You will examine the prevalence, nature, and impact of psychological trauma (e.g., sexual violence, combat and exposure to war zones, life threatening illness and injury, natural disasters), including posttraumatic stress disorder and the human capacity for healing. You will also gain a working knowledge of how to examine and discuss trauma systemically, exploring the impact on individuals, families, communities, and diverse groups, and potential ethical issues in treatment of psychological trauma. Finally, you will examine evidence-based practices in the field of psychological trauma as well as vicarious trauma, posttraumatic growth, and clinician self-care.

You will examine the historical and theoretical foundations of addictive disorders and review seminal research and theoretical literature how they evolved and contributed to our current conceptualization of addictive disorders including substance use and behavioral addictions. You will also explore the diversity in origins and manifestations of addiction for individuals and families in various contexts. In addition, you will become familiar with the history of clinical intervention for addiction ending with the addiction framework which you will adapt for use in the context of Family Therapy and consider the ethical ramifications of addiction treatment.

In this course, you will examine methods for assessing substance-related and addictive disorders in the context of family therapy and explore evidence-based practice for the treatment of addictive disorders in Family Therapy settings. In addition, you will demonstrate cultural competence in preparing treatment plans to address substance use and addictive behaviors for individuals and families. Finally, you will respond to potential ethical issues that may arise in the treatment of addiction.

In this course, you will develop a foundational and multidisciplinary understanding of co-existing disorders, or mental health issues that “co-occur” with substance abuse disorders. Medical, mental health, and substance abuse professionals are increasingly recognizing how their respective fields intersect when it comes to co-existing disorders, and a systemic perspective is uniquely suited to conceptualize and incorporate these elements in effective treatment. In this course, you will acquire an understanding of contextual factors behind the traditional separation of medical care, mental health, and substance abuse treatment. You will learn how to use the current literature to evaluate the nature and effectiveness of current treatment practices. You will also learn how to integrate systemic perspective, evaluation, and treatment models into multidisciplinary treatment approaches.