Addiction Treatment: A Strengths Perspective

Recent survey data from national and international sources pertaining to alcohol and other drug misuse among young people are incorporated throughout the text, with breakdowns given by age and racial/ethnic background. Much of the material is drawn from recent government survey data pertaining to matters of interest to college students such as gambling, sports betting, eating disorders and binge drinking, from school and national health surveys relating to young adults on the basis of ethnicity and race.

Unique to this text is the theme of stress, including trauma and its interrelationship with the use of psychoactive substances. Among the stress variables discussed are the social isolation related to the COVID-19 pandemic, living in a high-crime or impoverished neighborhood, historical trauma of Indigenous populations and discrimination against LGBTQ people.

Students learn about client-centered approaches such as a strengths perspective and motivational interviewing, which fall under the rubric of the harm reduction model. The authors believe that these evidence-based approaches best prepare students for working in the field of substance use disorder treatment today.