BOISE STATE UNIVERSITY
ADDICTION AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH ASSESSMENT AND INTERVENTION
SYLLABUS
Course and InstructorInstructor:Dr. Raissa Miller, LPC (Weekend 1)
Office location: E612
Office hours: Tuesday 1:00-3:00; Wednesday 9:00-12:00 and/or by appointment
Phone: (208) 426-1307
Email:
Dr. Regina Moro, LPC, ACADC, NCC (Weekends 2 and 3)
Office location: E614
Office hours: Wednesday 11:00am-1:00pm, Thursday 12:00-3:00pm and by appointment
Phone: (208) 426-3204
Email:
Course Number: COUN 548
Course Title:Addiction and Behavioral Health Assessment and Intervention
Course Time: Friday (2/3) 4-10pm and Saturday (2/4) 8am – 5pm (RFH 302)
Friday (3/10) 4-10pm and Saturday (3/11) 8am-5pm(EDU 221)
Friday (4/14) 4-10pm and Saturday (4/15) 8am-5pm(EDU 221)
Course Location:Riverfront Hall 302 or Education Building 221 (see above)
Semester: SPRING 2017
Credits:3 credits
Course Objectives and Accreditation
Prepares future licensed professional counselors to work with clients with addiction and behavioral health issues. Includes theories/approaches to working with clients with addiction and behavioral health issues, bio-psycho-social assessment, and evidenced based counseling techniques and interventions. PREREQ: Admission to Counseling Program or GC in Addiction Studies or PERM/INST.
CACREP Addiction Standards Addressed in the CourseCounseling, Prevention, and Intervention
C.1 / Knows the principles of addiction education… intervention, and consultation.
C.2 / Knows the models of treatment…recovery, relapse prevention, and continuing care for addictive disorders and related problems.
C.3 / Recognizes the importance of family, social networks, and community systems in the treatment and recovery process
C.4 / Understands the role of spirituality in the addiction recovery process.
C.5 / Knows a variety of helping strategies for reducing the negative effects of substance use, abuse, dependence, and addictive disorders.
C.6 / Understands the principles and philosophies of addiction-related self-help programs.
Diversity and Advocacy
E.1 / Understands how living in a multicultural society affects clients with addictions.
E.2 / Understands current literature that outlines theories, approaches, strategies, and techniques shown to be effective when working with specific populations of clients with addictions.
Assessment
G.1 / Understands various models and approaches to clinical evaluation for addictive disorders and their appropriate uses, including screening and assessment for addiction, diagnostic interviews, mental status examination, symptom inventories, and psychoeducational and personality assessments.
G.2 / Knows specific assessment approaches for determining the appropriate level of care for addictive disorders and related problems.
G.3 / Understands the assessment of biopsychosocial and spiritual history.
G.4 / Understands basic classifications, indications, and contraindications of commonly prescribed psychopharmacological medications so that appropriate referrals can be made for medication evaluations and so that the side effects of such medications can be identified.
Research and Evaluation
I.3 / Knows evidence-based treatments …in addiction counseling.
Diagnosis
K.1 / Knows the principles of the diagnostic process, including differential diagnosis, and the use of current diagnostic tools, such as the current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).
K.2 / Knows the impact of co-occurring addictive disorders on medical and psychological disorders.
K.3 / Understands the established diagnostic and clinical criteria for addictive disorders and describes treatment modalities and placement criteria within the continuum of care.
K.4 / Understands the relevance and potential cultural biases of commonly used diagnostic tools as related to clients with addictive disorders in multicultural populations.
Course Description
The course will provide a basic understanding of addiction and behavioral health, screening and assessment tools, and evidence-based treatment for addiction. The course will provide counselors-in-training with an introduction and overview of addictive disorders, stages of change, harm reduction, screening and brief intervention, motivational interviewing, assessment strategies, and intervention strategies including evidence-based practices. The behavioral health model and dual-diagnosis will also be covered. This course meets curricular requirements for CACREP standards.
Course Objectives
Upon completion of the course the student will demonstrate knowledge of:
1. Principles of addiction education, intervention, and consultation (C.1).
2. Models of treatment, recovery, relapse prevention, and continuing care for addictive disorders and related problems (C.2).
3. The importance of family, social networks, and community systems in the treatment and recovery process (C.3),
4. The role of spirituality in the addiction recovery process (C.4).
5. A variety of helping strategies for reducing the negative effects of substance use, abuse, dependence, and addictive disorders (C.5).
