All Things Substance

It's not easy to hear the stories of pain and suffering day in and day out. We chose this path because we have a passion for helping others, but that doesn't mean it's always smooth sailing. In fact, the longer we do this work, the harder it can become. That's why we're here to talk about how we can avoid burnout, find joy in our work, and build resilience as therapists.

Screening for substance use allows you to provide comprehensive care to your clients. By assessing their substance use patterns, you gain valuable insights into how their substance use may be contributing to their mental health challenges. This holistic approach enables you to tailor treatment plans to account for how they are using substances in their lives. But how do we start? Today we'll talk about this topic as we prepare for the main event, Braving the Course, coming up 1 week from today!

As we continue talking about the intersection of trauma and substance use work, in today's episode Jenny is going to be sharing an important skill with us that is designed to help us not just survive the work we do. It's built to help us be resilient and to be able to do what we love without burning out.

Want to treat trauma and substance use with confidence? We've got you covered! Today we're joining together in this episode to talk about the intersection between substance use and trauma. We are so excited to bring our live event Braving the Course to you this August. This is part 1 of 4 podcast episodes to get us ready for Braving the Course, which will give you the tangible skills to thrive while working with trauma and substance use.

Gambling addiction brings to mind a certain image for many of us. There are so many ways gambling exists and scams people out of their money. I wanted to find out about gambling assessment and treatment. So I had the chance to interview a fellow therapist who happens to specialize in gambling addiction and I want to share it with you.

If you google "substance use CEU", there are a ton of results. How do you even know where to start and what to pick? I'm about to make a bold statement, I know what you need to know to work with substance use and I can teach it to you in 6 weeks. I'm so excited to announce Charting the Course, my 6 week live taught course to give you what you need to feel confident and competent in addressing client substance use. Check out today's episode to hear all about it.

Secondary gain is a powerful thing. It impacts behavior in ways that we wouldn't think of, but when it comes to substance use it's an important factor in making long lasting change. Today, we'll talk about the concept of secondary gain.

People change because they want to or because they have to. When neither of those things are true, change isn't going to happen. For substance use, the "readiness to change" may be the single biggest factor in someone making long-lasting change in their relationship with their substance of choice.

Just say no. You should just quit. So and so just stopped doing it, so can you. Some people believe that willpower should be all someone needs to overcome addiction. Willpower is a part of how people make change and make new habits. But willpower isn't enough to overcome addiction.

In the addiction treatment world, abstinence and harm reduction can often be seen as contrary to each other. We need both models available in order to truly help clients. Our goal is to meet clients where they are and help walk with them to building a life worth living sober.