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Study Materials: Learn About the Addiction Counseling Field

February 7, 2013 8:54 am

Hello dear readers and subscribers,

This is just a quick reminder of the new study materials available for you to download, print, share, etc…

Visit the Downloads page to download documents in pdf.

Visit the Resources page for suggested textbooks, websites, videos, and more…all about the substance abuse counseling field.

Visit the Online Quizzes for links to practice quizzes. No passwords or any other requirements are needed.

Visit the home page (click on header image) to check out the headlines of my posts from my other blogs.

Remember: The study guide for IC&RC ADC exam will be moved to my Blogger blog http://lcdcecstudyguide.blogspot.com/. The WordPress blog (the one you are reading right now) will still have some of the previous content from the study guide. However, I will publish many other things that are not included on the test.

I hope this is helpful. Feel free to contact me with any questions and suggestions you have.

Counselor Developmental Levels

February 3, 2013 11:43 am

From one of my favorite SAMHSA Publications

TIP 52 – Clinical Supervision and Professional Development of the Substance Abuse Counselor

Each counselor goes through different stages of development. The movement through these stages is not always linear and can be affected by changes in assignment, setting, and population served.

Go to my Downloads page to download this table and TIP 52.

Effective Counseling Skills

February 3, 2013 8:33 am / 2 Comments on Effective Counseling Skills

Shared by contributor Yvette McBride Thomas

Hello everybody!

Here is the pdf document that you can download.

Effective Counseling Skills

Let me know if you have any problems downloading the document.

Good day!

Your Recovery Plan – Nutrition Is Key

January 29, 2013 2:56 pm / 3 Comments on Your Recovery Plan – Nutrition Is Key

12 Steps; support groups; counseling; do-this-not-that…all this is important during substance abuse recovery but, what about a good nutrition?

Have you noticed that most people get angry, moody, or depressed when they are hungry and don’t eat for several hours? This is a natural response when our body is being deprived from the nutrients it needs. A good nutrition is especially important during recovery from substance abuse. Feelings of sadness, anger, frustration, and hunger can be triggers for a potential relapse. We don’t think about it this way but when we are hungry our body is needing something, is asking for something. Many times people get rid of these sensations by using alcohol or drugs, so they don’t have to feel hungry anymore. During recovery, the body continues to crave not only basic things such as food, water, and sex (basic needs) but also the cravings for the drug of choice.

Your recovery plan. We don’t have to be dietitians or nutritionists,

Recovery Through Nutrition

nor do we want to pretend to be one, to advice our clients that a proper nutrition is key during recovery from addiction. Just as we advice them to go to 12 Step-meetings, support groups, and counseling, we can also advice them to add an exercise routine and a proper nutritious diet to their recovery plan.

Break the cycle. Keep in mind that the brains of substance abusers have been conditioned to seek pleasure and avoid pain. The pleasure seeking behavior is the craving for the drug. If your diet is based on junk food, sodas, and sweets, you are only feeding the cycle of addiction, not your body!

Anyone, whether they suffer from addiction or not, experiences a form of depression, weakness, and lack of motivation when they are deprived from food. People in recovery can prevent a relapse by paying attention to HALT: avoid getting too hungry, angry, lonely, or tired, because these could be triggers.

Here is an article from my blog about recovery and wellness coaching. Thanks for reading!

Aloe Miracle Nutrition: Recovery And Wellness Through Nutrition.

8 Practice Domains of Substance Abuse Counselors

January 28, 2013 7:07 pm

8 Practice Domains – 137 Questions on the IC&RC ADC Exam

Domain 1: Clinical Evaluation – 24 questions

• Demonstrate effective verbal and non-verbal communication to establish rapport.
• Discuss with the client the rationale, purpose, and procedures associated with the screening and assessment process to facilitate client understanding and cooperation.
• Assess client’s current situation, including signs and symptoms of intoxication and withdrawal, by evaluating observed behavior and other available information to determine client’s immediate needs.
• Administer the appropriate screening and assessment instruments specific to the client’s age, developmental level, culture, and gender in order to obtain objective data to further assess client’s current problems and needs.
• Obtain relevant history and related information from the client and other pertinent sources in order to establish eligibility and appropriateness to facilitate the assessment process.
• Screen and assess for physical, medical, and co-occurring disorders that might require additional assessment and referral.
• Interpret results of data in order to integrate all available information, formulate diagnostic impressions, and determine an appropriate course of action.
• Develop a written summary of the results of the assessment in order to document and support the diagnostic impressions and treatment recommendations.

