AdCare Presentation on Trauma and Addiction Open to the Public

This Wednesday, March 10th, Amy Leone, MS, MA, LMHC and owner of Community Impact, will be offering a webinar titled “Facilitating Positive Change in Clients with Substance Use and Trauma” that is open to the public. The webinar will give attendees a unique opportunity to learn about the intersection of addiction and mental health treatment from a high-level perspective. Whether you are someone who works in the field of substance abuse and mental health, or just curious about how compassion and evidence-based approaches are used to inspire people to succeed in changing their lives for the better. Attendees will earn 1 continuing education unit (CEU). 

Leone has been a mental health counselor for over 20 years and founded the Juvenile Advocacy Group (JAG) multiple community coalition where she serves as chair. She also founded the JAG Youth Council and the Regional Navigation Program, which works to combat addiction in the greater Milford area and was the recipient of the 2015 “Peter R. Lee Healthy Communities Award” from the Department of Public Health. 

Addiction and Mental Health 

While drug or alcohol addiction carries considerable stigma, it is really a chronic brain disorder that affects approximately 2,414,000 people in the United States alone. About half of the people that struggle with addiction suffer from a co-occurring mental disorder. It is impossible to pinpoint one reason why people become addicted to substances. For some it may be genetic, for others it may have to do with their upbringing. Others may turn to substance abuse to escape chronic pain. One of the most common predictors of substance use disorder is trauma. 

Many studies have found a link between childhood trauma and a reduced capacity to handle stress. To ease the anxiety triggered by stressful experiences, people often turn to drugs and alcohol. In time, someone may develop a physical dependency on a substance (i.e. experiencing withdrawal when abstaining) and alter their brain circuitry due to the repeated substance abuse. Drugs and alcohol can cause serious lasting changes to the parts of the brain associated with reward and motivation, which leads patients to continue seeking and using substances despite the harm it causes. It’s also believed that these alterations in the brain lead many people to relapse after long periods of sobriety. 

Substance use disorder is often exacerbated by co-occurring disorders. Multiple studies have shown that a comprehensive approach to treatment—where all issues are treated simultaneously—is most effective. 

Amy Leone’s presentation will show the challenges of treating addiction patients with trauma and the ways both conditions can be addressed simultaneously for a positive outcome. Contact mpapcsy@adcare.com to RSVP. 

If you or a loved one is struggling with addiction, please contact an us at .