Counseling Addiction & Co-Occurring Disorders

Catalog description

This course will delve deeply into the intricacies of counseling clients with addiction and co-occurring disorders paying special attention to how this population is marginalized and the dominant discourses that influence the standard of care. Co-occurring disorders refers to co-occurring substance use (abuse or dependence) and mental disorders. Course contents include: cultural and contextual factors of the co-occurring population, evolution of the co-occurring disorders (COD) field, the guiding principles in treating clients with COD and strategies, key techniques and treatment planning for working with clients who have COD. This course is one of several expertise/skills courses developed (special attention paid to TAP 21 criteria) to provide the practical knowledge required for successfully navigating credentialing (Certified Addiction Treatment Counselor) examinations. This course is designed to address the needs of students with no prior addiction treatment training as well as provide appropriately challenging coursework that will offer upper division scholarship for an advanced education in addiction studies.