EDP 381; Substance Abuse Counseling and Theory, 2004
EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY 381
SUBSTANCE ABUSE COUNSELING AND THEORY
FALL 2004
Alissa Sherry, Ph.D.
The University of Texas at Austin
Educational Psychology
Counseling Psychology Program
1 University Station D5800; SZB 262H
Austin, TX. 78712-0383
512-471-0372
Office Hours: By appointment
If you sign up for my office hours, please email me and let me know as well.
Course Purpose and Objectives
This course will begin by covering the biological mechanisms of the main substance categories typically used or abused by the general public. From there, historical and philosophical views of addiction will be reviewed, followed by theoretical and treatment approaches to addiction. Opportunities for learning about other types of addictions (i.e., food, sex, internet, etc) as well as addiction in diverse populations will also be made available.
Required Texts and Reading Materials
Kuhn, C., Swartzwelder, S. & Wilson, W. (1998). Buzzed: The straight facts about the most used and abused drugs from alcohol to ecstasy. New York: W. W. Norton.
Readings available on Blackboard.
Optional: Woititz, J. G. (1983). Adult Children of Alcoholics. Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications
Attendance
This is a graduate course and therefore, attendance is required. Students who must be absent are required to notify the professor ahead of time. Students with more than two absences may be subject to a no-credit grade (i.e., “F”).
Students with Disabilities
If you are a student with a disability and may need accommodations, please see me at the start of the semester. You are also advised to be registered with the Office of the Dean of Students (Students with Disabilities). Official documentation is needed for us to ensure appropriate accommodations. If you are a student with other concerns (e.g., English as a second language: child care), please see me at the start of the semester. There may be an opportunity for adjustments to be made in order to best accommodate you. You are still expected to complete all requirements.
Expectations
While this is an elective course, it is still a graduate course. As such, it requires attention to detail, conscientiousness, and a time commitment. The assignments are expected to be graduate level quality and will be graded with such standards.
Emails
I frequently email students about their assignments, what will be covered in the next class, and other important things that come up. If you do not have a “Texas” email account, it is a good idea to sign up for one now. At times, other email accounts become full and will not accept emails when this happens. In these cases, I do not have the time to track you down to tell you what I have emailed you or what the information was that I needed to convey. It is expected that you will have a working and functional email. The following website outlines the University’s policy on maintaining and checking your email:
Academic Dishonesty and Ethics
There are a number of ways to ‘cheat’ as a student. I consider any act of academic dishonesty as a serious offense. Trying to get out of work in this manner is not the behavior of a student committed to graduate work and these offenses will be interpreted from this perspective. As the professor, I reserve the right to address either of these behaviors with one of the following possible consequences: 1) You will get a “C” for the course, requiring you to retake the course again; 2) You will get an “F” for the course, requiring you to retake the course and requiring the graduate school to place you on academic probation; 3) You will get an “F” for the course and I will pursue your expulsion from the program.
Requirements and Evaluation
There will be five assignments that will determine your grade in this course. These are: 1) Drug Summary; 2) Drug exam; 3) Group Presentation or Paper 4) Experiential Exercise; and 5) Final Exam. These are summarized on the following pages.
There will be a total of 645 points to be earned in the class. The following is the point/grade breakdown:
645-581 = A
580-516 = B
515-452 = C
451-387 = D
Below 387 = F
Drug Summary
Requirements:On the first day of class you will be assigned a drug that you will write a summary for. This does not need to be in narrative form, but instead should be written as a table. I have attached one on alcohol to give you an example. The following areas should be addressed:
Other words for the drug
Other forms of the drug
Class of drug
Visible effects of the drug
Physical effects of the drug
Psychological effects of the drug
Routes of administration
Tolerance effects
Withdrawal symptoms
Treatment for withdrawal
Physical cause of overdose and overdose considerations
Hangover symptoms and causes of hangover
Effects on reproductive system
Effects of fetus and children
Harmful effects of chronic use
Neurotransmitters effects
Antagonists
Drugs that cause synergistic effects
Dangerous drug interactions
Facts specific to this drug
Demographics of users and statistics of use, abuse, and addiction
______
You will also need to submit a references page with this assignment that is written in APA format. References should be from books and journal articles. The only websites that should be used for this assignment should be those posted by the federal government. A list of the pre-approved websites are provided below:
National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information (Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration, Dept. of Health and Human Services)
National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence
National Institute on Drug Abuse
Office of National Drug Control Policy
Partnership for a Drug-Free America
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
National Institutes for Health
National Institutes for Mental Health
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
National Alliance for the Mentally Ill
University of Texas Addiction Science Research and Education Center
American Council for Drug Education
Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention (Dept. of Education)
Betty Ford Center 1-800-854-9211 (Resource Development Department, for their newsletter)
Join Together Online –
Submission: You will bring a copy of your chart of each of your classmates and to the professor.
