Description
Course summary and description
This course (Module) is the second of two courses based on a NIDA developed therapy
manual for drug addiction treatment. The course is intended for use by drug abuse
treatment practitioners, mental health professionals, and all others concerned with the
treatment of drug addiction.
Cognitive-Behavioral coping skills treatment (CBT) is a short-term, focused approach
to helping cocaine-dependent individuals. This course presents eight sessions that
are the completion of the first course. The course includes shoring up motivation,
refusal/assertiveness skills, seemingly irrelevant decisions, a coping plan, problem solving, case management, and HIV risk reduction.
Course Goals and Objectives
The goals/objectives of this course are for the student to understand:
• How to shore up motivation and a commitment to stop;
• Refusal and assertiveness skills;
• Seemingly irrelevant decisions;
• How to anticipate high-risk situations;
• How to develop a coping plan;
• How to problem solve;
• How to set goals;
• How to identify resources;
• How to monitor progress;
• How to assess risk;
• How to build motivation to change;
• How to include significant others;
• How to terminate the session
Course Update
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy has been used for treatment of a wide variety of
psychological and substance use disorders. The effectiveness of the approach
is supported by hundreds of research studies and investigations. The current
course materials were produced in 1998, but the approach developed into the
“New Wave” of cognitive behavioral therapy and remains very current in its
application. Consequently, the student can remain confident in the efficacy of
the treatment in treating substance use disorders. Note the following studies:
McHugh, R.K.(2010). Cognitive behavioral therapy for substance use disorders.
Psychiatric Clinics of North America, Vol. 33,pp. 511-523.
Tolin, D.F.(2010). Is cognitive-behavior therapy more effective than other therapies?:
A meta-analytic review. Clinical Psychology Review, Vol. 30, pp. 710-720.
Callaghan, R., Taylor., Victor, J.C. & Lentz, T.(2007). A case comparison of readmission patterns between primary methamphetamine-using and primary cocaine-using
adolescents engaged in inpatient substance abuse treatment. Addictive Behaviors,
Vol. 32, pp. 3101-3106.
About the Instructor:
Dr. Robert A. Shearer is a retired professor of Criminal Justice, Sam Houston State University. He received his Ph.D. in Counseling and Psychology from Texas A & M University, Commerce. Prior to teaching Criminal Justice, he taught Educational Psychology at Mississippi State University on campus and in the extension program across rural Mississippi during the civil rights era.
He has been teaching, training, consulting and conducting research in the fields of Criminal Justice, human behavior, and addictions for over thirty-six years. He is the author of over sixty professional and refereed articles in Criminal Justice and behavior. He is also the author of Interviewing: Theories, techniques, and practices, 5th edition published by Prentice Hall. Dr. Shearer has also created over a dozen measurement, research, and assessment instruments in Criminal Justice and addictions.
He has been a psychotherapist in private practice and served as a consultant to dozens of local, state, and national agencies. His interests continue to be substance abuse program assessment and evaluation. He has taught courses in interviewing, human behavior, substance abuse counseling, drugs-crime-social policy, assessment and treatment planning, and educational psychology. He has also taught several university level psychology courses in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Institutional Division, led group therapy in prison, trained group therapists, and served as an expert witness in various courts of law.
He has been the president of the International Association of Addictions and Offender Counseling and the editor of the Journal of Addictions and Offender Counseling as well as a member of many Criminal Justice, criminology, and counseling professional organizations prior to retirement.