Domain 2: Treatment Planning – 20 questions

• Discuss diagnostic assessment and recommendations with the client and concerned others to initiate an individualized treatment plan that incorporates client’s strengths, needs, abilities, and preferences.
• Formulate and prioritize mutually agreed upon problems, immediate and long-term goals, measurable objectives, and treatment methods based upon assessment findings for the purpose of facilitating a course of treatment.
• Use ongoing assessment and collaboration with the client to review and modify the treatment plan to address treatment needs.

Domain 3: Referral – 10 questions

• Identify client needs which cannot be met in the current treatment setting.
• Match client needs with community resources considering client’s abilities, gender, sexual orientation, developmental level, culture, ethnicity, age, and health status to remove barriers and facilitate positive client outcomes.
• Identify referral needs differentiating between client self-referral and direct counselor referral.
• Explain to the client the rationale for the referral to facilitate the client’s participation with community resources.
• Continually evaluate referral sources to determine effectiveness and outcome of the referral.

Domain 4: Service Coordination – 10 questions

• Identify and maintain information about current community resources in order to meet identified client needs.
• Communicate with community resources concerning relevant client information to meet the identified needs of the client.
• Advocate for the client in areas of identified needs to facilitate continuity of care.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of case management activities through collaboration with the client, treatment team members, and community resources to ensure quality service coordination.
• Consult with the client, family, and concerned others to make appropriate changes to the treatment plan ensuring progress toward treatment goals.
• Prepare accurate and concise screening, intake, and assessment documents.

Domain 5: Counseling – 33 questions

• Develop a therapeutic relationship with clients, families, and concerned others in order to facilitate self-exploration, disclosure, and problem solving.
• Educate the client regarding the structure, expectations, and limitations of the counseling process.
• Utilize individual and group counseling strategies and modalities to match the interventions with the client’s level of readiness.
• Continually evaluate the client’s level of risk regarding personal safety and relapse potential in order to anticipate and respond to crisis situations.
• Apply selected counseling strategies in order to enhance treatment effectiveness and facilitate progress towards completion of treatment objectives.
• Adapt counseling strategies to match the client’s needs including abilities, gender, sexual orientation, developmental level, culture, ethnicity, age, and health status.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of counseling strategies based on the client’s progress in order to determine the need to modify treatment strategies and treatment objectives.
• Develop an effective continuum of recovery plan with the client in order to strengthen ongoing recovery outside of primary treatment.
• Assist families and concerned others in understanding substance use disorders and utilizing strategies that sustain recovery and maintain healthy relationships.
• Document counseling activity to record all relevant aspects of treatment

Domain 6: Client, Family, and Community Education – 15 questions

• Provide culturally relevant formal and informal education that raises awareness of substance use, prevention, and recovery.
• Provide education on issues of cultural identity, ethnic background, age, sexual orientation, and gender in prevention, treatment, and recovery.
• Provide education on health and high-risk behaviors associated with substance use, including transmission and prevention of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, sexually transmitted infections, hepatitis, and other infectious diseases.
• Provide education on life skills, including but not limited to, stress management, relaxation, communication, assertiveness, and refusal skills.
Provide education on the biological, medical, and physical aspects of substance use to develop an understanding of the effects of chemical substances on the body.
• Provide education on the emotional, cognitive, and behavioral aspects of substance use to develop an understanding of the psychological aspects of substance use, abuse, and addiction.
• Provide education on the sociological and environmental effect of substance use to develop an understanding of the impact of substance use on the affected family systems.
• Provide education on the continuum of care and resources available to develop an understanding of prevention, intervention, treatment, and recovery.

