Please note this is an online course.

In the face of our national crisis of escalations in drug use and overdose, traditional abstinence-only treatments and our overemphasis on criminal justice interventions have failed to solve the problems. But, we are in the midst of a global paradigm shift in how we view and treat the spectrum of problematic substance use that holds great promise. We are moving from moral, criminal and unitary disease models to viewing substance use as a health and human rights issue. We will explore how the conditions that women face in our culture raise specific challenges that can increase their vulnerability to misuse substances and engage in other problematic behavior. This model shift implies the need for a personalized, collaborative integrative harm reduction approach.

Integrative Harm Reduction Psychotherapy (IHRP) integrates harm reduction principles into psychotherapy and substance use treatment. IHRP brings together relational psychoanalytic, active cognitive and behavioral skills building and mindfulness techniques in a harm reduction frame to support positive change in substance use and related issues. IHRP has particular power to attract, engage and facilitate positive change in a group of people that has traditionally been thought to be hard if not impossible to treat in psychotherapy.

Speaker: Andrew Tatarsky, PhD