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Certificate in Addiction Studies

Addiction is one of the most pervasive problems within society. It is more likely that addictions in its different form have always been around us. Eliminating addiction cannot be considered as a big challenge but at times it gets difficult to recognise. Today there are many people from a variety of professions who find it hard dealing with the problems caused by addiction. The problem is becoming more common and its underlying factors are even more complex. Certainly with more and more people facing this difficulty day by day, the requirement to have and follow a correct approach to understand and treat the addiction problem is turning out to more vital. Addressing to this prime concern, our short term certificate program in addiction studies is designed to provide you with detail understanding of the problems related to addiction and respond positively to those issues as they arise at work or in the community.

Learning Objectives

The overall aim of this certificate course in addiction studies is to provide you with clear, accessible, up to date information on addiction problems. This information will further help you gain and develop better understanding in this area, which you can further bring into practice in your professional or personal lives. The course aims to help you learn and refine different clinical skills that are primarily very important in treating addictive disorders in a multidisciplinary environment.

Course Benefits

By the end of the course, you will attain proper knowledge and key theoretical frameworks that can enable you grow basic intervention skills required in this profession. This course will help you in developing a greater and better understanding of the causes & effects of addiction disorder. Apart from this, the course will provide you with opportunity to:

Course Outline

Types of Addiction

• Definitions & concepts of Addiction.
• Information on types & impact of drug Addiction, including Inhalants, Depressants, Sedatives.

• Alcohol, Stimulants, Amphetamines, ‘Club/Recreational’ Drugs, Hallucinogens, Opiates & Sport Drugs.

• Street names & terminology.
• The drug scene today.

Theories of Addiction

Focussing on the major Theories & Models of Addiction:

• The Moral model
• The Psychological Model: Psychoanalytic, Behavioural, Cognitive

• The Medical/Disease Model: Genetic, Addictive Personality, Allergy, Illness & Biological

• The Socio-Cultural Model: Modelling, National & Cultural Conditions & Family Systems Theory

Addiction Apartments

• Pharmacotherapy: Antabuse, Ibogaine, Methadone & Detox-5
• The Minneosta Model: 12 Step & Alcoholics Anonymous
• Counselling & Therapy: Motivational Interviewing & Reality Therapy
• Harm Reduction Model
• Treatments in practice

Addiction in Society

• Drug policies, legalisation & de– criminalisation
• ICommunity change, Outreach, Harm Reduction or Abstinence
• Alcohol & drug education
• Alcohol & drug-related issues in the workplace

Addiction in Families

• Co-dependency, children of alcoholic families, parenting styles, & family factors
• Relapse for families, ‘letting go’, dependent attitudes & dependent behaviours
• Al-Anon
• The intervention approach

Working with Addiction

• Why be a helper, motives & attitudes
• Helper qualities & attitudes
• The art of accepting
• Counselling/helping skills. Helping the helpers