Goal: The goal of this assignment is two fold. First, it is an opportunity for you to gain deeper level knowledge about a specific drug. Second, because each drug will be covered and each student will get a copy, it is a way for you and your fellow students to share the workload in reading and understanding these drugs. These charts will serve as study materials for the exam.
Due Date: September 13, 2004
Point Credit: 100 points. It is expected that every section be addressed thoroughly. While the format is not as rigorous as a paper, it is expected that the time and attention taken for the assignment would be at the same level as a 5-7 page research paper.
The following are the list of drugs to be covered:
Alcohol (done)
Caffeine
Entactogens (ecstasy)
Hallucinogens
Inhalants
Marijuana
Nicotine
Opiates: street drugs; heroin, opium
Opiates: prescription drugs; morphine, codeine, etc.
Barbiturates
Sedatives
Rohypnol (date rape drug)
Steroids
Stimulants: street drugs: cocaine, crack
Stimulants: prescription drugs, Ritalin, amphetamines (weight loss drugs)
Herbal Drugs
Drug Exam
Requirements: This will be a multiple choice, short answer, true-false, matching, type of exam. Students have different strengths and weaknesses when it comes to tests, so the variety of testing approaches is meant to reflect this. The test material will come from the drug summaries ONLY and not from any other reading materials. Use the drug summaries as a guide for studying. There will not be a review session for the test.
Submission: You will not need any materials for the test, just something to write with. You will take the test the first half of class period. The second half of class period will be lecture.
Goal: To crystallize your knowledge of the various drugs to increase your proficiency in class and with future clients.
Due Date: September 27, 2004
Point credit: 100 points
Experiential Exercise
Requirements: Each of you is required to attend one AA, NA, or ALANON meeting and write a reaction paper on this experience. These organizations have open or closed meetings. If you are not an addict or a family member or friend of an addict, you will need to go to the open meeting, which is for anyone who is interested. These meetings usually take a donation…a dollar is fine for this…but no contribution is required. You are not required to say anything if you don’t want to, just sit and listen and get a sense of what these meetings are about. You can go alone or with another person in class, but no more than 2 of you at a time should go to any one meeting. Also, remember to be respectful during the meetings (i.e., I wouldn’t volunteer that you are there for a class assignment). Focus on your apprehensions before going, feelings while you were there, things that struck you as interesting, bothered you, inspired you, etc.
Submission: This reaction paper should be three double spaced pages (not two, not two and a half, etc) about the experience. This should be with 1” margins and in a 12-point font size. Bring a hard copy of the assignment to class on the due date.
Goal: The goal of this exercise is to begin to understand some of the apprehensions and fears that people with addiction have to endure when they choose to get help for the first time through one of the 12-step programs. It is hoped that this will help you understand your clients on a deeper level as well as some of your own biases and fears towards this treatment approach.
Due Date: November 1st, 2004
Point Credit: 75 points
Group Presentation
Requirements: You will form a group of at least 2 people, no more than 3, to do a group presentation on a specific theory and treatment approach to addiction. (The number of people in a group will be determined by enrollment and number of topics to cover). There are several aspects of this assignment you need to pay close attention to. They are outlined as follows:
-This is a power point presentation that is to be submitted via email to the professor no later than 10 am the morning of your presentation. Also bring a zip disk or CD to class with your presentation, just in case of email problems.
-You are to provide the class with one article, journal article or book chapter (no websites), representing a good general review of your topic. You will submit this to the professor one week before your presentation so that it can be posted on e-reserves for the class to review and read prior to your presentation.
-You should have at least one helpful handout relevant to your presentation.
-Each of your group members should contribute equally to the presentation. At the time of the presentation, the group should submit a sheet outlining each of your contributions to the project.
-The presentation should take most of the class period including any breaks, exercises, etc.
-Feel free to use experiential exercises, role-plays, video, and other creative avenues to illustrate your points, mix things up a bit, and help the time pass, as long as the content areas are covered thoroughly as well.
