Addiction Professional articles from November 2006

Addiction Professional archives from November 2006

Clinicians took their morning meds.(Letter From the Editor)(Letter to the editor)
November 1, 2006... The breakfast line for a Sept. 30 session at the annual conference of NAADAC, The Association for Addiction Professionals snaked into the hallway and practically outside the doors of the Burbank, California, conference center. But what these...

Be more precise with terminology.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
November 1, 2006... The July/August 2006 issue includes the following cover headline: "Restore Balance in the Meth-Impaired Client." The use of abbreviations should be discouraged in addiction medicine. Is the "meth" in the headline referring to methadone or...

A refreshing new outlook on pain medication.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
November 1, 2006... Thank you so very much for the feature article on pain management by Sharon Morgillo-Freeman in the May/June 2006 issue. It confirms and supports all that we are doing at Stewart-Marchman Center in Daytona Beach, Florida. [ILLUSTRATION...

Listing candy in article raises concern.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
November 1, 2006... I appreciated Maxim Furek's review of some items commonly ingested "on the street" (May/June 2006 issue). I am concerned about elevating candy, which contains no drug, no mood-altering substance, and nothing more out of the norm than...

The placebo effect: say it isn't so.(Commentary)
November 1, 2006... Most clinicians have heard of placebo-controlled studies, but how important are such studies, and what is a placebo? As a pharmacologist, I believe very few therapies, including those for chemical dependency, do not involve a placebo outcome....

A memoir fuels the conversation: William Cope Moyers sees opportunities in the dialogue around his new book.(Book review)
November 1, 2006... "Wherever people are in the black hole of addiction--whether it is at the edge of a loved one's battle with drugs, in a horrifying fight of one's own, or standing amid the devastation caused by death, even suicide--I want them to know that...

Evidence-based practices: promotion or performance? Field must look beyond the surface to determine what works.
November 1, 2006... Evidence-based practices" are the current buzzword in the behavioral health field. Without question, the development and promotion of effective prevention and clinical treatment services are worthy goals. However, we also must be vigilant that...

Mandated clients finding their way: evidence indicates promising results for clients court-ordered to treatment.
November 1, 2006... Research, and the experience of justice and treatment professionals nationwide, is calling into question the notion that an individual with an addiction has to want help to benefit from it. Analyses of clients who are mandated into treatment...

Journeys in the justice system: four professionals see progress in the treatment-focused approach for offenders.
November 1, 2006... The United States has the largest population of incarcerated people on the planet, and drug policy reform advocates say that more than one-quarter of the individuals filling our state prisons are there for drug offenses. And that number doesn't...

The Ferris wheel: understanding FASD; Compassion, flexibility are important elements in treating young clients affected by prenatal alcohol exposure.
November 1, 2006... Our current work involves providing treatment to adolescents and young adults who present with an array of struggles that include behavioral problems, school problems, mental health concerns, involvement in the criminal justice system, and...

A mindful recovery: mindfulness meditation practices can help clients, even in the earliest detox stages.
November 1, 2006... It is 1 p.m., and just as I have done every Tuesday for the past eight months, I press the magnetic strip of my ID badge against the black plastic sensor outside the locked double doors of the Detox East Unit at Tarzana Treatment Centers. The...

When marijuana is the drug of choice: youths' perceptions about the drug can cloud prospects for effective treatment.
November 1, 2006... Marijuana is the most widely abused illegal drug in this country, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). The 2004 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that more than 2 million Americans begin to experiment with...

Adolescent substance abuse and suicide: substance use often linked to suicidality, but dynamics vary.
November 1, 2006... More and more substance abuse counselors, mental health professionals, and justice system officers are observing adolescents who present with a history of suicidal ideation and attempts. An important issue in examining this population involves...

Keeping choices in the client's hands.(Road to Recovery)
November 1, 2006... Clients who enter substance abuse treatment usually have made some really bad choices. It is not surprising that some programs and self-help groups ask substance abusers to abandon their own decision-making process in favor of following a set...

