About this Event
For years in the treatment field, we have worked to understand substance use disorders as an illness and over the last decade as a brain disease to reduce stigma. Viewing addictive illness exclusively through biological structures and processes is far too reductionistic. Substance use disorders impact all aspects of the human condition as defined through the biological, psychological, sociological, spiritual, and experiential model (BPSSEM). While the brain and the central nervous system play a key role in the development of addictive disease, a patient’s psychological world, their social context, their spirituality, and their life experiences interact leading to the eventual expression of the illness. Like many other major diseases, substance use disorders reflect the remarkable complexity of the human condition unique to everyone. For treatment to be successful it is necessary to address the complex nature of human beings.
A brief review of the BPSSEM will provide the foundation for the keynote address with particular focus on the social domain. Vivek Murthy, the US Surgeon General, recently published an advisory on the dangers of loneliness and isolation which impact an individual’s overall health and wellbeing while playing a specific role in the development of substance use disorders. The toxic messages present in society that contribute to stigma will be discussed. To mitigate these challenges, a sense of community throughout the treatment continuum is critical for remission and sustained recovery. The significance of community-based patient involvement in self-help groups will be reviewed. Agencywide interventions will be highlighted as the foundation to their parallel clinical expression in group and family therapy. The support of the clinical team is critical for the maintenance and vitality of the patients’ sense of connection.
Course objectives:
1. Participants will discuss an overview of the biological, psychological, sociological, spiritual, experiential model (BPSSEM) of substance use disorders.
2. Participants will review the social domain of the BPSSEM with specific attention to aspects of the culture that reinforces isolation and loneliness.
3. Participants will evaluate the importance of community for the patients and clinicians who treat them.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
The Forum at Hope Haven, 3815 North Tryon Street, Charlotte, United States
USD 20.00
