The Addiction Psychologist

Addiction is characterized in part by habitual drug seeking and use and diminished pleasure from nondrug alternatives. Both may serve as critical points of intervention in the treatment of substance use. Mindfulness, the practice of intentional awareness, may be a useful tool to help clients notice habitual behavior and savor nondrug alternative rewards. Dr. Eric Garland discusses integrating mindfulness with cognitive behavioral therapy techniques to create Mindfulness Oriented Recovery Enhancement. Dr. Eric Garland is the Distinguished Endowed Chair in Research, Distinguished Professor, and Associate Dean for Research in the University of Utah College of Social Work. He is also the Director of the Center on Mindfulness and Integrative Health Intervention Development (C-MIIND). Find out more about his website. 

Contingency management is a therapy based in behaviorism in which individuals are 'reinforced' for evidence of positive behavioral change. In this episode, Dr. Stephen Higgins explains contingency management and outlines the support for its efficacy. He also discusses why it hasn't been adopted more widely, despite its strong efficacy, and why we should be doing more contingency management. Dr. Higgins is the Virginia H. Donaldson Professor of Translational Science, Vice Chair of Psychiatry, Professor of Psychiatry, Professor of Psychological Science, and Director of Vermont Center on Behavior and Health at The University of Vermont. The recent systematic review and meta-analysis, led by Dr. Hypatia A. Bolivar and published in JAMA Psychiatry, referred to in the podcast can be found here.  

Listen to the future voices of addiction research. Ten students/ECRs discuss their excellent work which will also be presented live, along with other excellent research, on August 13, 2021 during the NIAAA/NIDA student/ECR poster session. The poster session  is sponsered by NIDA/NIAAA, and all researchers were provided travel awards by either NIAAA or NIDA. Primary presenters, poster titles, and timestamps for posters below. To learn more about the poser session or to sign up to attend this free live event, please click here.  1. Julie Wojtaszek (2:09-7:10) - Changes and moderating influences on addictive and mental health symptoms associated with COVID-19 2. Tessa Frohe (7:10-17:50) - Qualitative Findings from a Smartphone Intervention Application for Individuals on Medication for Opioid Use Disorder: How User-Centered Design Offers Promise for Harm Reduction 3. Nathan Kearns (17:50-28:17) - Effect of Trauma-Related Stress After Alcohol Consumption on Perceived Likelihood of Negative Consequences and Willingness to Drive 4. Satveer Kler (28:17-33:37) - Are Social Support and Racialized Heterosexism Predictors of Alcohol Dependence among QTBIPOC? 5. Courtney Doxbeck (33:37-41:49) - Exploring Social Norms, Pandemic Partying, and E-cigarette Use in United States College Students 6. Benjamin Shepherd (41:49-52:01) - Suicidal Ideation, Substance Use Disorders, and Co-occurrences among Sexual Minority People of Color 7. Kirsten Smith (52:01-1:02:11) - Psychosocial and substance use correlates of lifetime Kratom use in a large online sample 8. Andrea Vásquez Ferreiro (1:02:11-1:09:55) - Relations among Key Correlates in a Mobile Attentional Bias Retraining Study for Opioid Use Disorder 9. Irene Pericot-Valvedre (1:09:55-1:18:09) - Diagnostic Accuracy of the BDI-II and its Relationship to Direct-Acting Antiviral Adherence: Implications for Hepatitis C treatment Among People Who Inject Drugs on Medications for Opioid Use Disorder 10. Alexandra Palmisano (1:18:09-1:28:21) - Examining the Association between PTSD Symptom Heterogeneity and Alcohol Use Disorder in Veterans

A great deal of individual's require substance use treatment that is more active than brief motivational interventions, yet are unable or unwilling to attend long-term inpatient treatment. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for is an effective treatment for substance use disorders. CBT for substance use disorder targets emotions, cognitions, and behaviors associated with substance use and teach skills in order to reduce use. Dr. Kate McHugh discusses CBT for substance use disorder, including her work to increase its overall impact. Kate is the Director of the Stress, Anxiety, and Substance Use Laboratory and Director of Behavioral Therapy Development, Training and Research at McLean Hospital. She is also an Associate Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

College students drink at higher levels than most other groups; yet, their motivation to reduce drinking is often low because alcohol consumption provides salient social benefits. Despite these benefits, emerging adulthood is a critical developmental period that can impact the likelihood of alcohol use disorder over the lifespan. Dr. Jim Murphy talks broadly about brief motivational interventions (BMIs) for college populations, which typically deliver personalized feedback in a motivational interviewing style to increase motivation to change drinking practices among college students. Jim also discusses the limitations to BMIs and discusses his work to try to extend their efficacy. Dr. Jim Murphy is the Dunavant Professor in the Department of Psychology in the University of Memphis.  This is the first episode in a three part series on intervention and treatment, which will be followed by episodes on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Contingency Management.  