Assisting youth development of responsibility.(Adolescent Treatment)
November 1, 2006... Working with addicted adolescents can be challenging for professionals and parents alike. Adolescents are often very good at getting all parties involved in ensuring their success, and it can become more important for the adult than the...

Emotional intelligence and supervision.(Clinical Supervision)
November 1, 2006... Clinical supervisors wear many hats. Among our roles we are mentors, guides, educators, and sounding boards. We also are role models. Those we supervise readily see much of what we do and say and how we interact with others, and either admire...

Look beyond surface for eating issues.(Group Psychotherapy)
November 1, 2006... Those of us who work with chemical dependence as the major form of addiction that we see in our group members may be thrown for a loop when confronted with a group member who has an eating disorder. We have very simple instructions for our...

Strategies for assisting the substance-exposed child.(Prenatal Exposure to Drugs/Alcohol (2nd ed.))(Book review)
November 1, 2006... Prenatal Exposure to Drugs/Alcohol (2nd ed.) Jeanette M. Soby; Charles C. Thomas, Publisher; Springfield, Ill., (800) 258-8980; 2006; ISBN: 0-398-07634-0; hardcover; 172 pages; $44.95 This is an important book for anyone, professional...

Malibu center hosts series on innovative treatments.(Of Note)
November 1, 2006... The Renaissance Malibu addiction treatment facility in California is serving as the backdrop for an Internet radio series designed to address new ideas and approaches in the treatment of addictions. Addiction and Transformation airs each Friday...

Researchers study receptor with possible link to relapse.(Of Note)
November 1, 2006... A new study indicates that a specific receptor for a stress-response transmitter may play a significant role in alcoholism's defining characteristic of stress-induced relapse. The study was first published online in the early edition of the...

New data offer clearer picture of methamphetamine use prevalence.(Of Note)
November 1, 2006... The latest methamphetamine-related statistics released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) offer state officials an unprecedented level of detail on use prevalence among various age groups in their...

Play about recovery completes N.Y. run.(Of Note)(Visions)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... Visions, a play about addiction and the promise of 12-Step recovery that has reached more than 20,000 people in locations such as treatment centers, shelters, and correctional facilities, was scheduled to complete a weeklong run in New York...

NCCBH members receive SAMHSA grants for youth services.(Of Note)
November 1, 2006... Offering further evidence that community-based behavioral health agencies are offering innovative addiction treatment services to meet local needs, seven member agencies in the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare (NCCBH) were...

Continuing education quiz.
November 1, 2006... Earn continuing education credits by taking this quiz on the article that begins on page 14 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...

New women's recovery facility.(Addiction Professional Monitor)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... The Hazelden Foundation has opened a new Women's Recovery Center in Center City, Minnesota. The 41,000-square-foot building represents the completion of the first phase of the Women's Recovery Center development. Renovations to Hazelden's...

Transition help for clients.(Addiction Professional Monitor)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... Sober Escorts, Inc., offers support to residential treatment clients as they negotiate the transition between a structured treatment setting and life back in the community. Residential treatment programs can help clients arrange to have an...

Stimulant treatment guide.(Addiction Professional Monitor)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has released a publication package that outlines the Matrix intensive outpatient treatment model for treatment of methamphetamine or cocaine abuse and dependence. Matrix...

Workforce conference.(Addiction Professional Monitor)
November 1, 2006... Workforce Development in the Addiction and Mental Health Industries is a conference to be held in Denver in the late winter/early spring. Instructors Terence T. Gorski, president of the CENAPS Corporation, and Frank Lisnow, director of CeDAR at...

Recovery guide for immediate help.(Addiction Professional Monitor)(Enough Already!)(Brief article)(Book review)
November 1, 2006... Enough Already! A Guide to Recovery from Alcohol and Drug Addiction is designed to offer referring agents a recovery tool they can use for immediate outreach to individuals seeking addiction services. Author Bob Tyler, CADC II, ICADC, offers...

A church that needed a miracle.(Recovery)
November 1, 2006... Endless attempts to revive a moribund Central Park United Methodist Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, produced one flop after another. Who would have guessed that the church's true calling resided in the recovery history of its pastor and a group...