Addiction Professional articles from March 2007

Addiction Professional archives from March 2007

Calling for families to act.(Letter From the Editor)
March 1, 2007... If the government's anti-drug efforts have constituted a "War on Drugs," then the authors of a compelling new book would contend that authorities have conducted bombing raids when they should have been engaged in hand-to-hand combat on the...

Delve deeper into the research.(Letter)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... I was grateful to see the recent article on so-called evidence-based interventions (November 2006 issue). Indeed, these claims need to be examined. A recent National Institute on Drug Abuse publication announced the success of low-cost...

Celebrating women's differences: understanding what works in women-only treatment could prove to benefit both sexes.(Feature)(Cover story)
March 1, 2007... With all of the discussion of gender-specific addiction treatment services currently taking place in the field, it is somewhat hard to believe that just over a generation ago almost no organizations were offering gender-separate programs...

The inadequacies of the evidence: flaws in research methodology may result in overselling of certain treatments for addiction.(Feature)
March 1, 2007... It is with growing dismay that we review much of the recent literature in the field of alcohol and other sedative dependence. Our current literature appears to suffer from either a lack of understanding as to what constitutes this addictive...

Oh, those college kids: treatment professionals must learn the culture of academia to help students in need.(Feature)
March 1, 2007... Working with college students can be a daunting task. They are considered adults legally, but exhibit mostly adolescent behaviors and emotions. They act as if they have all the answers, yet tend to make very poor decisions and have an almost...

Decision support can enhance patient care: use of research-based guidelines will complement addiction professionals' decision-making.(Feature)
March 1, 2007... Jane is a behavioral health professional at a community mental health center. One workday morning she gets a message from the insurance company of a client who had a recent backslide, informing her that the client's benefits are exhausted. Jane...

Pharmacotherapy: Integrating New Tools Into Practice.(NAADAC LIFELONG LEARNING SERIES)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... This is the second in a series of six articles designed to provide you with the latest information on the use of medications in alcohol dependence treatment. Medications (pharmacotherapy) used as adjuncts to counseling techniques and...

Medications for alcohol dependence treatment: lessons from the literature.(NAADAC LIFELONG LEARNING SERIES)
March 1, 2007... Recent advances in the treatment of alcohol dependence have made this an exciting time for addiction professionals. New studies have given us more options and directions for treatment, including the use of new medications in combination with...

When will testing and treatment meet? An expert sees clinicians as noncommittal on the merits of drug testing.(Feature)
March 1, 2007... William Judge regrets the quiet passing of the 20-year anniversary of what he considers a seminal moment in the nation's effort to eradicate problem drug use. Last September, the 20th anniversary of President Ronald Reagan's executive order...

Millions of patients: substance abuse in China; Few Chinese are receiving the addiction services they need.(Feature)
March 1, 2007... China will be a major player on the world stage in the 21st century. Business knows well the impact of 1.3 billion customers on the world economy. China is a vast country with 22% of the world's population. But in recent years alcohol use,...

What youths want in a counselor.(Adolescent Treatment)
March 1, 2007... Numerous studies have looked at the relationship between client and therapist. This therapeutic alliance is a fundamental concept that constitutes core learning for all clinicians. Generally, the studies have taken the perspective of the...

Assisting the client's spiritual growth.(Road to Recovery)
March 1, 2007... Most practitioners would agree that recovery has a spiritual component, but when it comes to defining spirituality there remains much disagreement. Because of the many different definitions and the difficulty of measuring spirituality...

Money: the vehicle, not the problem.(The Family Factor)
March 1, 2007... "Sometimes money costs too much." --Ralph Waldo Emerson It follows in a typical progression. The addict needs to get high. In order to get high, he/she needs drugs, and in order to get drugs, he/she needs money. Once the addict has...

Guide counselors on co-occurring issues.(Clinical Supervision)
March 1, 2007... Clinical supervisors play a critical role of ensuring that addiction counselors are not only skilled at distinguishing between symptoms of a primary psychiatric illness and a primary substance use disorder, but also are able to determine...

