Training Available for Counselors
Only physicians with SAMHSA waivers can prescribe buprenorphine.
But physicians aren't the only ones who need to learn about this
new option for treating opioid addiction.
To ensure that counselors and other health care providers have
the information they need, SAMHSA's Central East Addiction Technology
Transfer Center (ATTC) offers an online course called Buprenorphine
Treatment of Opioid Addiction: A Counselor's Guide. Available
at the Central East ATTC Web site, this free, self-paced training
prepares counselors to advise patients and families, and to work
with physicians who provide buprenorphine-based treatment. The course
covers buprenorphine's effects, efficacy, and safety as well as
the counselor's role in treatment.
 Soon
a curriculum for use in on-site trainings will also be available.
An adaptation of the online course, this curriculum is being developed
by representatives from SAMHSA's ATTCs and the National Institute
on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Working together to increase awareness of
buprenorphine among health care providers, this "Blending Team"
is an outgrowth of a 2001 agreement between SAMHSA and NIDA designed
to speed up the process of bringing research findings into actual
practice. (See
SAMHSA News, Fall 2002.)
"There are plenty of resources for physicians interested
in buprenorphine," said Suman Rao, Ph.D., a health scientist
administrator in NIDA's Office of Science Policy and Communication.
"But we recognized that there was a gap in terms of resources
for other health care providers."
When the new curriculum is finished this spring, the Blending
Team will distribute it to the ATTCs for use in their local areas.
"On-site training will be available in the 14 regions of
the ATTC Network, which covers all states and U.S. territories,"
said Karl D. White, Ed.D., ATTC project officer at CSAT. In addition
to the curriculum, the training package will include a brochure,
fact sheets, a bibliography, and a CD-ROM.
"We want to offer as many opportunities as possible to provide
an effective introduction to this new treatment opportunity,"
said Team Leader Thomas E. Freese, Ph.D., director of the Pacific
Southwest ATTC in Los Angeles, CA. "For buprenorphine to be
effective, counselors must have information about the medication
itself and its use in the treatment process. Only then can a coordinated
system of care be developed that addresses a client's medical, behavioral,
and psychological issues comprehensively."
To learn more about SAMHSA's ATTCs,
visit www.nattc.org.
To access the online buprenorphine
training course, visit www.ceattc.org.
To learn more, contact SAMHSA's National Clearinghouse for Alcohol
and Drug Information at P.O. Box 2345, Rockville, MD 20847-2345.
Telephone: 1 (800) 729-6686 (English and Spanish) or 1 (800) 487-4889
(TDD). 
«
See Part 1: SAMHSA Helps Bring Buprenorphine to the Field
«
See Part 2: SAMHSA Helps Bring Buprenorphine to the Field
See Also Buprenorphine-Related
Content:
« From
the Administrator: How Is Buprenorphine
Treatment Working?
« Resources
In Action:
One Community's Story »
See Also—Next
Article »
Back to Top
|