Domain 7: Documentation – 17 questions

• Protect client’s rights to privacy and confidentiality according to best practices in preparation and handling of records, especially regarding the communication of client information with third parties.
• Obtain written consent to release information from the client and/or legal guardian, according to best practices and administrative rules, to exchange relevant client information with other service providers.
• Document treatment and continuing care plans that are consistent with best practices and applicable administrative rules.
• Document client’s progress in relation to treatment goals and objectives.
• Prepare accurate and concise reports and records including recommendations, referrals, case consultations, legal reports, family sessions, and discharge summaries.
• Document all relevant aspects of case management activities to assure continuity of care.
• Document process, progress, and outcome measurements.

Domain 8: Professional and Ethical Responsibilities – 21 questions

• Adhere to established professional codes of ethics and standards of practice in order to promote the best interests of the client and the profession.
• Adhere to jurisdictionally-specific rules and regulations regarding best practices in substance use disorder treatment in order to protect and promote client rights.
• Recognize individual differences of the counselor and the client by gaining knowledge about personality, cultures, lifestyles, gender, sexual orientation, special needs, and other factors influencing client behavior to provide services that are sensitive to the
uniqueness of the individual.
• Continue professional development through education, self-evaluation, clinical supervision, and consultation in order to maintain competence and enhance professional effectiveness.
• Identify and evaluate client issues that are outside of the counselor’s scope of practice and refer to other professionals as indicated.
• Advocate for populations affected by substance use and addiction by initiating and maintaining effective relations with professionals, government entities, and communities to promote availability of quality services.
• Apply current counseling and psychoactive substance use research literature to improve client care and enhance professional growth.

Reference: IC&RC Candidate Guide
Re-blogged from LCDC Exam Review (WordPress)

LCDC Exceptional Counselor Study Guide – Get Ready With Me

January 27, 2013 11:45 am

Hello readers and subscribers!

I invite you to visit and subscribe to the new blog/study guide LCDC Exceptional Counselor Study Guide (link below). Keep reading to know why 😉

What’s the difference between the two?

LCDC Exceptional Counselor Study Guide (new blog) will publish information exclusively to prepare for the IC&RC ADC exam. I will follow the IC&RC Candidate’s Guide to make sure that only relevant information for the exam gets published here. Visit the new blog to learn more about the structure of the IC&RC certification exam.

LCDC Exam Review will continue to publish information for all things substance abuse counseling. All this knowledge is good to have, but a lot of these things are not going to be included on the certification exam such as research articles on addiction science or the topics discussed in the internship/classes forum. LCDC Exam Review will post announcements (when necessary) and reblogs on articles that I consider worth reading to enhance our understanding of addiction and addiction counseling. So, as you can see, this is a lot of information that doesn’t need to be on the study guide.

Come check it out and stay tuned to the upcoming posts for the  areas that cover the IC&RC exam study guide.

Thanks and see you soon!

Samantha DeLint

LCDC Exceptional Counselor Study Guide – Get Ready With Me.

 

