| Drawing on the clinical wisdom and practice of a wide range of Gestalt and integrative psychotherapists, Transformational Chairwork Training is designed to introduce therapists to the art and science of chairwork or psychotherapeutic dialogues in an active, creative, and clinically-useful manner. Using didactic presentations, scripted and unscripted role-plays, and live demonstrations, participants will see how to use this technique to address several common clinical situations:
This training is focused on empowering both Mental Health Professionals and those who work with Addictions and Co-Occurring Disorders. The next Transformational Chairwork Training will take place: Date: Friday, August 6, 2010 Fee: $60; $30 for Students For more information about chairwork, please go to: http://transformationalchairwork.com If you are interested in attending, please contact Scott Kellogg, PhD at scott.kellogg@nyu.edu (Please forward to interested colleagues and students. Thank you.) Scott Kellogg, PhD http://www.psych.nyu.edu/kellogg http://transformationalchairwork.com http://gradualismandaddiction.org http://therapists.psychologytoday.com/rms/67134 Transformational Chairwork Facebook Group: |
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
The Center for the Integrative Psychotherapy of the Addictions Presents: Transformational Chairwork: A One-Day Training
Friday, July 23, 2010
Group Drug Therapy Can Be Counterproductive for Teens
Group addiction treatment can actually lead to more drug use by teens if they are casual users placed in sessions with more experienced addicts, Time magazine reported July 16.
"Just putting kids in group therapy actually promotes greater drug use," said Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
"I've known kids who have gone into inpatient treatment and met other users. After treatment, they meet up with them and explore new drugs and become more seriously involved in drug use," added Tom Dishion, director of research at the Child and Family Center at the University of Oregon.
Some treatment programs also may weaken the bonds between adolescents and their families, which also can increase the risk of drug use. Plus, teens may view 12-step programs' emphasis on being powerless over drugs as defeatist rather than a call for abstinence and mutual support.
On the other hand, research has shown that more troubled youth can benefit by associating with better-adjusted teens.
Individual and family therapy have been shown to be effective with teens, but group therapy is more common because it is less expensive. NIDA is currently working to ensure that more teens receive such evidence-based treatment.
http://www.jointogether.org/news/headlines/inthenews/2010/group-drug-therapy-can-be.html
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2003160,00.htmlTreatment Programs Report Surge in Prescription Drug Admissions
About one in 10 people admitted to addiction treatment programs in 2008 misused prescription drugs, quadruple the rate reported in 1998, ABC News reported July 16.
"People are getting treatment, which is good news. But the bad news is the problem just keeps growing," said Peter Delaney, director of the Office of Applied Studies at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
Researchers found that admissions for prescription-drug problems cut across age, gender, education, and employment status. The findings are drawn from the Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS).
Experts said that prescription drugs are widely available and that many people don't perceive their use as risky. "This has been a trend coming for 10 years," added Steve Pasierb, president and CEO of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. "It should be no surprise that now it is showing up in ER visits and people checking into treatment centers."
http://www.jointogether.org/news/research/summaries/2010/treatment-programs-report.html
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Drugs/pain-med-addicts-rehab-400-percent-10-years/story?id=11171686
Monday, July 19, 2010
MDMA (Ecstasy)-Assisted Psychotherapy Relieves Treatment-Resistant PTSD in First Completed Clinical TrialBelmont, MA-based Rick Doblin, Ph.D., Preside
Belmont, MA-based Rick Doblin, Ph.D., President of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (www.maps.org, a non-profit psychedelic and medical marijuana research and educational organization that sponsored the study), together with South Carolina-based psychiatrist Michael Mithoefer, MD and colleagues, conducted a pilot Phase II clinical trial with 20 patients with chronic PTSD persisting for an average of over 19 years. Prior to enrolling in the MDMA study, subjects were required to have received, and failed to obtain relief, from both psychotherapy and psychopharmacology.
Participants treated with a combination of MDMA and psychotherapy saw clinically and statistically significant improvements in their PTSD – over 80% of the trial group no longer met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD, stipulated in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV (DSM-IV-TR) following the trial, compared to only 25% of the placebo group. In addition, all three subjects who reported being unable to work due to PTSD were able to return to work following treatment with MDMA.
The trial centred on two eight-hour psychotherapy sessions scheduled about 3-5 weeks apart, where 12 subjects received MDMA, and eight took a placebo. Subjects were also given psychotherapy on a weekly basis before and after each experimental session. A blinded, independent rater tested each subject using a PTSD scale at baseline, and at intervals four days after each session and two months after the second session. The clinical response was significant – 10 of the 12 in the treatment group responded to the treatment compared with just two of the eight in the placebo group. During the trial, the subjects did not experience any drug-related Serious Adverse Events (SAEs), nor any adverse neurocognitive effects or clinically significant blood pressure or temperature
increases.
