PCS Young Adult Intensive Summer Programs PCS Young Adult Intensives are targeted to single young adults ages 18 to 25. In this six day intensive, participants will connect with...
PCS Young Adult Intensive Summer Programs
PCS Young Adult Intensives are targeted to single young adults ages 18 to 25. In this six day intensive, participants will connect with other young adults in group therapy. Also, time will be spent in individual sessions focusing on overcoming personal obstacles inhibiting them from being the person they want to be. PCS provides a safe and challenging environment for individuals and families to receive restoration and healing.
What Young Adults and their Families can expect
PCS is staffed by a team of highly trained and nationally recognized mental health professionals. Our team concept delivers a powerful balance of compassion, support, and challenge that is action oriented and results focused. Each young adult’s treatment is personalized and progress monitored. This commitment to their care, the diversity of professional skills, and integration of a systems approach to health, restoration, and healing allows PCS to maximize young adult growth even in difficult and challenging situations.
June 5-10* Registration deadline 6/1
Aug. 7-12* Registration deadline 8/3
* Space is limited. Deposit required.
To schedule a complimentary pre-intake assessment call Doug Withrow, Kris Keul, Cristine Toel or Catherine Asber at 480-947-5739. www.pcsearle.com.
Can One Counseling Session in the ER Help Reduce Opioid Misuse?
A single 30-minute session with a trained therapist during an emergency room visit can motivate people who misused prescription opioid painkillers to reduce their use, a new study concluded.
In the six months after their ER visit, patients were less likely to misuse opioid drugs. They also reduced risky behavior that could lead to an opioid overdose. In contrast, a group of similar patients who did not receive counseling did not have as much of a drop in opioid misuse and risky behavior.
The therapists conducting the counseling sessions used a technique called motivational interviewing, which helps people understand the risks they face from drug use. They learn about the factors that can increase that risk, such as drinking alcohol or taking other drugs such as benzodiazepines while they are taking painkillers. The technique is designed to help people increase their desire and commitment to change their behavior.
The study included 204 adult patients who had reported opioid misuse in the past three months. They were randomly assigned to receive motivational interviewing by a therapist, along with standard care, or standard educational care alone.
Patients who had a motivational interview had a 40.5 percent drop in risky behavior, and a 50 percent reduction in non-medical use of opioids after six months. In contrast, among those receiving standard educational care, 14.7 percent had a reduction in risky behavior, and 39.5 percent had a decrease in non-medical use of opioids.
Findings are published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence. (www.drugandalcoholdependence.com/article)
“It’s very promising that we see a reduction in risky behavior with this brief, one-time intervention, among people who weren’t seeking treatment for their opioid use but had a history of non-medical use of these drugs,” lead researcher Dr. Amy Bohnert said in a news release. “Further research is needed to understand if this leads to longer term impact on health.”
Scientists Warn about Mental Health Consequences of Using Marijuana
A group of scientists in the United States, United Kingdom, Europe and Australia is warning about the potential mental health consequences of marijuana use, The Guardian reports. They say frequent use of marijuana increases the risk of psychotic disorders in vulnerable people.
The scientists are calling for global public health campaigns to warn the public about marijuana’s risks. They say the vast majority of people who smoke marijuana do not develop psychotic disorders. But those who do can suffer from hallucinations, delusions and irrational behavior. Most people recover from these episodes, but some go on to develop schizophrenia, the article notes. Heavy marijuana use is associated with an increased risk.
“It’s not sensible to wait for absolute proof that cannabis is a component cause of psychosis,” said Sir Robin Murray, Professor of Psychiatric Research at King’s College London. “There’s already ample evidence to warrant public education around the risks of heavy use of cannabis, particularly the high-potency varieties. For many reasons, we should have public warnings.”
Research suggests deterring heavy marijuana use could prevent 8 percent to 24 percent of psychosis cases handled by treatment centers, experts told the newspaper.
