Addiction Professional articles from March 2006

Addiction Professional archives from March 2006

Giving medications another look.(Letter From the Editor)
March 1, 2006... First, an important disclaimer--Mark Publicker, MD, has no financial ties with the pharmaceutical industry. He makes sure his audience understands that as it tries to process what he just said about the antialcohol medication naltrexone. He...

Reader sees no miracle in latest drug.(Letter)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2006... Georgette Jungels' article in the November 2005 issue, "Maximizing Use of Medication in a Counseling Practice," fails to mention what a four-page advertisement for Suboxone later in the issue makes clear. Suboxone is controlled as a Schedule...

Addicted to speculation about caffeine.(caffeine addiction and associated risks)
March 1, 2006... Here's a news item you won't likely see: A man held up a convenience store at gunpoint, stealing the coffeepot, six cases of cola drinks, and a case of Red Bull. He screamed that he was in severe withdrawal and desperate for a fix. He...

Back to school: counseling college substance abusers; Counselors may be wise to eschew traditional treatment approaches.(Cover story)
March 1, 2006... The association between substance use and college life dates back as far as the origins of higher education itself. One of Harvard College's first construction projects involved building a brewery on campus so that a steady supply of beer could...

Embracing a new medication option: a carefully designed buprenorphine protocol benefits a center's clients.
March 1, 2006... In October 2002 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Subutex and Suboxone for treatment of opioid addiction. These sublingually administered formulations of the partial opioid agonist buprenorphine were the first medications for...

The clinical staffing: it works like an intervention; Clients can benefit when the two processes are more closely integrated.
March 1, 2006... One hundred years ago, when Albert Einstein noted that mass and energy were one in the same, he turned the world on its head. A century later, this therapist has come to the conclusion that clinical staffings and formal interventions are...

Assessing a client's nutritional status: counselors can learn to detect common signs of malnutrition in addicts.
March 1, 2006... While the primary goal of addiction counseling is to assist the client to alter behavior related to use of addictive chemicals, a secondary goal is to help the client recover from the damage done to his/her life and body. A balanced diet has...

Maximizing the benefits of online therapy: counselors need new skills to achieve 'virtual intimacy' with clients.
March 1, 2006... During the past decade, we have seen explosive growth in modes of communication using computers and the Internet. The reality of online treatment services is unfolding as the behavioral health field, whether willingly or reluctantly, approaches...

Reaching the 18-to-25 demographic: treatment should speak to goals that matter to young adults.(rehabilitation counselors management)
March 1, 2006... At age 20, Zack dropped out of college after only one semester. He had failed each of his classes, although he had been an above-average student in high school. When Zack returned home to live with his parents, his mood was unpredictable, and...

A direct contact after discharge: Connecticut agencies test telephone recovery support conducted by peers.
March 1, 2006... The Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) has embraced the concept of recovery as the guiding framework for the services it provides. This has become part of a major initiative to transform adult behavioral...

Memory, motivation, and maintenance: the addict must remember past suffering without being consumed by guilt.
March 1, 2006... Tune in to the thoughts of any addict or alcoholic deciding to take the first drink/drug of relapse. If you do not hear the exact words in the graphic, it often will be something very similar. You will hear these fateful cliches in first-time...

Gender matters in the counseling setting: gender-sensitive treatment can enhance women's gains.
March 1, 2006... Throughout history, differences between men and women have been explored with a diversity of opinions postulated. It should come as no surprise, then, that this area of inquiry would arise in the addiction field, as well. Addiction is a...

Understanding the client's 'type': a widely used personality tool can help professionals tailor treatment.(personality types )
March 1, 2006... Practitioners in recovery work need an approach that is effective with a variety of people representing an entire spectrum of personality types. This diversity explains why a good relapse prevention strategy for one person may be disastrous for...

Give clients the license to laugh.(Road to Recovery)
March 1, 2006... When comedian Chris Rock was in school, his teachers told him he had better settle down and get serious, because he wasn't going to be able to joke his way through life. Luckily, he didn't listen. (1) Perhaps therapists are making a similar...

Help youths understand needs, fulfill them productively.(Adolescent Treatment)
March 1, 2006... Recent literature suggests that the level of alcohol and other drug dependence in the adolescent population requires the presence of treatment services tailored to youths' unique needs. (1) The federally supported Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome...

Mentors can be found just about everywhere.(Clinical Supervision)
March 1, 2006... Have you ever had a supervisor who expected to bring out the best in you, who seemed demanding, and who, at times, made you feel you could have done things a little better? I did. However, this individual also had a much stronger belief in me...

Writing as a group endeavor.(Group Psychotherapy)
March 1, 2006... After inviting you to join me in my explorations of group process in cyberspace in the November 2005 issue, and writing in the January/February issue about the vicissitudes of hugging/physical contact in groups, I now would like to share with...

Are 'the basics' more important than innovation?(Behavioral Health of the Palm Beaches services)
March 1, 2006... Behavioral Health of the Palm Beaches (BHOPB) is a residential alcoholism and drug abuse treatment facility in Lake Worth, Florida. The desire to provide the best possible treatment for our patients has led us to seek innovative treatment...

Pain relief without relapse.
March 1, 2006... Pain-Free Living for Drug-Free People: A Guide for Pain Management in Recovery Marvin D. Seppala, MD, and David P. Martin, MD, PhD, with Joseph Moriarity; Hazelden Publishing and Educational Services, Center City, Minn., (800) 328-9000;...

Cost-effectiveness study confirms earlier findings.(Of Note)(costs of addiction treatment)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... A new study from researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) reports a 7-to-1 ratio of monetary benefits to addiction treatment dollars spent, a finding identical to that of the 1994 California Drug and Alcohol Treatment...

Injectable naltrexone moves closer to approval.(Of Note)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... The makers of an extended-release, injectable form of the medication naltrexone to treat alcohol dependence learned in December that they are just a couple of procedural details away from being able to market their drug in the United States....

Drug abusers prone to bacterial infections.(Of Note)
March 1, 2006... Researchers have reported a link between illegal drug abuse and susceptibility to dangerous bacterial infections, indicating that both viral illnesses such as HIV and bacterial illnesses threaten the health of drug abusers. Reporting in the...

Study seeks to close research-to-practice gap.(Of Note)(behavioral couples therapy)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... The University at Buffalo Research Institute on Addictions will use the subject of behavioral couples therapy in a study designed to narrow the gap between addiction research and professional practice. Under a $1.6 million grant from the...

National PSA campaign aims at underage drinking.(Of Note)
March 1, 2006... A federally sponsored meeting on underage drinking last fall opened with an announcement of the launch of a national public awareness campaign that will ask parents to speak with their children in an effort to curb underage alcohol use. ...

Radio talk show explores recovery.(Of Note)
March 1, 2006... A nonprofit addiction recovery organization whose president is one of the addiction field's pioneers has taken to the radio airwaves to spread its message nationally. The Seattle-based Alliance for Recovery's RECOVERY--Coast to Coast began...

Continuing education quiz.
March 1, 2006... Earn continuing education credits by taking this quiz on the article that begins on page 10 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...