Strategies for Healing Among Traumatized Youth Struggling with Substance Use Problems: An Integrated Treatment Approach

Presented by: Liza Suarez, Clinical Associate Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry, Director of Pediatric Stress and Anxiety Disorders Clinic, Co-Director of the Youth Trauma Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago

Free and Open to Mental Health Clinicians
Friday, March 11, 2022
8:00 a.m. - 12:00p.m.

To receive the webinar link, participants are required to register in advance. Registration will close at noon on March 10th. You have successfully registered if you receive an email with your registration details. CE certificates will be issued by PLU upon successful completion of the workshop. Any questions may be directed to David Simpson, Associate Professor of Social Work, Chair of Social Work at simpsoda@plu.edu or the Wang Center for Global and Community Engaged Education at wang.center@plu.edu.

Strategies for healing among traumatized youth struggling with substance use problems: An integrated treatment approach presented by Liza Suarez, Co-director of the Urban Youth Trauma Center (UYTC)

Youth with co-occurring traumatic stress and substance use problems struggle with high levels of emotional distress, ongoing challenges at home, school and with relationships, and they often require a higher level of care.  This workshop will help participants understand the connection between trauma and substance use and provide guidance for clinicians on applying intervention strategies for youth impacted by trauma and substance use based on a manualized treatment approach designed specifically to address these problems. Trauma Systems Therapy for Adolescent Substance Abuse (TST-SA, Suarez, Ellis, & Saxe, 2013) is an integrated treatment program that incorporates empirically validated intervention strategies targeting both substance abuse and traumatic stress in adolescents, including cognitive behavior therapy, motivational interviewing, as well as family-focused behavioral and systemic interventions.  The program is targeted towards 13- to 17-year-olds and provides a dual emphasis on emotional/behavioral regulation and increasing environmental stability.  Treatment is tailored to the youth’s specific needs by applying modular approaches guided by an examination of the level of need presented by each youth. The workshop will emphasize the importance of simultaneously addressing improved social/environmental stability as well as increased emotional regulation in youth with co-occurring traumatic stress and substance use problems.

This CE workshop is recommended for professionals working in these fields:

• Social Worker
• Psychologist
• Substance Use Counselors
• School Counselors
• Marriage and Family Therapist
• Licensed Mental Health Counselor
• Other provider of mental health and or substance use services