Educational Activities Archives

This 90-minute webinar examines common ethical challenges encountered by certified addiction counselors, clinical supervisors and interns working with individuals affected by opioid, stimulant, and other substance use disorders. Participants will review core ethical principles, boundary management, confidentiality concerns, and decision-making frameworks relevant to real-world practice. Through case examples and guided discussion, the session equips attendees with practical tools to identify ethical risks early and respond in ways that protect clients, professionals, and the integrity of treatment services.

Understanding addiction is essential to successfully addressing it. In this overview of substance use disorders, we discuss the spectrum of use, neurobiological responses to substances, theories that explain the disorders, public health impact and epidemiology, comorbidity, and integrated care for this chronic condition.

Patient-centered care has become a crucial approach when working with patients with substance use disorder (SUD). Unfortunately, the care continuum can be interrupted for patients with SUDs, often due to stigma and discrimination. Each interruption increases challenges in access to care and can lead to patient harm. Language can intentionally or unintentionally perpetuate stigma. As people who care for patients with SUDs, we need to learn their rights so we can advocate for them and change our language to reduce stigma. This course will discuss the importance of patient-centered care, improved language when discussing substance use, and advocacy strategies that clinicians can use when caring for people who use substances.

This presentation synthesizes ethical frameworks, research evidence, and clinical examples to help practitioners make informed decisions about self-disclosure that prioritize client welfare, respect professional ethics, and optimize treatment outcomes.

This module reviews features of skin and soft tissue infections among people who inject drugs, reviews risk factors for Hepatitis C (HCV) and HIV, describes prevention interventions for HCV and HIV, and discusses treatment approaches for HCV and HIV in patients with opioid use disorder.

Opioid use disorder (OUD) among women and people who become pregnant is increasing in prevalence in clinical settings. The standard of care is to provide buprenorphine or methadone as a part of a complete treatment approach during pregnancy and beyond the postpartum period. This module reviews the historical and current context of opioid use among women and birthing people during pregnancy. It compares pharmacological treatment options for women and people who become pregnant with an OUD and also discusses the issues with detoxification or medically assisted withdrawal from opioids during pregnancy. Issues related to the treatment of OUD during pregnancy and in the postpartum period for the birthing person, fetus and child will also be discussed (e.g., induction, dosing, pain management, neonatal withdrawal and how to reduce its severity).