6. Principles and philosophies of addiction-related self-help programs (C.6).
7. How living in a multicultural society affects clients with addictions (E.1).
8. Current literature that outlines theories, approaches, strategies, and techniques shown to be effective when working with specific populations of clients with addictions (E.2).
9. Models and approaches to clinical evaluation for addictive disorders and their appropriate uses (G.1).
10. Assessment approaches for determining the appropriate level of care for addictive disorders and related problems (G.2).
11. Assessment of biopsychosocial and spiritual history (G.3).
12. Basic classifications, indications, and contraindications of commonly prescribed psychopharmacological medications (G.4).
13. Evidence-based treatments in addiction counseling. (I.3).
14. Principles of the diagnostic process, including differential diagnosis, and the use of current diagnostic tools (K.1).
15. The impact of co-occurring addictive disorders on medical and psychological disorders (K.2).
16. The established diagnostic and clinical criteria for addictive disorders and treatment modalities and placement criteria within the continuum of care (K.3).
17. Potential cultural biases of commonly used diagnostic tools as related to clients with addictive disorders in multicultural populations (K.4).
Technology Skills Addressed in the CourseInstructor Application / Student Application
Utilize Blackboard technology / X / X
Word process, including APA formatting / X / X
Use a spreadsheet and a statistical package
Acquire graphics from the web, digital camera, scanner, or Microsoft media and insert them into a poster or presentation
Create and deliver a power point presentation / X / X
Find material on the Web and review Web sites / X / X
Be able to use e-mail, including document attachments / X / X
Be able to sign in and participate in listservs
Be familiar with computerized testing
Be able to use digital recording equipment
Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) for Addiction Standards
The student will demonstrate knowledge, skills, and practices necessary for success as a counselor educator and supervisor via his or her participation in key assessments in this course. SLOs for this course are as follows:
Student Learning Outcomes / CACREP / Key AssessmentKnows the principles of addiction education, … intervention, and consultation. / C.1 / Exam
Knows the models of treatment, … recovery, relapse prevention, and continuing care for addictive disorders and related problems. / C.2 / Exam
Recognizes the importance of family, social networks, and community systems in the treatment and recovery process / C.3 / CADT Paper
Understands the role of spirituality in the addiction recovery process. / C.4 / CADT Paper
Knows a variety of helping strategies for reducing the negative effects of substance use, abuse, dependence, and addictive disorders. / C.5 / CADT Paper, EBT Paper
Understands the principles and philosophies of addiction-related self-help programs. / C.6 / Exam
Understands how living in a multicultural society affects clients with addictions. / E.1 / CADT Paper
Understands current literature that outlines theories, approaches, strategies, and techniques shown to be effective when working with specific populations of clients with addictions. / E.2 / EBT Paper
Understands various models and approaches to clinical evaluation for addictive disorders and their appropriate uses, including screening and assessment for addiction, diagnostic interviews, mental status examination, symptom inventories, and psychoeducational and personality assessments. / G.1 / CADT Paper
Knows specific assessment approaches for determining the appropriate level of care for addictive disorders and related problems. / G.2 / CADT Paper, Exam
Understands the assessment of biopsychosocial and spiritual history. / G.3 / CADT Paper
Understands basic classifications, indications, and contraindications of commonly prescribed psychopharmacological medications so that appropriate referrals can be made for medication evaluations and so that the side effects of such medications can be identified. / G.4 / Exam
Knows evidence-based treatments… in addiction counseling. / I.3 / EBT Paper
Knows the principles of the diagnostic process, including differential diagnosis, and the use of current diagnostic tools, such as the current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). / K.1 / CADT Paper, Exam
Knows the impact of co-occurring addictive disorders on medical and psychological disorders. / K.2 / Exam
Understands the established diagnostic and clinical criteria for addictive disorders and describes treatment modalities and placement criteria within the continuum of care. / K.3 / CADT Paper
Understands the relevance and potential cultural biases of commonly used diagnostic tools as related to clients with addictive disorders in multicultural populations. / K.4 / CADT Paper, Exam
Methods of Instruction
Instructional procedures will consist of lecture, video vignettes, case analyses, role-plays, and participant discussion regarding the issues and situations presented. Student discussion and participation is essential.
Prerequisite
Students must have been formally admitted into the Boise State counselor-training and/or certificate programs or be currently working as a counselor/helping professional.
Required Texts
Miller, R. W. & Rollnick, S. (2013). Motivational Interviewing: Helping People Change
(3rd Ed). The Guilford Press.
Suggested Text
Roberts, L. W. (2009). The book of ethics: Expert guidance for professionals who treat addiction. Hazelden.
