Course Description
This course provides an in-depth understanding of the effects of psychotropic substances on the brain and the treatment of addiction with medications. Students will learn about the pharmacological basis of addiction, the neurobiology of addiction, the pharmacokinetics of psychoactive drugs, and the use of medications in addiction treatment. The course will emphasize the importance of having a balanced view toward psychoactive medications and medication assisted treatment centered around the needs of clients with a sensitivity to cultural and religious factors. In this course, you will synthesize a major doctoral project combining theoretical and practical research related to psychopharmacology of addiction, specifically for your context.
Course Outcomes
- Apply ethical standards in addiction counseling, ensuring legal and ethical considerations when working with clients prescribed psychoactive medications.
- Demonstrate the use of assessments for diagnostic and intervention planning, specifically for clients using antipsychotic and antidepressant medications.
- Evaluate the biological, neurological, and physiological effects of prescribed medications, such as antipsychotics and antidepressants, on addiction and co-occurring disorders.
- Analyze the potential for addiction and substance use disorders to mimic or co-occur with mental health disorders, such as schizophrenia and depression, in clients using prescribed psychoactive medications.
- Understand the roles and settings of addiction counselors in managing clients with mental health conditions and prescribed psychoactive medications.
- Explain the pharmacological mechanisms and potential abuse risks of antipsychotic and antidepressant medications in addiction recovery.
- Develop individualized treatment plans that integrate prescribed medications and address the risks of addiction and relapse for clients with schizophrenia and depression.
- Critically assess the role of Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) and psychoactive medications in addiction recovery, considering ethical and organizational perspectives.
- Identify and apply principles to guide the appropriate use of prescribed medications and MAT, ensuring a nuanced approach to maximize client success.
- Evaluate the unique factors that need to be considered in counseling clients with schizophrenia, depression, and other mental health conditions in relation to their addiction recovery.
- Apply knowledge of assessment tools, such as the Clinical Opiate Withdrawal Scale (COWS), to manage treatment for clients on psychoactive medications.
- Develop a Psychopharmacology and Addiction Training Manual for staff, integrating key concepts from this course to provide a comprehensive guide for managing clients with addiction and prescribed medications.
DOLI Degree Program Outcomes
Degree outcomes are the overall skills and knowledge we expect you will have after successfully completing a degree program at City Vision University. This course supports the following program outcomes, marked with an (I) for Introduce, (D) for Develop and an (M) for Mastery. After completing the degree, you will be able to do the following in each of the listed domains:
- Research methods. Apply action research methods to practical research topics in the field.
- Diffusion of Innovation. Utilize technology and relational networking to help diffuse innovations within a community of practice.
- Values Alignment. To develop a theological vision and to align your organization’s strategy, culture and systems with that vision to avoid secularization and mission drift.
- Strategy. To develop a synthesis to integrate a wide range of business skills into a strategic plan for starting or growing an organization.
- Social Entrepreneurship. Develop strategies and plans to effectively use technology and innovation to achieve organizational goals.
- Action Research Project. Synthesize action research with theory and practice to solve a practical challenge facing your organization and/or the larger field.
Concentration Outcomes
- 7a. Executive Leadership & Fundraising. Develop and implement plans to grow an organization in its impact, financial health and relational health.
- 7b. Nonprofit Program Leadership & Social Entrepreneurship. Improve the effectiveness of nonprofit programs by implementing best practices.
- 7c. Education Leadership and Innovation. Apply disruptive and continuous innovation principles to designing courses and programs to provide radically affordable and practical online education.
- 7d. Organizational Culture and Change Management. Develop and implement plans to improve organizational health and adapt to change.
- 7e. Trauma-Informed Counseling Management. Develop and implement plans to establish trauma-informed culture of health throughout an organization. (M)
Broad Institutional Doctoral Outcomes
- I1. Knowledge (Head). Apply a wide range of tools to help solve society’s great problems by shifting from a single lens/tool/discipline to a multiple lens, multifaceted Biblical understanding of reality.
- I2. Skills (Hands). Develop the skills you need for the next position in your development as a leader by shifting from mastery & understanding of a division in an organization to a comprehensive systemic mastery/understanding needed to lead across the organization. (D)
- I3. Attitudes/Character (Heart). Develop the character and discipline needed to step into greater leadership roles by losing the bias of your old position to gain broader perspective and intellectual humility needed to accelerate your commitment to lifelong learning.
Syllabus
Course Materials & Tuition
| McKim, W. A. & Hancock, S. D. (2013). Drugs and Behavior: An Introduction to Behavioral Pharmacology. New York: Pearson. | $90.00 |
| Clinton, D. T., & Scalise, D. E. (2013). The Quick-Reference Guide to Addictions and Recovery Counseling: 40 Topics, Spiritual Insights, and Easy-to-Use Action Steps. Baker Books. | $24.00 |
| Emlet, M. (2017). Descriptions and Prescriptions: A Biblical Perspective on Psychiatric Diagnoses and Medications (First edition). New Growth Press. | $10.00 |
| Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2020). Substance Use Disorder Treatment for People With Co-Occuring Disorders TIP 42. HHS Publication No. PEP20-02-01-004. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. | Free |
| Tuition | $ |
| Total Cost of Course: | $ |