If you or anyone you know has interest in serving on the APNC board, please contact any of these nominations committee members. Elections for certain board positions will be held in fall 2014.
Opinions expressed in the APNC Newsletter do not necessarily reflect positions of the Addictions Professionals of North Carolina, and acceptance of advertising by the APNC Newsletter does not constitute endorsement by APNC of any advertised product or service.
Over the past year, APNC has experienced a 25% increase in our membership! People are joining APNC because they view our organization as the best vehicle for helping them gain valuable skills, meet and connect with other professionals and to impact the way substance abuse services are provided. This membership increase is a credit to our hardworking staff, talented board and great members working to enhance services to those with substance abuse.
Speaking of the Spring Conference, we're on track to break previous records in the number of conference participants and corporate sponsorships. The Spring Conference, which will be held April 23-25th at Asheville's Crowne Plaza Resort, features local and national speakers on topics like public messaging of recovery, brain science and professional ethics. Register now if you haven't already done so.
Finally, in this newsletter issue you'll see a great article on Ethics and Substance Abuse Treatment by William Faulkner, chair of our Professional Standards & Best Practices Committee. Getting involved in committees is the best way to experience the work our organization offers and become a leader in the profession at the same time. In addition to Professional Standards & Best Practices, our committees include Membership, Legislative Affairs, Communications, Finance and Conference Planning. If you'd like to get involved in a committee, please contact me at execdirector@apnc.org.
Thanks and I look forward to seeing you next month in Asheville!
Recently I shared some clinical dilemmas with a colleague of mind concerning situations that involved staff, professional ethics and issues surrounding LGTB clients in a substance abuse aftercare setting. She immediately challenged me to engage in writing a brief statement on the expectations of Substance abuse professionals and ethical obligations with the LGTB population.
First, Ethics is a term that is usually implied as lofty philosophical discussions, inner engagements, etc, that are far removed sometimes from the day to day activities of this everyday world. As professionals in the field of substance abuse treatment, prevention and aftercare, we are usually faced with many ethical dilemmas that will cause a challenge for us both professionally and personally from a societal level. The NASW states (1997) that ethics is an intellectual approach to moral issues, a philosophical framework from which to critically evaluate the choices and actions people take to deal with various aspects of daily living. The basic ethical principles should apply to all members of our community, partners, clients, patients, etc. Therefore, as a certified, licensed Substance Abuse professional, we should treat all equally and give everyone fairness to the services we give without losing the mission of our programs and the expectation of the referral.
So if an individual applies for services at your program and list themselves as transgender, would it make a difference to you as a professional, a provider? Would you treat them differently, even if the primary diagnosis is appropriate for admission and services? Would this possible intake call for a philosophical discussion of staff and self? According to basic ethical principle of Justice, there should be impartiality and quality.Another ethics principle (autonomy) assumes that the individual has the right to decide how to live their own lives, as long as their actions do not interfere with the welfare of others. I have learned a great deal from these two principles and have tried to educate my clinical team at Hope Haven on the value of these principles. It is important that the organization and the professional be shown as accessible to anyone based on written guidelines of the organization. The administration of that organization makes sure that there are no restrictions that could impede the care of one referral just because they (the referral) are different in some way. As a substance abuse professional I think we should all go back and read the Ethical Principles for Substance Abuse professionals and engage in discussions concerning situations we are facing or will be faced with in the future how to professionally handle them.
Suggestions:
Train all of your staff to be inclusive, sensitive and respectful
Use language that is inclusive and non-biased with LGTB population or any client under your care
Use preferred names and pronouns respectfully
Review and keep close at hand the ethical principles as listed by the NCSAPPB and NASW for guidance
Identify the cultural issues within a culture or population
Examine your own feelings as a person and as a professional about any situation wherein ethics is questioned
Always seek supervision
All programs should have a consistent process for dealing with all ethical concerns.
I am in no way an expert in this area of discussion but through my recent experiences, I have learned a lot. I hope these thoughts may help someone out there. We are here to serve so let's do it and do it ethically sound and be culturally sensitive to all situations.
APNC believes that addiction is a chronic, treatable disease, and that recovery is possible. As an educational association, APNC supports efforts to provide impaired professionals with access to treatment and support, as well as opportunities to continue and/or return to work in the field of prevention and treatment. These efforts and opportunities should balance the well-being of the impaired professional with the need for public safety and the integrity of the addictions field.
APNC has approved this position statement, as developed by the Best Practices and Professional Standards Committee (BP/PS). Many of us who are currently practicing in the field of addictions have experience with a colleague who has developed an impairment. Often, we are faced with a dilemma - how to best address and offer assistance, including treatment services, restoration, and continued employment to the identified impaired professional. Because of this, and because APNC is an educational organization, offering the membership of our organization a training on this topic is timely, appropriate, and necessary, with the directive of providing insight and practical approaches to dealing with the impaired professional.
After lengthy discussion, members of the BP/PS Committee developed the introductory list below as suggested topics of training and education:
Available Treatment Services (outpatient, inpatient, residential, etc.)
Issues of Safety of the Public & Communities
Restoration of Credentials - A Practical Approach that Avoids Stigmatizing
Promoting Wellness (Recovery) in the Identified Professional
The Best Practices Committee members and the leadership of APNC deem it important to solicit APNC members for specific topics to be addressed while providing training to support and nurture individuals in our profession dealing with an impairment (i.e., What are some of the questions you would like answered?). Please forward you thoughts and suggestions to William Faulkner, Co-Chair (West), at wd.faulkner@yahoo.com.
Sincerely,
The APNC Best Practices/Professional Standards Committee
NAADAC News
NAADAC and Via Positiva Launch the Addiction Professional Business Learning Collaborative
NAADAC and Via Positiva Launch Business Learning Collaborative to Strengthen and Position Addiction- Focused Organizations for Sustainability and Growth NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals, in collaboration with Via Positiva, an addiction and mental health consulting and training company, today unveiled a new capacity building training program to elevate and focus addiction, co-occurring and recovery business practices for sustainability, fiscal strength, clinical excellence, recovery orientation, and industry leadership.
Collaborative("Business Learning Collaborative") is an intensive, interactive executive training program designed to help organizations maximize current funding and service opportunities inherent in healthcare reform and identify and address barriers to growth. Read more
Substance Abuse in the News
Overdoses Mounting in the Mountains
From the Citizen-Times
By Romando Dixson
Addie Huggins' drug addiction started with a collection of pills scattered across a table at a party.
She had her pick of the pills then, but eventually it was the highly addictive painkiller Oxycontin that took over her life.
Huggins took one pill that night and swallowed one again at another party later.
Misusing Inhalants, Particularly Computer Air Dusters, Prevalent Among US Youth
Shortly before 11 p.m. on Feb. 22, 2013, a 22-year-old UNC-Chapel Hill student was found dead in his home just a few blocks away from the School of Social Work where I work.
By all accounts, he was a warm, happy and fun-loving person who cherished his school, friends, family and fraternity. The Chief Medical Examiner's investigative report concluded that his death was primarily due to acute 1,1 difluroethane toxicity. His autopsy ... Read more
Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/03/29/3740628/misusing-inhalants-particularly.html#storylink=cpy
Over the past year, APNC has experienced a 25% increase in our membership! People are joining APNC because they view our organization as the best vehicle for helping them gain valuable skills, meet and connect with other professionals and to impact the way substance abuse services are provided. This membership increase is a credit to our hardworking staff, talented board and great members working to enhance services to those with substance abuse. 