Lesson 1Timeline follow-back, standard drinks, cocaine use metrics, polysubstance explorationThis part explains tracking use over time, what counts as standard drinks, ways to measure cocaine use, and mapping out mixed substance habits to spot risks, make diagnoses, and check treatment progress with real clinic 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 part covers taking mental health histories in addiction care, looking at mood swings, worry, strange thoughts, and sleep troubles, stressing how to tell apart symptoms from substances, using quick check tools, and gauging daily life impact and dangers.
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 part looks at life factors like home, work, law troubles, insurance, and getting care, showing how to weave these into treatment plans, speak up for patients, and link to local help.
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 part shows how to get full details on substance use, from start, amounts, how often, ways taken, binge spells, withdrawal signs, past helps, spotting tolerance, lost control, and matching DSM-5 addiction signs.
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 part goes over gathering medicine lists, body illness histories, over-the-counter or swap substance stories, pointing out clashes, liver and heart risks, pain handling, and plans for drug treatments.
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 marginalized patientsThis part shares ways to manage with little backup info and connect with sidelined patients, using talk to spark change, harm cutting, trust building, and handling doubt, shame, and system blocks for steady 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 part lays out a step-by-step addiction chat flow, from main worry and substance story to body, mind, community, and backup info, stressing order, bendability, and time sense in varied clinic spots.
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 part details care-aware checks for past hurts, partner harm, self-harm thoughts, harm to others, and child safety, stressing safety maps, must-report rules, records, and teaming with protection and crisis help.
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 part spotlights starting chats right, getting okay, and building trust with hurt-experienced folks, using team-like, fair talk, clear lines, and culture respect to grow faith and cut re-hurts.
Structuring the opening minutes of the visitExplaining purpose, limits of confidentialityObtaining informed consent for sensitive topicsUsing empathic, nonjudgmental languageCultural humility and managing power dynamics
