All Things Substance

• What exactly is addiction? 
• Is addiction a choice or are addicted people victims of circumstance?

Episode 6 is the first part of a series about addiction. This episode defines the components of addiction according to generally recognized authorities like the American Society of Addiction Medicine. It also begins to address the question of whether or not addiction is a choice or a disease with a medical basis. 

In this Podcast 

• Three main sources of reputable information (links below)
• The five main components of addiction which are: inability to consistently abstain, impairment in behavioral control, cravings, decreased ability to recognize problems and dysfunctional emotional response. 
• The above five features are qualities that will be present if there is an addiction
• Beginning assertion that addiction is not a choice. That a person says “yes” to feeling good and did not intend on saying yes to addiction. 
• Addicted people are responsible for what they do while they are using. Addiction does not have to be a choice in order for people to be responsible for their actions. 
• The brain science shows us that addiction is a biological problem

What do I need to be able to work with substance use? What role do specialized substance abuse programs do and how can we work together?

This is the last installment of the five-part discussion about why substance use is absolutely our business and why we all need to know how to assess and treat substance use in our mental health clients.

In this Podcast

• Substance abuse is the business of the mental health world.
• We may not have gotten trained, but we can change that and get the training we need.
• Specialized substance abuse treatment can be a great addition to mental health therapy.
• Substance abuse programs have specific processes for recommending treatment needs and steps for each level to meet a client's needs.
• If you have one available in your area, and your client is willing. Refer them, but keep working with them also.
• If you don't have specialized treatment available you can treat them yourselves.
• We can evolve and get the information we need to meet our clients needs and help them gain more freedom

What do I need to be able to work with substance use? 
What role do specialized substance abuse programs do and how can we work together?

This is the last installment of the five-part discussion about why substance use is absolutely our business and why we all need to know how to assess and treat substance use in our mental health clients. 

In this Podcast 

• Substance abuse is the business of the mental health world.
• We may not have gotten trained, but we can change that and get the training we need. 
• Specialized substance abuse treatment can be a great addition to mental health therapy. 
• Substance abuse programs have specific processes for recommending treatment needs and steps for each level to meet a client’s needs. 
• If you have one available in your area, and your client is willing. Refer them, but keep working with them also.
• If you don’t have specialized treatment available you can treat them yourselves. 
• We can evolve and get the information we need to meet our clients needs and help them gain more freedom

Why is substance abuse important for you to know? How will it help you better serve your clients?

This is part 4 of the five-part discussion about why substance use is absolutely our business and why we all need to know how to assess and treat substance use in our mental health clients.

In this Podcast:

• Some people aren't sure substance abuse is our business. I maintain that it is completely our business.
• It's been overlooked, but I don't think it's been on purpose.
• Relationships are the key and foundation of what we do and a huge part of why people get better.
• Transferring someone can damage your relationship with them and keep them from moving forward.
• You don't have to transfer your clients who use substances. You can treat them yourselves.
• Your clients want you to be competent to handle their use.

Copyright Betsy Byler 2020

Why is substance abuse important for you to know? 
How will it help you better serve your clients?

This is part 4 of the  five-part discussion about why substance use is absolutely our business and why we all need to know how to assess and treat substance use in our mental health clients. 

In this Podcast:

• Some people aren’t sure substance abuse is our business. I maintain that it is completely our business. 
• It’s been overlooked, but I don’t think it's been on purpose.
• Relationships are the key and foundation of what we do and a huge part of why people get better.
• Transferring someone can damage your relationship with them and keep them from moving forward.
• You don’t have to transfer your clients who use substances. You can treat them yourselves. 
• Your clients want you to be competent to handle their use. 

Copyright Betsy Byler 2020

What is being a licensed therapist like? What challenges exist that we didn't anticipate?

This is part 3 of a five-part discussion about why substance use is absolutely our business and why we all need to know how to assess and treat substance use in our mental health clients.

In this Podcast

• One of the first things a new therapist notices is the difficulty with managing all the new clients at once.
• Being a generalist is a necessity when first building a caseload and for several years afterwards.
• Being a generalist has an up and a down side. We learn how to adapt and treat a wide array of people. We also have to rapidly adjust to become all things to all people.
• Having to be competent in so many areas can lead to feelings of conscious incompetence.
• Substance abuse pops up all over and we find out we don't know what we need to address it.

What is being a licensed therapist like? 
What challenges exist that we didn’t anticipate? 

This is part 3 of a five-part discussion about why substance use is absolutely our business and why we all need to know how to assess and treat substance use in our mental health clients. 

In this Podcast 

• One of the first things a new therapist notices is the difficulty with managing all the new clients at once. 
• Being a generalist is a necessity when first building a caseload and for several years afterwards. 
• Being a generalist has an up and a down side. We learn how to adapt and treat a wide array of people. We also have to rapidly adjust to become all things to all people.
• Having to be competent in so many areas can lead to feelings of conscious incompetence.
• Substance abuse pops up all over and we find out we don’t know what we need to address it. 

What happens once we graduate from our master's level training?

Do we really have all the information we need?

This is part 2 of 5 part discussion about why substance use is absolutely our business and why we all need to know how to assess and treat substance use in our mental health clients.

In this Podcast

• Grad school is necessary and the path they give us is good, but incomplete.
• We don't find out that there is more to know until after we are "released into the wilds" of being a therapist.
• One of the main things many of us missed was substance abuse training
• This lack of information sets us up for being underequipped

www.betsybyler.com

What happens once we graduate from our master’s level training? 

Do we really have all the information we need? 

This is part 2 of 5 part discussion about why substance use is absolutely our business and why we all need to know how to assess and treat substance use in our mental health clients. 

In this Podcast 

• Grad school is necessary and the path they give us is good, but incomplete.
• We don’t find out that there is more to know until after we are “released into the wilds” of being a therapist. 
• One of the main things many of us missed was substance abuse training
• This lack of information sets us up for being underequipped

www.betsybyler.com

What does substance use have to do with mental health therapists?

What role should we play in treating substance use?

Part one of a five-part discussion about why substance use is absolutely our business and why we all need to know how to assess and treat substance use in our mental health clients.

In this Podcast

• Each of us have a different story about how we became a therapist, here's mine.
• When we start work as a therapist we find out what skills we have and we also find out what we are missing.
• Many programs had no substance use training or else it was optional.
• Substance use touches all of our clients lives and we need to know how to address it

betsybyler.com