Harm Reduction and Other Approaches to Supporting Substance-Use Recovery and Overdose Prevention

Target audience and instructional level of this course: Intermediate

There is no known conflict of interest or commercial support related to this CE program.

TRAINING

Course Description

This course covers two articles that focus on the topic of harm reduction from different angles. The first explores ways that counselors can use harm reduction and other evidence-based interventions to help clients achieve recovery goals related to substance use. It recommends combining a variety of psychosocial interventions and frameworks in order to best support clients in maintaining recovery and preventing recurrence. It highlights family and social support and peer support services as two important factors in facilitating recovery. The second shorter article describes a research network that has been developed by the National Insttite of Health to test harm reduction strategies in different communities. It gives a short overview of the concept of harm reduction and then describes the nine research projects that will be part of the new harm reduction research network.

Learning Objectives

After completing this training the professional will be able to:

1. Define the concept of harm reduction
2. List a number of evidence-based interventions that counselors can use to support clients in substance-use recovery.
3. Describe the research projects being conducted by the National Institute of Health’s research network.

Author(s)/Reference(s)

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Organization (SAMHSA)

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIH)