to help supervisors educate therapeutic community program staff on the...

A Texas-sized dose of support.(Recovery)
July 1, 2006... Joe Powell worries about the addiction community's hidden majority. He trusts that the recovery support services his Dallas agency promotes can help bring much of the vast untreated population out of society's shadows. "Only about 10% of...

Making purchasing easier.(INTRODUCTION)
July 1, 2006... We know that your agency's purchasing needs are changing consistently. We also realize that as the behavioral health field learns more about what works best administratively and clinically, new product and service options can make the...

Specialty directory.(Directory)
July 1, 2006... ACADEMIC PROGRAMS Hazelden Graduate School of Addiction Studies 15251 Pleasant Valley Road Center City, MN 55012 Contact: Robert Kinne, Director of Marketing Ph. (800) 257-7800 Fax (651) 213-4411 E-mail:...

Company index.(Directory)
July 1, 2006... A Academy of Organizational and Occupational Psychiatry Ph. (877) 789-2667 Web: www.aoop.org ACCESS Capabilities, Inc. Ph. (808) 334-0979 Web: www.accesscapabilities.com Accumedic Computer Systems, Inc. Ph....