Velasquez, M. M., Crouch, C., Stephens, N. S., & DiClemente, C. C. (2016). Group treatment for substance abuse: A stages-of-change therapy model (2nd Ed.). New York, NY: Guildford Press
Additional Readings (available on Blackboard Learn)
Connors, G., DiClemente, C. C., Velasquez, M., & Donovan, D. (2012). Substance abuse treatment and stages of change (2nd Ed). Guilford Press. (p. 6-15).
Copello, A. G., Velleman, R. D. B., & Templeton, L. J. (2005). Family interventions in the treatment of alcohol and drug problems. Drug and Alcohol Review, 24, 369-385.
Flaherty, M. T., Kurtz, E., White, W. L., & Larson, A. (2014). An Interpretative phenomenological analysis of secular, spiritual, and religious pathways of long-term addiction recovery. Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, 32(4), 337-356.
Flynn, P. M., & Brown, B. S. (2008). Co-occurring disorders in substance abuse treatment: Issues and prospects. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 34, 36-47.
Larimer, M. E., Palmer, R. S., & Marlatt, A. (1999). Relapse prevention: An overview of Marlatt’s cognitive-behavioral model. Alcohol Research and Health, 23(2), 151-160.
Lee, H. S., & Petersen, S. R. (2009). Demarginalizing the marginalized in substance abuse treatment: Stories of homeless, active substance users in urban harm reduction based drop-in center. Addiction Research and Theory, 17(6), 622-636.
Logan, D. E., & Marlatt, G. A. (2010). Harm reduction therapy: A practice-friendly review of research. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 66(2), 201-214.
Nissen, L. B. (2014). Alcohol and drug prevention, intervention, and treatment literature: A bibliography for best practices. Best Practices in Mental Health, 1, 59-97.
Potenza, M. N., Sofuoglu, M., Carroll, K. M., & Rounsaville, B. J. (2011). Neuroscience of behavioral and pharmacological treatments for addiction. Neuron, 69, 695-712.
Prochaska, J. J. (2010). Failure to treat tobacco use in mental health and addiction treatment settings: A form of harm reduction? Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 110, 177-182.
Sacks, J. Y., McKendrick, K., & Banks, S. (2008). The impact of trauma and abuse on residential substance abuse treatment outcomes for women. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 34(1), 90-100.
SAMHSA (2013). TAP33: Systems-level implementation of screening, brief Intervention, and referral to treatment. (Ch. 2 only)
Satel, S. & Lilienfeld, S. O. (2014). Addiction and the brain-disease fallacy. In Brainwashed: The seductive appeal of mindless neuroscience. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Sellman, D. (2009). The 10 most important things known about addiction. Addiction, 105, 6-13.
The Betty Ford Institute Consensus Panel. (2007). What is recovery? A working definition from the Betty Ford Institute. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 33, 221-228.
Vasilaki, E. I., Hosier, S. G., & Cox, W. M. (2006). The efficacy of motivational interviewing as a brief intervention for excessive drinking: A meta-analytic review. Alcohol & Alcoholism, 41(3), 328-335.
White, W. L. (2007). Addiction recovery: Its definition and conceptual boundaries. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 33, 229–241.
Witkieqitz, K. & Marlatt, A.G. (2006). Overview of harm reduction treatments for alcohol problems. International Journal of Drug Policy, 17, 285-294.
*Additional readings may be assigned throughout the semester.
Grading Scale
Grade / Percentages / PointsA+ / 97-100 / 483-500
A / 94-96 / 468-482
A- / 90-93 / 448-467
B+ / 87-89 / 433-447
B / 84-86 / 418-432
B- / 80-83 / 398-417
C+ / 77-79 / 383-397
C / 74-76 / 368-382
C- / 70-73 / 348-367
Methods of Assessing Learning Progress
The objectives described in a prior section reflect promises of the course. The learning exercises detailed below reflect what students will be doing to realize these promises.
Reading Quizzes – 30 pts. (10pts/each)
Dr. Miller
Complete quizzes related to the Miller & Rollnick (2013) textbook and additional readings. Each quiz will consist of 25 multiple choice questions each and will be available on Blackboard Learn. Quizzes are due by mid-night on the following dates:
Quiz Number / Due Date1 / Miller & Rollnick Ch. 1-7
Conners et al. pgs. 5-15 / Thursday January 19th
2 / Miller & Rollnick Ch. 8-15
SAMHSA TAPS 33 (Ch. 2)
Vasilaki, Hosier, & Cox (2006) / Thursday January 26th
3 / Miller & Rollnick Ch. 16-22
Lee & Petersen (2009)
Logan & Marlatt (2010) / Thursday February 2nd
MI Core Skills Demonstration – 40 pts.
