Description
Course Summary:
This course presents the first three sections of a course over the topic of substance abuse treatment for persons with co-occurring disorders. The first section presents an introduction to the topic. The second section reviews terminology and classifications related to substance use, clients, treatment, programs, and systems for clients with COD. Key terms used in this and in the field are defined. The main classification systems currently in use in the field are presented.
Also, there is a review of some guiding principles in treatment of clients with COD, and key challenges to establishing services in substance abuse treatment are highlighted. This section also presents a system for classifying substance abuse treatment programs to determine an appropriate level of services and care. Finally, critical issues in workforce development are discussed, including values, competencies, education, and training.
Course Goals/objectives
The goals and objectives in the first section of this course are for the student to understand:
• The availability of prevalence data
• Treatment innovation for other populations with COD
• Changes in treatment delivery
• Advances in treatment
• Some recent developments
The goals and objectives in the second section of this course are for the
student to understand:
• The terms related to substance use disorders
• The terms related to clients
• The terms related to systems
The goals and objectives in the third section of this course are for the student to understand:
• The guiding principles
• The delivery of services
• How to improve substance abuse treatment systems and programs
• Workforce development and staff support
Your Course Instructor:
Robert Shearer, PhD
Dr. Robert A. Shearer is a retired professor of criminal justice in the College of Criminal Justice, Sam Houston State University. 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 including Law Enforcement Strategies Scale (LSS), Correctional Strategies Scale (CSS), Probation Strategies Scale (PSS), Correctional Treatment Resistance Scale (CTRS), the Comprehensive Substance Abuse Counseling Orientation Inventory (CSACOI), and the Substance Abuse Consequences Scale (SACS).
He has been a psychotherapist in private practice and served as a consultant to dozens of local, state, and national agencies. He has taught courses in interviewing, human behavior, substance abuse counseling, drugs and crime, and correctional counseling. He is currently developing an Interrogation Tactics Scale that measures levels of approval of coercion in interrogations with suspected offenders.
He has been the president of the International Association of Addictions and Offender Counseling and editor of the Journal of Addictions and Offender Counseling. Recently, Dr. Shearer completed a survey of the beliefs of over 300 substance abuse counselors in a large correctional system in the southwestern U.S. He is a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation of Oklahoma.