Counseling Approaches for Recovery from Substance Use: Promoting Harm Reduction, Preventing Recurrence, Sustaining Recovery, and Promoting a Healthy Life (10 credit hours)

Program Summary:  This course is the third of a 3-part series on recovery from problematic substance use and examines counseling approaches for promoting harm reduction, preventing recurrence, sustaining recovery, and promoting a healthy life.  There are many evidence-based practices that can help clients meet their goals for recovery.  Chapter 3 explores harm reduction, trauma -informed care, motivational interviewing, cognitive-behavioral therapy, contingency management, mindfulness, acceptance and commitment therapy, and psychoeducation.  Chapter 4 examines four domains that assist a life in recovery:  health, home, purpose, and community.

This course is recommended for social workers and counselors and is appropriate for beginning and intermediate levels of practice.  

We do not recommend this course if you completed our previous course, Counseling Approaches to Promote Recovery from Problematic Substance Use and Related Issues (15 credit hours), as it covers the same course material.

“Book  Open the Course Reading Here.

Reading:  Counseling Approaches to Promote Recovery From Problematic Substance Use and Related Issues:  Chapters 3 and 4  Publisher:  SAMHSA

Course Objectives:  To enhance professional practice, values, skills and knowledge by exploring counseling approaches for promoting harm reduction, preventing recurrence, sustaining recovery, and promoting a healthy life.

Learning Objectives:  Identify evidence-based counseling approaches that support recovery from problematic substance use. Compare CBT, MI, and CM.  Describe key principles of trauma-informed care.  Describe four domains that support a life in recovery.

Review our pre-reading study guide.

Course Available Until: November 30, 2028.

In order to purchase or take this course, you will need to log in. If you do not have an account, you will need to register for a free account.

After you log in, a link will appear here that will allow you to purchase this course.

1: Chapter 3//  Which of the following does NOT describe harm reduction?
 
 
 
 
2: Using Exhibit 3.2, one of the six core practice areas of harm reduction is
 
 
 
3: Which medication can rapidly reverse an opioid overdose and is an essential harm reduction tool for people who have problematic opioid use?
 
 
 
 
4: Counselors should be aware that naloxone may cause individuals to go into withdrawal.
 
 
5: Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that is __________ times stronger than morphine.
 
 
 
 
6: Fentanyl test strips can detect the presence of fentanyl within
 
 
 
 
7: Failing to address trauma in people who have problematic substance use can lead to worse outcomes.
 
 
8: Trauma-informed treatment is focused on all of the following except:
 
 
 
 
9: In some cases clients may be more likely to report trauma when
 
 
10: Which counseling approach is designed for helping people resolve ambivalence about changing risk behaviors?
 
 
 
 
11: When the costs of use outweigh the benefits, motivation to reduce or stop substance use
 
 
12: A person who doesn't see a problem or need for changing a specific risk behavior, such as problematic substance use is in which stage of change?
 
 
 
 
 
13: A person who has mixed feelings about changing a behavior and begins to think of reasons for changing the risk behavior is in which stage of change?
 
 
 
 
 
14: Clients who are ambivalent will use a lot of
 
 
15: Clients who are motivated and ready to change will engage in more
 
 
16: Families function as complex systems working to
 
 
17: It is important for families
 
 
18: Al-Anon is an example of
 
 
 
 
19: Using Exhibit 3.8. the cognitive triangle includes
 
 
 
 
20: Using the iceberg analogy, which of the following represents the tip of the iceberg?
 
 
 
 
21: Which of the following describe the ways the mind works against the client's commitment to recovery?
 
 
 
 
22: Common cognitive distortions are early warning signs for recurrence and include
 
 
 
 
 
23: In Exhibit 3.12, the counselor and the client practice
 
 
 
 
24: Research has shown that __________ is an effective intervention for people who have substance use-related issues, especially when combined with medication.
 
 
 
 
25: Which of the following does NOT describe contingency management?
 
 
 
 
26: The goal of CM is to increase desired behaviors by providing ______________  reinforcing consequences when a specific behavior occurs.
 
 
27: Which of the following best describes mindfulness?
 
 
 
 
28: Mindfulness can help a client
 
 
 
29: Minfulness can help clients learn that
 
 
30: The goal of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is to build
 
 
 
 
31: ACT helps clients recognize and ___________ uncomfortable feelings and commit to actions that support their values.
 
 
32: Psychological flexibility is defined as
 
 
33: Which of the following enhances counseling by connecting individuals in recovery to nonclinical professionals who have lived experience with problematic substance use, behavior change, and recovery?
 
 
 
 
34: Helping to build clients' knowledge of recovery literacy, including providing basic information about SUDs as diseases and offering an understanding about what recovery 'looks like' describes
 
 
 
 
35: Which has been determined to be the only intervention associated with a significant decrease in opioid overdose risk?
 
 
 
 
36: Chapter 4//  The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Adminstration follows the four major domains needed to support a life in recovery:  health, home, purpose, and
 
 
 
 
37: The most commonly used substances during pregnancy include
 
 
 
 
38: Cannabis has been shown to be safe to use during pregnancy.
 
 
39: The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Society of Addiction Medicine have outlined effective treatments for SUDs during pregnancy, including the need for early
 
 
 
40: As ASAM notes, pregnancy is a unique opportunity to provide
 
 
 
 
41: Simply offering education about problematic substance use can improve the health of pregnant people and their babies.
 
 
42: Recovery housing or residences are centered on _____________ support and a connection to services that promote long-term recovery.
 
 
 
 
43: The Housing First model emphasizes all of the following except:
 
 
 
 
44: The Housing First approach is guided by the belief that people first need
 
 
 
 
45: Housing First requires people experiencing homelessness to
 
 
 
 
46: The National Low Income Housing Coalition found that ___________  an adequate supply of affordable and available homes for extremely low-income renters.
 
 
 
 
47: SAMHSA describes ___________ as 'conducting meaningful daily activities, such as a job, school, volunteerism, family caretaking, or creative endeavors, and the independence, income, and resources to participate in society.'
 
 
 
 
48: Counselors have an opportunity to help clients _________ how they see themselves and how they feel they are seen by others.
 
 
 
49: Personal narrative and educational attainment are examples of
 
 
 
 
50: A positive way to reframe a substance-related identity can be to work with clients to develop a _________ identity.
 
 
 
 
51: Research increasingly identifies recovery as a(n)
 
 
52: A study of women in recovery who were immersed in a 1-year literacy workshop focused on poetry, prose, and free writing found that writing helped the women
 
 
 
 
 
53: 12-step programs and mutual-help groups are an example of
 
 
 
 
54: All mutual-help groups use a spiritual or religious framework.
 
 
55: Digital recovery support offers alternatives for people who cannot or prefer not to use in-person resources, such as
 
 
 
 

In order to purchase or take this course, you will need to log in. If you do not have an account, you will need to register for a free account.

After you log in, a link will appear here that will allow you to purchase this course.

G.M. Rydberg-Cox, MSW, LSCSW is the Continuing Education Director at Free State Social Work and responsible for the development of this course.  She received her Masters of Social Work in 1996 from the Jane Addams School of Social Work at the University of Illinois-Chicago and she has over 20 years of experience.  She has lived and worked as a social worker in Chicago, Boston, and Kansas City.  She has practiced for many years in the area of hospital/medical social work.  The reading materials for this course were developed by another organization.