Charles Atkins – The Unique Nature of Opioid Use Disorders: Neuroscience, Co-Occurring Disorders, and Treatment Approaches

Outline

• How You Get Hooked in the First Place:
  • Understand the Neuroscience of Opioid Addiction
    • The Brain’s reward system: Mesolimbic Dopamine Pathway
    • How chronic opioid use changes the brain
    • Differences from other substance addictions
    • Distinct risks of opioid abuse
    • How neurobiology can help you determine treatment methods and establish realistic goals
  • Psychotherapeutic Approaches:
    • Tailor Proven Techniques to the Person with Opioid Use Disorder
    • CBT and how it’s applied in evidence-based practice
    • DBT and dialectical abstinence
    • Motivational enhancement
    • Trauma-based therapies that target substance abuse disorders
    • Peer-based models
    • Contingency management – address problematic behaviors
    • Mindfulness, wellness-based activities and physical exercise
    • How to assess when treatment ends or is not working
    • Research limitations and risks of psychotherapeutic approaches
  • Treat Drug Addiction with Medication:
    • How Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Can Save Lives
      • Is the controversy over? Benefits, drawbacks and risks of MAT
      • The latest findings – research and research limitations
      • Opioid agonists and antagonists Methadone, buprenorphine, naltrexone
      • Naloxone (Narcan)
      • How to combat associated stigma
      • Current regulations
      • Role of the behavioral health clinician in MAT
  • Co-Occurring Assessment and State-of the- Art Tools
    • The impact of opioid use and co-occurring disorders on treatment outcomes
    • The Intake – if you don’t look for it you won’t find it
    • High-risk areas for misdiagnoses and missed diagnoses
    • The utility of standardized assessment tools and when to use them
    • Obtain no-cost, and well-validated, diagnosis specific instruments
    • Objective data and how and when to access prescription monitoring databases
    • The assessment of dangerousness
    • Assess readiness for change, and stage-of change theory
    • How to approach level of care decisions
    • Validity in co-occurring treatment research
    • Risks associated with co-occurring treatment options
  • Co-Occurring Treatment/Recovery Plans in 3 Easy Steps
    • Create the Problem/Need List
    • Set goals and objectives that meet client and regulatory needs
    • Develop fully integrated treatment/recovery plans

Please Note: PESI is not affiliated or associated with Marsha M. Linehan, PhD, ABPP, or her organizations.