Seeking Safety is a present-focused, evidence-based coping skills approach developed as an integrated treatment for co-morbid issues regarding trauma (PTSD) and substance use disorders (SUD). It does not require the client to dwell on the past, although it can be combined with trauma-processing methods. The primary goal of Seeking Safety is to promote recovery by assisting the individual in developing strategies to keep them safe from the effects of trauma, and the painful impact of substance use. As the title implies, “Seeking Safety” is the objective.

This training is presented based on the implementation guide developed by Lisa Najavits, “Seeking Safety: An implementation guide. In A. Rubin & DW Springer (Eds). The Clinician's Guide to Evidence-Based Practice". It will also train participants to utilize the facilitator manual developed by Lisa Najavits, “Seeking Safety: A Treatment Manual for PTSD and Substance Abuse".

The Seeking Safety method seeks to counteract the impulsivity and chaotic nature of this co-morbidity with a process that emphasizes planning, pacing, and predictability. While it’s a structured approach, the treatment is also designed to be extremely flexible to adapt to clients’ needs, clinicians’ preferences, and a variety of treatment contexts.

Any practitioner can conduct the program, provided they have a desire to work with this population, a willingness to use a manual-based approach, and possess positive interpersonal skills.

In this training, participants will learn; 

• The central ideas around which the method is based, and core skills for applying them
• To clearly define “traumatic” experiences and the connection of trauma to substance abuse
• Skills for maintaining safety for the client and they themselves, the practitioner
• Skills for helping clients learn safe coping skills
• Skills for helping clients manage impulses and manage emotions
• To utilize the facilitator manual developed by Lisa Najavits

The manual presents the first empirically studied, integrative treatment approach developed specifically for PTSD and substance abuse. For persons with this prevalent and difficult-to-treat dual diagnosis, the most urgent clinical need is to establish safety--to work toward discontinuing substance use, letting go of dangerous relationships, and gaining control over such extreme symptoms as dissociation and self-harm. The manual is divided into 25 specific units or topics, addressing a range of different cognitive, behavioral, and interpersonal domains.

Each topic provides highly practical tools and techniques to engage patients in treatment; teach "safe coping skills" that apply to both disorders; and restore ideals that have been lost, including respect, care, protection, and healing. Structured yet flexible, topics can be conducted in any order and in a range of different formats and settings. The volume is designed for maximum ease of use with a large format, lay-flat binding, and helpful reproducible therapist sheets and handouts.

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If you are ready to explore this opportunity, please request a no obligation quote via our online form, or call us at +1(770)409-8780.