People who use drugs often find making decisions to change aspects of their drug-taking behaviour very difficult, even when it is clearly causing harm.
A key task for workers is to support clients through ambivalence, and help them to make decisions that are right for them in their current situation. Motivational interviewing is a counselling approach designed for such situations.
This course introduces a social learning approach to substance misuse problems and the principles of cognitive behavioural therapy. This focuses on challenging and changing unhelpful cognitive distortions and behaviours, improving emotional regulation, and the development of personal coping strategies that target solving current problems.