Understanding group boundaries.(Group Psychotherapy)
March 1, 2007... Boundaries, boundaries, boundaries--we cannot live without them, but can we live with the ones we create? We create boundaries, whether we are aware of them or not, whenever we begin a new group or meet with an already existing one. The most...

The uneasy lives of secret keepers.(Secret Keeping: Overcoming Hidden Habits and Addictions)(Book review)
March 1, 2007... Secret Keeping: Overcoming Hidden Habits and Addictions John Howard Prin; New World Library, Novato, Calif., (415) 884-2100; 2006; ISBN: 1-57731-534-0; softcover; 272 pages; $15.95 Living parallel lives is so complex and so stressful...

Alcoholics' assessment of sleep can predict recovery outcomes.(Of Note)
March 1, 2007... Alcoholics' subjective measures of how well they sleep through the night appear to serve as a better predictor of recovery success than an objective polysomnography assessment does, according to a study published in the December 2006 issue of...

Researcher earns award for study of relapse.(Of Note)(Rudolf H. Moos)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Rudolf H. Moos, PhD, who in 2006 published research showing positive effects on long-term sobriety when individuals pursued treatment within a year of recognizing an alcohol use problem, has won the prestigious Dan Anderson Research Award for...

Crimes attributable to alcohol exact heavy price.(Of Note)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... A study published in the December 2006 issue of the Society for Prevention Research's Prevention Science indicates that crimes that can be attributed to the perpetrator's use of alcohol cost twice as much to society as crimes that can be...

ONDCP conducting summits on drug testing in schools.(Of Note)
March 1, 2007... The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) is sponsoring a series of Student Drug Testing Summits designed to serve as an introduction for school officials who want to learn more about school-based drug testing. The first of...

Data on prescription abuse disappoint federal officials.(Of Note)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Federal officials expressed dismay over what they termed "unacceptably high levels" of prescription opioid use as documented in the 2006 Monitoring the Future survey released in December. The latest survey of youths in grades 8, 10, and 12...

Research will explore alcohol and sexual identity.(Of Note)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... A grant of more than $579,000 from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) will support research exploring the possible link between social stigmatization of sexual identities and individuals' use of alcohol. Amy...

Continuing education quiz.
March 1, 2007... Earn continuing education credits by taking this quiz on the article that begins on page 44 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...

Updated Clinician's Guide.(Addiction Professional Monitor)
March 1, 2007... The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) has issued an updated version of Helping Patients Who Drink Too Much: A Clinician's Guide. New features in the guide include a medications management program consisting of brief,...

Counselor-run educational programs.(Addiction Professional Monitor)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Comprehensive educational programs are available for counselors who seek to improve the range and quality of their services and to increase their sources of revenue. The Managing My Life wellness programs have been used with more than 100,000...

NAADAC annual conference.(Addiction Professional Monitor)(National Association of Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Counselors)
March 1, 2007... Journey Together is the theme of this year's annual conference of NAADAC, The Association for Addiction Professionals, to be held Sept. 5-8 in Nashville, Tennessee. Co-sponsors of this year's conference are the Tennessee Association of...

Book-based online education.(Addiction Professional Monitor)
March 1, 2007... Essential Learning, a provider of e-learning services in the behavioral health and human services industry, and publisher John Wiley & Sons, Inc., have partnered to offer behavioral health professionals continuing education credits through a...

NIATx Summit.(Addiction Professional Monitor)(Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment )(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... The First Annual NIATx Summit is April 23-25 in San Antonio, Texas, presenting an opportunity for providers, payers, and policy makers to convene to improve the quality and outcomes of addiction treatment. The Network for the Improvement of...

Family resources.(Addiction Professional Monitor)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Counselors and other addiction professionals might find that the family members of clients could benefit from the services of Al-Anon Family Groups. The resources of Al-Anon and Alateen can help family members receive the ongoing support they...

An election that erased a stigma.(Recovery)(Donald J. Kurth)
March 1, 2007... Donald J. Kurth, MD, has been arrested, stabbed, mired in homelessness, accused of hiding from a checkered past--in short, branded with just about every label society revels in affixing to the addict. Today, Kurth is greeted with a somewhat...