“It鈥檚 so important to meet clients where they are. There鈥檚 a lot of stigma around substance use disorder, and we really have to acknowledge the struggle, recognize where someone is, and support any progress that has been made.”
He quickly learned two things: how hard it is to break the cycle of addiction and why harm reduction methods, such offering supervised consumption sites, can help prevent overdoses. 鈥淭he important thing is meeting who you鈥檙e working with where they鈥檙e at,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 much good that comes from saying 鈥榡ust don鈥檛 use鈥 because there鈥檚 really no correct cookie cutter answer for how to fix things.鈥
Jojola applied these lessons in his 鈥淔amily Therapy鈥 course, where students were tasked with creating a fictional family and assigning attributes to each member. The class gave the father a cocaine addiction, and when one student suggested that the dad needed to be given an ultimatum to stop, Jojola spoke up.聽
鈥淢y pushback was like, we need to know why he鈥檚 using and how long he鈥檚 been using,鈥 he recalled. 鈥淏ut we鈥檙e not going to get him to just say he鈥檚 going to stop. And even if he does stop, he鈥檚 probably going to relapse and we鈥檒l need to develop a plan to support him.鈥
The principles of harm reduction are explicitly taught in two courses鈥斺淪ubstance Use Disorders鈥 and 鈥淧ublic Health Social Work.鈥 But Gordon, MSW鈥93, said that the school is working to further integrate the strategy into the curriculum, with a particular focus on the interplay between trauma and drug misuse.
She rattled off a couple of questions that will guide a proposal to revamp the curriculum: 鈥淎re we attending to a person鈥檚 trauma and how that may impact their use? Are we attending to the person鈥檚 race, culture, and socioeconomic status?鈥
Bridget McAdams, MSW鈥22, said that harm reduction came up often in the trauma-focused courses that she took. 鈥淗arm reduction is essential in trauma recovery work,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e were taught that you absolutely have to meet a client where they are.鈥
That philosophy guided her work at , a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in Watertown, Massachusetts. As part of 极速六合官方网址SSW鈥檚 first cohort of Harm Reduction Training Scholars, McAdams provided individual and group therapy to clients recovering from substance use disorders and co-occurring conditions such as bulimia.