Clinician Self-Care for Addiction Counselors and Clinical Supervisors

The Addiction Technology Transfer Center of New England, funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), is offering a credited, introductory on-line course on drug courts.

The clinical and research literature suggests a strong relationship between substance abuse issues and trauma. Addiction counselors are likely to encounter clients with a history of trauma and/or current traumatic stress reactions in their clinical practice. In addition to the stress of working in addiction treatment contexts (including the pressures of managed care, high caseloads, and the demands of justifying treatment to funding sources), which may contribute to burnout, addiction counselors who work with trauma clients are also vulnerable to secondary trauma/compassion fatigue, vicarious traumatization, and sometimes intense countertransference reactions.

This course will explore the impact of secondary trauma/compassion fatigue, vicarious traumatization, burnout, and countertransference on clinicians who work with addicted, traumatized clients and provide counselors and clinical supervisors with a holistic and comprehensive approach to self-care that can prevent and ameliorate this impact. This course will actively engage participants in the development of their own personal/professional self -care plans and give ample opportunity to integrate specific self-care activities and practices into their daily lives.

This course will be presented by Patricia A Burke, MSW, LCSW is a Board Diplomate in Clinical Social Work, a Certified Clinical Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drug Social Worker, and a Certified Clinical Supervisor with over 25 years of clinical experience. She has been on the faculty of the Rutgers Summer School of Alcohol and Drug Studies since 1989 and the Addiction Technology Transfer Center of New England since 1999. She has also taught for the New England Institute of Addiction Studies, the North Carolina Summer School of Alcohol and Drug Studies, the Behavioral Health and Human Services Department at Southern Maine Community College and the Social Work Schools of the University of New England, University of Southern Maine, and Rutgers University. Patricia is the former Clinical Director of the Smith House Addictions Treatment Program. Please visit her website to find out more about her work at www.patriciaburke.com

Course Objectives

  • Participants will demonstrate a fundamental understanding of the difference between secondary trauma, vicarious traumatization, countertransference reactions, and burnout in work with traumatized addicted clients and the impact of these experiences on addiction counselors.
     
  • Participants will be able to identify the signs of secondary trauma, vicarious traumatization, countertransference reactions, and burnout.
     
  • Participants will develop a holistic, comprehensive personal/professional self-care plan and begin to engage in self-care activities and practices identified in this plan.


    • Course Requirements

    This is a four week course, beginning on Monday, April 21, 2008. Requirements are:

    • Required on-line reading (one hour per week)
    • Completion of pre and post test
    • Completion of weekly homework assignments (one hour per week)
    • Participations in the weekly forum
    • Completion of an on-line course evaluation

    *Please note that there are no real time events associated with this course. Lessons will be posted on the class WWW home page on Wednesdays and responses are due the following Monday. Assignments can be accessed at the participant's convenience.

    The total cost of this course is $40.00 the course payment is due by April 21, 2008.  A full refund is available up until the posting of the second lesson (May 1, 2008), after which there will be no refunds.
     

    ACCREDITATION

    This four-week course, which begins April 21, 2008, has been approved by the National Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors (NAADAC) for 8  educational credits. It is being provided by the Addiction Technology Transfer Center of New England, which is accredited as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider (#000151). This course meets the qualifications for 8 hours of continuing education credit for MFCC's and/or LCSW's as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (PCE#1917).  This course is approved by the Connecticut Certification Board (CCB) for eight Category 1 continuing education for Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselors (CADC's). The CCB is an IC&RC affiliate. The New York State OASAS does accept distance education CEUs provided by the Addiction Technology Transfer Network for individuals pursuing or renewing a CASAC, CPP or CPS.Certificates will be mailed within two weeks to participants in the program for its duration who submit all required materials.  Please contact your local certification board to verify reciprocity or acceptance of ATTC-NE contact hours.

    To participate, you must have:

    • An E-mail address and the capacity to retrieve and send E-mail;
    • Access to World Wide Web (the following programs provide WWW access: Netscape, Apple CyberDog, and Microsoft Explorer)
    • Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher is the preferred browser for ATTC-NE online courses
    • The ability to navigate the World Wide Web
    • A basic understanding of how to use a computer and send and receive email
       

    PLEASE NOTE NETWORK AND COMPUTER TECHNICAL SUPPORT WILL NOT BE PROVIDED.

    REGISTRATION DEADLINE: April 21, 2008 or when the course limit is reached. 

    To register for this course please go to the following WWW site and complete the 'Clinical Self-Care' course online registration form. YOU MUST COMPLETE THE ONLINE REGISTRATION FORM IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS COURSE
    https://www.attc-ne.org/courses/339/reg.html

    For a list of current ATTC-NE courses, please go to the following site:
    http://www.Attc-ne.org and click on Distance Education.   Please Bookmark this site for future references. Course announcements will be made via the ATTC of New England Online Course Announcement Listserve 6-8 weeks prior to the start of each course. If you would like to be subscribed to this list, please contact Monte Bryant, Program Administrator, at (401) 863-6606.

    This program is funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT).


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