Lesson 1Timeline follow-back, standard drinks, cocaine use metrics, polysubstance explorationThis section explains timeline follow-back, standard drink units, and cocaine use metrics, and shows how to map polysubstance patterns over time to estimate risk, guide diagnosis, and monitor treatment response with practical clinical examples.
Timeline follow-back interview techniqueDefining and calculating standard drink unitsCocaine quantity, purity, and route metricsDocumenting polysubstance patterns over timeUsing metrics to monitor treatment responseLesson 2Psychiatric history and symptom review techniques for mood, anxiety, psychosisThis section covers systematic psychiatric history taking in addiction care, including mood, anxiety, psychosis, and sleep, with emphasis on differentiating substance-induced symptoms, using screening tools, and assessing functional impairment and risk.
Eliciting past and current psychiatric diagnosesScreening for mood and anxiety in substance usersRecognizing psychosis and substance-induced statesAssessing sleep, cognition, and functional impactUsing brief validated psychiatric screenersLesson 3Social determinants: housing, employment, legal issues, insurance and accessThis section addresses assessment of social determinants of health, including housing, employment, legal issues, insurance, and access to care, and shows how to integrate findings into treatment planning, advocacy, and linkage to community resources.
Housing stability and living environmentEmployment, income, and financial stressorsLegal involvement and criminal justice issuesInsurance coverage and care access barriersLinking patients to social and legal resourcesLesson 4Detailed substance use history: quantity, frequency, pattern, routes, binge/withdrawal signsThis section teaches how to obtain a detailed substance use history, including onset, quantity, frequency, routes, binge patterns, withdrawal, and prior treatments, and how to identify tolerance, loss of control, and DSM-5 substance use disorder criteria.
Chronology of first use and progressionAssessing quantity, frequency, and routesIdentifying binge and high-risk use patternsScreening for tolerance and withdrawal signsLinking history to DSM-5 SUD criteriaLesson 5Medication, medical comorbidity, and over-the-counter/substance replacement historyThis section reviews how to gather medication, medical comorbidity, and over-the-counter or replacement substance histories, highlighting interactions, hepatic and cardiac risks, pain management, and implications for pharmacologic treatment planning.
Current and past prescribed medicationsMedical comorbidities relevant to addictionOver-the-counter and herbal substance useNicotine, cannabis, and self-directed replacementDrug–drug interactions and safety concernsLesson 6Working with limited collateral and building engagement with marginalised patientsThis section explores strategies for working with limited collateral and engaging marginalised patients, including motivational interviewing, harm reduction, alliance building, and managing mistrust, stigma, and structural barriers to sustained follow-up.
Assessing reliability of self-report dataUsing motivational interviewing micro-skillsHarm reduction framing in early encountersBuilding trust amid stigma and mistrustPlanning follow-up with unstable contactLesson 7Step-by-step addiction-focused interview flow (presenting complaint to collateral history)This section outlines a stepwise addiction interview flow, from presenting complaint and substance history to medical, psychiatric, social, and collateral information, emphasising structure, flexibility, and time management in diverse clinical settings.
Clarifying presenting complaint and goalsSequencing substance, medical, and psych historyIntegrating social, legal, and functional domainsStrategic use of collateral and recordsTime management in brief clinical encountersLesson 8Trauma, intimate partner violence, and safety screening (suicide, homicide, child protection)This section details trauma-informed approaches to screening for trauma, intimate partner violence, suicide, homicide, and child abuse, emphasising safety planning, mandated reporting, documentation, and collaboration with protective and crisis services.
Principles of trauma-informed questioningScreening for intimate partner and family violenceSuicide and homicide risk assessment stepsIdentifying and reporting child abuse or neglectSafety planning and crisis resource linkageLesson 9Structured opening, consent, and establishing rapport in trauma-exposed populationsThis section focuses on opening the interview, obtaining consent, and building rapport with trauma-exposed patients, using collaborative, nonjudgmental communication, clear boundaries, and cultural humility to foster trust and reduce retraumatisation.
Structuring the opening minutes of the visitExplaining purpose, limits of confidentialityObtaining informed consent for sensitive topicsUsing empathic, nonjudgmental languageCultural humility and managing power dynamics
