Description
The topic of addiction and recovery is brimming with myths and misinformation. It's little wonder that the frequency of one-year relapse is high. In this interview Dr. Mark Willenbring, an internationally recognized addiction psychiatrist, who has been pioneering new ways to treat alcohol and drug use disorders for over 30 years, lists a number of myths about addiction treatment including Myth #1) Rehab is necessary for most people to recover from addictions; Myth #2) Highly trained professionals provide most of the treatment in addictions programs; and Myth #3) Drugs should not be used to treat a drug addict because total abstinence is required. He shares his view that substance abuse treatment begins with research, and he indicates that there is an alarming discrepancy between the treatments employed at many rehab centers and the treatments recommended by leading experts and supported by scientific research.
As well as the interview, this course includes research that supports the use of Suboxone and methadone as effective treatment options.
Target audience: Psychologists, mental health counselors, marriage and family therapists, addiction counselors, social workers, nurses, educators.
This CE course is designated as intermediate.
There is no known conflict of interest or commercial support.
You can access the audio to the interview via your computer's MP3 player and/or read the text of the program. The research portion of this course is text-based only.
Author Bio
Mark Willenbring, MD, is an internationally recognized addiction psychiatrist, who has been pioneering new ways to treat alcohol and drug use disorders for over 30 years. As professor of psychiatry at the University of Minnesota, his research focused on better ways to manage chronic complex conditions, where substance use, mental, and physical disorders are often combined. Within the VA Healthcare System, he was a leader in implementing research findings into clinical practice. Dr. Willenbring then moved to the National Institutes of Health, in Bethesda, MD, where he directed the division responsible for funding research grants to universities across the United States on alcohol treatment and recovery. While there, he became aware that new knowledge and tools resulting from NIH funding of alcohol and drug treatment were not being made available to the people who needed them. He states that the current addiction treatment system is not built on science, but on an antiquated rehab model that has not changed much since 1955. When he left NIH to return to Minnesota, he was determined to stimulate transformative change in addiction treatment in America. He formed Alltyr in 2012 with that purpose, and the first Alltyr Clinic opened in St. Paul, MN, in 2013 to demonstrate a rehab alternative.
A Comparison of Suboxone and Methadone in the Treatment of Opiate Addiction authored by Adam N Peddicord*, Chris Bush and Crystal Cruze University of Cincinnati-Family Nurse Practitioner Program, Batavia, OH USA
CE Approvals
At Health, LLC is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. At Health, LLC maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
At Health, LLC has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6949. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. At Health, LLC is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
Athealth.com is approved as a continuing education provider by the National Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors (NAADAC) Provider #148460.
At Health, LLC, Provider #1707, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. At Health, LLC, maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider approval period: 5/3/2023-5/3/2026.
It is At Health's understanding that these programs meet the criteria of an approved continuing education program for social work in Arkansas. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit.
It is At Health's understanding that these programs meet the criteria of an approved continuing education program for social workers, professional counselors, marriage and family therapists, master's level psychologists, licensed clinical psychotherapists, and alcohol and other drug abuse counselors in Kansas. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit.
It is At Health's understanding that these programs meet the criteria of an approved continuing education program for mental health practice and for social work in Nebraska. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit.
It is At Health's understanding that these programs meet the criteria of an approved continuing education program for psychologists, pastoral psychotherapists, clinical social workers, clinical mental health counselors, marriage and family therapists, and alcohol and drug abuse counselors in New Hampshire. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit.
It is At Health's understanding that these programs meet the criteria of an approved continuing education program for social workers, professional counselors, marital and family therapists, and clinical pastoral therapists in Tennessee. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit.
Other jurisdictions may accept trainings offered by At Health, LLC for your continuing education requirements. Restrictions may apply. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit.”
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Page last modified or reviewed by athealth.com on Jan 20, 2025.
Learning Objectives
Upon completing this program, you should be able to:
- Explain the effect of opioids on the brain
- Discuss the limitations of abstinence-based programs for treating opiate addiction
- Describe why medications like Methadone and Buprenorphine reduce cravings and prevent relapse
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