-Your group needs to submit a references page for the presentation. As with the previous assignment, references should be primarily book chapters and journal articles. Websites should not comprise more than 1/4th of your references and those you do use should only come from the list of pre-approved websites listed in the previous Drug Summary assignment. Approximate minimum number of references for this project is around 15-20.
Submission: As outlined above, an email copy of your presentation, handouts, reference page, contribution page, and the actual presentation the day before you are to present (Sunday night). Please use blackboard and email this to the entire class.
Goal: The goal of this exercise is to have interactive learning experiences among students in the class, practice your presentation skills, and allow a student to study a particular theory/treatment approach in more depth.
Due Date: The due date will vary. Presentations will begin around the middle of October.
Point Credit: Points will be assigned as follows:
Possible credit towards grade
Overall Presentation-
Use of time: 30 points
Creativity: 20 points
Thoroughness of content: 50 points
*Professionalism: 10 points
References: 30 points
*Personal Contribution: 20 points
Class Handout: 10 points
Possible debits against grade
Class Article Provided on time: -10 points if late
Presentation emailed on time to professor and class: -10 points if late
* denotes grades that will vary by person. For all other point assignments, the same grade will be given for each member of the group.
170 total points
Possible Topics to choose from:
Addiction and culture/diversity
For this presentation, you will discuss the similarities and differences in addictive behavior between different cultures including the main racial/ethnic cultures (white, African American, Asian American, American Indian, Latino/Hispanic, Middle Eastern, etc) as well as cultures of diversity such as gender differences and GLBT populations. Areas to consider might be what factors are particularly stressful to these populations that might make them more vulnerable to abuse and addiction as well as what cultural factors influence each of these populations in their alcohol and drug use (is it legal, etc).
Harm Reduction Therapy
For this presentation, you will discuss the literature related to the Harm Reduction approach to addiction treatment. Areas to consider within this realm include the theory behind the approach, the best/worst candidates for this type of treatment, specific techniques in general and unique to this approach, the progression of therapy, how relapse is treated or approached, typical treatment settings, prognosis, estimated length of treatment, relapse rates, etc. You should not just review the theory and techniques behind this approach, but also the relevant research related to it so that you can report any effectiveness/efficacy studies that may be available.
Motivational Interviewing
For this presentation, you will discuss the literature related to the Motivational Interviewing approach to addiction treatment. Areas to consider within this realm include the theory behind the approach, the best/worst candidates for this type of treatment, specific techniques in general and unique to this approach, the progression of therapy, how relapse is treated or approached, typical treatment settings, prognosis, estimated length of treatment, relapse rates, etc. You should not just review the theory and techniques behind this approach, but also the relevant research related to it so that you can report any effectiveness/efficacy studies that may be available.
Relapse Prevention Approach
For this presentation, you will discuss the literature related to the Relapse Prevention approach to addiction treatment. Areas to consider within this realm include the theory behind the approach, the best/worst candidates for this type of treatment, specific techniques in general and unique to this approach, the progression of therapy, how relapse is treated or approached, typical treatment settings, prognosis, estimated length of treatment, relapse rates, etc. You should not just review the theory and techniques behind this approach, but also the relevant research related to it so that you can report any effectiveness/efficacy studies that may be available.
Family Therapy and the Effects on Family
For this presentation, you will discuss the literature related to the effects of addiction on the family system including family roles, co-dependency, and likelihood of transgenerational transmission of abuse and addiction. You will need to discuss adult children of alcoholics and some of their special needs and long-term challenges. You may also briefly explain the technique called “intervention” and the family’s role in this technique. In terms of family therapy, areas to consider within this realm include the theory behind the approach, the best/worst candidates for this type of treatment, specific techniques in general and unique to this approach, the progression of therapy, how relapse is treated or approached, typical treatment settings, prognosis, estimated length of treatment, relapse rates, etc. You should not just review the theory and techniques behind this approach, but also the relevant research related to it so that you can report any effectiveness/efficacy studies that may be available.
Other Forms of Addiction
For this presentation, you will review the other forms of addiction not typically covered under the “substance abuse” heading. These will include internet addiction, sex addiction, gambling, and food addiction. It will be important to discuss the biological mechanisms behind these addictions in terms of neurotransmitter function, etc, in order to make a case for them as true “addictions” and tie them into the existing substance addiction literature. Under each heading, talk about how these addictions develop, treatment approaches and their effectiveness, prognosis, prevalence rates, and relapse rates.