Addiction is among the most stigmatized of all social/health problems. Language surrounding clinical care in addiction is unlike any other area of medicine in that it often uses terms that are pejorative and lack specificity. In this episode, Dr. John Kelly talks about why we need to “stop talking dirty” in addiction research and treatment. He also discussed the results of the National Recovery Study – the only epidemiological of people in recovery ever conducted. Ever wonder how many serious attempts it takes to resolve an alcohol or drug problem, on average? He will cover that and more in this cannot-miss episode. Dr. Kelly is an endowed Professor of Psychiatry in Addiction Medicine at Harvard Medical School, the Founder and Director of the Recovery Research Institute at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), the Program Director of the Addiction Recovery Management Service (ARMS) and Associate Director of the Center for Addiction Medicine (CAM) at MGH. Follow this link to sign the Action Network petition to remove the word "abuse" from national institutes: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/change-the-name-end-the-stigma

Across substances, rates of use are high in indigenous populations across North America. Melissa Schick discusses the historical and ongoing trauma experienced by these populations and why it might be related to higher rates of substance use. Melissa also discusses combining strength-based approaches, from the perspective of positive psychology with community participatory research to provide culturally humble treatment and interventions. Melissa Schick is a Doctoral candidate in Clinical Psychology at the University of Rhode Island and the Senior Student Representative to the executive committee for the Society for Addiction Psychology.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) often co-occur. A great deal of research has attempted to understand the nature of this relationship. Is PTSD a risk factor for AUD? Is high risk drinking a risk factor for PTSD? These questions can help us understand which of the two disorders to target first. Dr. Debra Kaysen talks about her research on treatments for co-occurring PTSD and AUD, focusing special attention toward state of the art science on ordering effects. Dr. Debra Kaysen is a clinical psychologist and Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. Dr. Kaysen’s area of specialty both in research and clinical work is in treatment of those who have experienced traumatic events including PTSD, mood and substance-use disorders. Debra is one of the leading researchers in adaptation of evidence-based PTSD treatments to increase access to evidence based treatments for diverse populations (Iraq, Democratic Republic of Congo, Native Americans), comorbidities (alcohol use disorders, HIV risk behavior), and for use in non-specialty care settings (digital health, telepsychology and primary care settings). Debra is currently the Immediate Past President of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS).

Biomarkers are objective signs or indications of a clinical state which can be measured reliably and accurately. Biomarkers are important because they can reveal mechanisms of behavior and help inform treatments. Laura Lesnewich talks about Biomarkers for Alcohol Use Disorder and her work identifying Biomarkers related to executive functioning deficits. Laura is a Doctoral candidate in Clinical Psychology at Rutgers and a Predoctoral intern at the Coatesville VA Medical Center. 

Listen to the future voices of addiction research. Seven students/ECRs discuss their excellent work which will also be presented live, during CPA 2021 from March 17-19. All interviewees were winners of the CPA registration award. Primary presenters, poster titles, and timestamps for posters below. Registration is still open: https://addictionpsychology.org/cpa Neo Gebru (1:48-10:20) - “That’s Pot Culture Right There”: Purchasing Behaviors of Recreational Marijuana Users Hallie Jordan: (10:20-18:55) - Psychometric Validation of the Protective Drinking Practices Scale in a National Sample of Students Dr. Jenni Teeters (18:55-26:24) - A Mobile-phone Based Intervention Is Associated With Reductions In Driving After Cannabis Use Among Near Daily Cannabis Users Dr. Emily Hennessy (26:24-36:59) - Parents and Family Mechanisms of Social Recovery Capital for Youth Recovery Marie O'Hanrahan (36:49-42:10) - Factors Predicting Substance Use Relapse: Service-Providers Perceptions Dr. Frank Schwabel (42:10-48:32) - Budding Recursive Partitioning Tress to Identify Predictors of Cannabis-related Outcomes (http://mateolab.yolasite.com/openscience.php) Thalia Sullivan (48:32-55:03) - Validation of the Daily Sessions, Frequency, Age of Onset, and Quantity of Cannabis Use Inventory Among an Illicit Cannabis Using Population