Marijuana – Understanding Addiction

January 26, 2013 6:50 pm

• Marijuana is a leafy material from the cannabis plant that is smoked.
• You can make rope and other materials from C. sativa because it is cultivated into hemp.
• Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the primary psychoactive agent in cannabis. Most of the THC is present in the flowering tops of the plant. The leaves and stock have some but much less.
• Hashish is the most potent. It is not found in the US very often.
• Sinsemilla is the high potency marijuana made from female plant.
• Chinese emperor Shen Nung made the first reference to cannabis in a pharmacy book in 2737 BC. He recommended it for many small medical uses.
• Social use spread in 1000 AD to the Muslim world and North Africa.
• During the 1840’s many writers and artists used hashish and expressed it in their writings.
• As the end of the 19th century approached, the use of psychoactive drugs increased and hashish held little interest in middle America.
• In 1926 a series of articles associating marijuana and crime appeared in a New Orleans newspaper.
• Thirty-six states had laws regulating the use, sale and/or possession of marijuana by 1935.
• Many laws were based on, and developed, because of popular literature linking marijuana to crime, and not because of the effect of the drug.
• Scientific American reported in 1939 that marijuana, when combined with intoxicants, makes the user have a desire to fight and kill.
• Many newspaper reports were similar and blamed marijuana for killing and fighting.
• The problem was that there was no medical evidence to support the relationship between marijuana and crime.
• The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 was passed without much debate. It was a tax law so it did not outlaw marijuana – just taxed it.
• One medical doctor testified against the bill because he felt the states anti-marijuana laws were adequate and that the social-menace case against cannabis had not been proven.
• In the 1950’s and 60’s scientific research on cannabis declined but use went up.
• There are more then 400 chemicals in marijuana but only 66 of them are unique to cannabis.
• THC was isolated and synthesized in 1964 and is clearly the most pharmacologically active.
• THC is rapidly absorbed into the blood and distributed first to the brain. Peak psychological and cardiovascular effects occur within 5 to 10 minutes but have a half-life of 19 hours.
• THC can be found in the body for over one week. The longer and more regular the usage, the longer THC can be found in the body.
• THC is known to bind to two receptors located in the cerebellum, the hippocampus, the cerebral cortex and the nucleus accumbens. Others are located throughout the body.
• A consistent, acute, physiological effect of smoking marijuana and oral THC is an increase in heart rate.
• Recent studies demonstrate that animals will consistently self-administer Cannabinoid in laboratory experiments.
• Epidemiological data shows us that marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug in the world and that Americans have sought treatment for marijuana abuse and dependence more than any other illicit drug.
• Cannabis never attained the medical status of opium.
• One problem with medical research is the variability of cannabis.
• In 1941 cannabis was dropped from The National Formulary and The US Pharmacopoeia.
• The development of better drugs, the variability of the available medicinal cannabis, the insolubility of it in water, thus not amenable to be injectable, and if the unusually long latency of effect if taken orally all lead to the decline inmedical use of cannabis.
• In 1972 a new report showed that marijuana smoking was effective in reducing the fluid pressure in the eyes of glaucoma patients.
• Another medical use was reported in 1975. THC was found to help with severe nausea suffered by those taking certain cancer treating drugs.
• The FDA licensed a drug company to make a pill form of THC for treatment of the nausea in cancer patients in 1985 and extended the use to AIDS patients in 1993.
• The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) pushed to have marijuana moved from a Schedule I to Schedule II so it can be prescribed to patients.
• In 1992 the DEA said that there was “insufficient evidence” to justify rescheduling marijuana because THC pills were available.
• According to the DSM-IVTR marijuana does not have withdrawal effects. There are some studies that show that there is such a thing.
• The acute physiological effects of marijuana have not been seen to be life threatening. There have been no reported deaths from overdose of THC.
• There is no clear decision on if marijuana impairs driving. Studies done in a lab, with non-regular marijuana users, show there are significant impairments. Studies done on drivers involved in car accidents show there is not an over-representation of marijuana use.
• A panic reaction is another problem with marijuana intoxication. This reaction is most common among less experienced marijuana users.
• Total tar levels, carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide and nirosamines are found in similar amounts in tobacco cigarettes and marijuana cigarettes. Benzopyrene is found in greater amounts in marijuana but few users smoke 20 marijuana cigarettes at one time.
• Heavy marijuana smoking can decrease testosterone levels and diminish sperm counts. Sperm structure also can be altered.
• Lower birth weight and shorter length at birth are reported in mothers who smoked during pregnancy. The problem is that most women who are smoking marijuana are also drinking and smoking tobacco during the pregnancy.
• Chronic, heavy marijuana smokers have been seen to be have diminished motivation, impaired ability to learn and experience family problems. If they stop smoking and remain in counseling, the condition can improve. This would seam to indicate a constant state of intoxication rather than changes in the brain.
• In 1970 the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) was established with a grant from the Playboy Foundation.
• Many groups came out for the decriminalization of marijuana, not to make it legal, but to take away the jail time for having small amounts
• Many states give small amounts of marijuana a civil fine, while others legalized marijuana for medical reason. The Federal government still has marijuana as a schedule I drug with federal consequences. Federal law supersedes state law.

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