Dr. Miller
The initial portion of this assignment (interviewing) will take place in class. Record and transcribe a brief conversation (8-10 minutes) in which you demonstrate basic helpfulness (e.g., engagement, compassion) and core MI skills (e.g., open questions, affirmation, reflection, summarizing).
You will need to bring a devise capable of audio-recording to class on Saturday February 4th. The Voice Memos app on I-Phones works quite nicely, and there are likely other such apps for most phones. If you do not have a phone that includes recording capabilities, you may check out an audio-recording device free of charge at The Zone on campus ( Reservations often have to be made well in advance of desired check out date.
Speaker: Think about a quality of life related issue that you would like to change. Examples include changes in diet (e.g., decrease sugar, eat less fried foods, eat more veggies, etc.), changes in physical activity, increased connectedness with loved ones, increased practice of meditation or mindfulness-based practices, improved sleep hygiene, improved organization in the home, and so forth. The change should be a genuine desire on your part (likely a behavior change for which you experience ambivalence), however, not an issue that is emotionally or physically acute. Please remember that your instructor will read the transcript and you will have an ongoing peer relationship with your “helper”.
Helper: Remind the speaker at the beginning of the conversation that the interview will be audio-recorded and transcribed for a class assignment. Provide basic informed consent, including limitations of confidentiality. You can begin the interview with an assumption that the speaker has sought out help from you for an issue related to changing a quality of life issue. Thus, a sample beginning statement (after a basic greeting and brief informed consent) may sound something like: “Tell me about the concern that brought you in today.”
After the interview is complete, transcribe the recording using Microsoft Word or compatible software. Exclude the speaker’s name in the transcript – just use the terms “speaker” and “helper”. Review the transcript and label (use the comment function in Word) your responses based on OARS (e.g., open question, affirmation, reflection, summary, etc.), as well as an alternative response if you are not happy with your initial response. Label all helper responses. You can also label change talk/sustain talk if you identify it in the speaker and note when you make responses that are aimed at eliciting change or sustain talk (e.g., This response was aimed at eliciting clients’ own motivations for change). If you use any MI strategies during the interaction, you can note the name of the strategy (e.g., decisional balance, agenda mapping, etc.). You will likely not make it out of the engaging phase of helping so you may not get the opportunity to practice specific MI intervention tools – demonstrating strong OARS is sufficient. Turn in the transcription in Blackboard Learn with comments by Monday February 15th.
Class Attendance and Participation – 30 pts.
Class attendance includes presence for the duration of the weekend course and timely arrival on Friday and Saturday, as well as from breaks. Participation includes demonstration of professional behaviors (e.g., active listening, respectful verbal engagement, refrain from non-academic technology use), involvement in class activities and exercises, and expressions of interest and curiosity through thoughtful questioning and responding.
Intervention Assignments
Evidence-Based Practices Paper (EBP) – 100 pts.
Dr. Moro
Select an evidence-based practice from the list provided. Information about the practice can be found on the following website: as well as in the research literature. Write a 5-6 page research paper summarizing the practice including theoretical background, primary techniques/helping strategies used, effectiveness for specific populations the research supporting the practice (review at least 4 peer-reviewed journal articles), and strengths/limitations of the approach. Your primary focus should be on how the practice is relevant to and implemented in the treatment of substance abuse and (if appropriate) co-occurring disorders. Due before class on Friday March 10th (submit via Blackboard).
**The paper should be written in adherence of APA style (with the exception of including an abstract). At a minimum, review Ch. 3 & Ch. 6 in the APA manual – Writing Clearly and Concisely and Crediting Sources. Pay special attention to organization (e.g., use headings – the rubric provides a sufficiently clear structure) and rules for citations and references (e.g., cite all information that is not “common knowledge” – citing at the end of each paragraph is not sufficient). Please note that 25% of your grade on this paper is related to the quality of your writing and attention to APA style. If you struggle with scholarly writing, I strongly recommend you visit the Boise State Writing Center ( for a consultation.
Presentation on Evidence-Based Practice- 50 pts.
Dr. Moro
Create a 15-minute power point presentation based on your evidenced-based practices paper (details above). The presentation should describe the evidence-based treatment selected and present evidence for the practice. Again, the focus should primarily be on how the practice is relevant to and implemented in the treatment of substance abuse and co-occurring disorders. Include relevant citations on each slide, as well as a reference slide at the end of the presentation.