After the two-month follow-up, subjects in the placebo group were offered the option to participate in the treatment process again, to receive MDMA on an open-label basis, acting as their own controls. Seven of the eight placebo subjects elected to receive MDMA-assisted psychotherapy, with successful treatment outcomes similar to the subjects initially randomized to MDMA.
PTSD involves exaggerated and uncontrolled fear responses. To treat these, psychotherapists need to help sufferers revisit traumatic experiences. But patients often suffer intolerable feelings when they revisit the trauma, or numb themselves emotionally, resulting in the psychotherapy having little effect. The goal of using MDMA is to temporarily reduce fear and increase trust without inhibiting emotions, especially painful emotions, allowing these patients a window where psychotherapy for their PTSD is effective.
MDMA’s pharmacological effects include serotonin release, 5HT2 receptor stimulation and increase in levels of the neurohormones oxytocin, prolactin and cortisol.
Importantly, this trial involved concentrated periods of patient-therapist contact (31 hours over two months) including two all-day therapy sessions and overnight stays in the clinic. “These are not usual features of psychotherapy practice in the outpatient setting,” says Michael Mithoefer. MDMA-assisted psychotherapy would require special clinics equipped for longer treatment sessions and overnight stays if an MDMA-based treatment were approved. “This method also involves patient preparation and close follow-up to support further processing of emotions and integration of cognitive shifts that may occur,” Mithoefer adds, stressing that these are vital for safety and therapeutic effect.
Measures like these may prove a price worth paying, however, to alleviate the debilitating effects of PTSD on sufferers in future.
The authors caution that the study does have limitations – for example they did not look at gender and ethnic factors in their sample selection. Another important limitation was that most participants and trial investigators guessed accurately whether they were in the treatment or the placebo group. The placebo had no psychoactive effect and investigators could detect raised blood pressure and other symptoms in the MDMA group. A long-term follow-up to the study just published, evaluating subjects an average of about 40 months post-treatment, is underway.
The investigators have now received the go ahead from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a protocol for a three-arm, dose-response design that they expect will result in successful blinding. This new study is for US veterans with war-related PTSD, most from Iraq and Afghanistan and a few from Vietnam. MAPS is currently sponsoring MDMA/PTSD Phase 2 pilot studies in Switzerland and Israel, and is working to start additional pilot studies in Canada, Jordan and Spain.
# # #
The safety and efficacy of ±3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine -assisted psychotherapy in subjects with chronic treatment-resistant posttraumatic stress disorder: the first randomised controlled pilot study by Michael C. Mithoefer, M.D., Mark T. Wagner, Ph.D., Ann T. Mithoefer, B.S.N., Lisa Jerome, Ph.D., and Rick Doblin, Ph.D. is published today (19th July 2010) in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.
The Journal of Psychopharmacology is published by SAGE, on behalf of the British Association for Psychopharmacology.
A treatment manual by the study’s sponsor, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies on this topic can be found here: http://www.maps.org/mdma/.
MAPS’ Investigator’s Brochure, reviewing and summarizing the entire published scientific literature on MDMA and Ecstasy, can be found here: http://www.maps.org/mdma/protocol/litreview.html
SAGE is a leading international publisher of journals, books, and electronic media for academic, educational, and professional markets. Since 1965, SAGE has helped inform and educate a global community of scholars, practitioners, researchers, and students spanning a wide range of subject areas including business, humanities, social sciences, and science, technology, and medicine. An independent company, SAGE has principal offices in Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore and Washington DC. www.sagepublications.com
Contact:
Dr. Michael Mithoefer 
1-843 566-4252
mmithoefer@mac.com
Rick Doblin, Ph.D. 1-617 276-7806 rick@maps.org
Mithu Lucraft, SAGE 44-(0)20-7324-2223 mithu.lucraft@sagepub.co.uk
Friday, July 2, 2010
Integrative Harm Reduction Events in Appalachian Ohio
Dr. Tatarsky will conduct a forum for invited state, county & community leaders, Integrative Harm Reduction: A New Way to Think about Substance Use, Mental Health and Public Policy. Sponsored by Integrated Services of Appalachian Ohio.
http://www.andrewtatarsky.com/integrative_harm_reduction_brochure_071210.pdf
Dr. Tatarsky will conduct a one day training, Integrative Harm Reduction: A New Way to Think about Behavior Change. For Counselors, Social Workers and all helping professions. Sponsored by Integrated Services of Appalachian Ohio.
http://www.andrewtatarsky.com/integrative_harm_reduction_brochure_071210.pdf