The Strength of Marijuana is Increasing
Over the past two decades, the strength of marijuana seized by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration increased from 4 percent to 12 percent THC, the psychoactive ingredient in the drug. An estimated 22.2 million Americans used marijuana in 2014, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
“It is important to educate the public about this now,” said NIDA Director Nora Volkow. “Kids who start using drugs in their teen years may never know their full potential. This is also true in relation to the risk for psychosis. The risk is significantly higher for people who begin using marijuana during adolescence. And unfortunately at this point, most people don’t know their genetic risk for psychosis or addiction.”
It’s Not Just How Much You Drink, Influences Risk of Blackout
There is no safe amount of alcohol to drink before people put themselves at risk of blacking out, a review of studies concludes. Individual biological differences, not just alcohol consumption, influence the risk of blackouts, Medical Daily reports.
Scientists from the Research Society on Alcoholism reviewed 26 studies on alcohol-induced blackouts published in the past five years.
Alcohol-induced blackouts, or memory loss for all or portions of events that occurred during a drinking episode, are reported by approximately 50 percent of drinkers, the researchers wrote in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. Blackouts are associated with a wide range of negative consequences, including injury and death.
A study published in 2014 found that among teens who drink, 90 percent have blacked out after drinking at least once by the time they reached age 19. Teens who black out after drinking are more likely to be female.
When a person blacks out, they appear to be awake, alert and intoxicated, but they have no memory of what has happened. At high enough doses, alcohol impairs the acquisition of memory.
Females are more likely to black out because they weigh less and have less body water to dilute the alcohol, the researchers noted. The study included 1,402 teens ages 15 to 19 who drank. Other risk factors for blacking out after drinking included smoking, having sensation-seeking and impulsive behaviors, lacking conscientiousness and having friends who also drank or used other substances.
Surgeon General to Release Report on Addiction this Fall
The U.S. Surgeon General will release a report this fall on substance use, addiction and health, according to Medscape. It will be the first such report since U.S. surgeons began issuing them in 1964.
The report will cover topics including prescription drug use, as well as the use of alcohol and other substances, said U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD. Murthy said the report will “bring together the best available science on prevention, treatment, and recovery, so we can equip our healthcare providers with the tools they need to take the best possible care of patients.”
He told the Association of Health Care Journalists this week that his office will soon send letters to 1.1 million physicians, nurses, dentists and others who prescribe opioids, urging them to increase their efforts to fight the opioid epidemic. The letter will ask prescribers to identify patients at risk for addiction, connect patients to treatment, help patients understand the risks and benefits of opioids, and help replace stigma with treatment.
Murthy plans to travel across the country, including to “some of the hardest hits states, to bring this information to clinicians and directly to the public.” He will emphasize examples of best practices. He said he wants to “help us move the needle on addressing addiction something we’ve needed to do for decades in this country.”
His office aims to “help the country to see addiction not as a moral failing, not as a bad choice, but as a chronic disease” that deserves as much attention and skill as heart disease, diabetes, or cancer. “We cannot heal as a nation without compassion,” he said. “Compassion is what allows us to stop judging and to start helping, and to step beyond our own bias and offer people support.”
Partnership Founder Tom Hedrick Named White House Champion of Change
On April 29th, the White House recognized 10 individuals from across the country as “White House Champions of Change for Advancing Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery.” Tom Hedrick, one of the founding members of the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, has been selected by the White House for his leadership and tireless work on behalf of families.
Over the course the Partnership’s 30-year history, Tom helped to build resources and support for parents and caregivers in prevention, intervention, treatment and recovery through their website and toll-free Helpline, 855-DRUGFREE. Under his guidance, the Partnership initiated a peer support program to recruit and train experienced parents and caregivers to coach other caring adults who have discovered that their kids have a substance use disorder.
The Champions of Change program was created as an opportunity for the White House to feature individuals doing extraordinary things to empower and inspire members of their communities. To learn more about the White House Champions of Change program, visit www.whitehouse.gov/champions. Follow the conversation at #WHchamps.
