Addiction Psychology

[blondie1oed83]

Hi guys,
It's been a long time since I posted....I last posted when I said I was planning on going to NOVA Southeastern for my PhD, but I withdrew and decided to go to Johns Hopkins for my MHS in Mental Health. Anyways, I'm interested in getting my PhD in Clinical Psych with a concentration in Addiction Psychology. Anyone know any programs that have Addiction Psychlogy as a possible tract? I've been doing some research and can't seem to find anything, but I know they are out there!!

Thanks-
Erica

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[erg923]

Hi guys,
It's been a long time since I posted....I last posted when I said I was planning on going to NOVA Southeastern for my PhD, but I withdrew and decided to go to Johns Hopkins for my MHS in Mental Health. Anyways, I'm interested in getting my PhD in Clinical Psych with a concentration in Addiction Psychology. Anyone know any programs that have Addiction Psychlogy as a possible tract? I've been doing some research and can't seem to find anything, but I know they are out there!!

Thanks-
Erica

I dont think addiction psych is a formal subspecialty, so I dont think there are any foraml tracks within clinical programs. The best bet is just to look for professors doing research on substance abuse issues and make sure the program can offer practica with this population.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

As long as you can find a faculty member and/or clinic in the type of addiction work you want to do, that should suffice. "Concentrations" are kind of a misnomer in Clinical Psychology.

I'd do some keyword searches on PSYCHinfo, etc to see who is doing what work.

*edit*

Beaten by a minute!

 

[PsyDr]

hospitals require you to have some form of certification in addictions, despite anything on your degree. downriver this has translated into several insurance panels requiring this as well as a cost saving measure.

in the past this meant that non-educated CDCs could treat addicted individuals while psychologists could not.

the APA has solved this by offering a post- doctoral certification to its members.


any which way you go, you will undoubtedly have to deal with this. i would look up professors with this added certifications. i imagine APA has them listed.

 

[ClinicalGal]

Addictions is a very broad term. Are you looking to focus in substance abuse? Gambling? Eating Disorders/Obesity? My best advice would be to find faculty in the areas of addiction that you are interested in and you'll even find some will overlap (for example, some faculty examine both food AND drug addiction). There are a number of schools doing excellent research in this. Also, check the NIDA website if you're interested in substance abuse.

Good luck and let me know if you are interested in substance abuse because it is the field i am currently working in and I may be able to help point you in the right direction of faculty and programs 🙂

 

[edieb]

University of New Mexico has a strong emphasis on alcohol and drug addiction

 

[Ollie123]

Just because its always important to clarify - I assume from your path you are primarily interested in clinical work rather than academia, correct?

I've said it before on this board, but I'm not a big fan of the emphasis many programs put on "concentrations". It seems a marketing scheme more than anything else. I do addictions/health psych research, and many of the best programs in the country don't have a concentration, whereas there are some sketchy ones that do. In some cases they are appropriate and the result of hard work by faculty running large programs. In many cases I think its an attempt by schools to be like "Hey, really, we're qualified to train people in this area even though no one has ever heard of any of our faculty members".

UNM is the place to be if you want to do motivational interviewing - Bill Miller founded it (though I think he's retired/retiring) and Theresa Moyers is there and doing work in the area. Really depends what your goals are though - as has been mentioned, addictions is an extremely broad term. So most people end up specializing even more than that.

 

[blondie1oed83]

Sorry, I should have clarified what I meant by addiction....I'm extremely interested in Substance Abuse, especially Dually Diagnosed individuals. I am more interested in doing clinical work with research on the side, and I do not want to be in Academia. (At least, this is my feeling right now). I'm at Hopkins getting my MHS in Mental Health (it's more of a research based degree), because I didn't have much research experience after graduating from undergrad. As far as Addiction programs, I wasn't surprised to see that there aren't any "specific" programs, but I guess what I'm really looking for is a psychology department who has a number of professors who specialize in substance abuse and severally mentally ill individuals. I know that this is also broad, but I'm still feeling things out and figuring out what I want to do with my life.

Also, just to throw it out there, after I graduate from Hopkins I'm going to have a year off....before going to get my PhD what should I be doing, other than retaking the GRE's in terms of jobs/research experience, etc.?

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

I have no useful advice to offer, other than to enjoy all of the great food in B'more......I didn't realize I'd miss it that much, but now I do. 🙁

 

[WaitingKills]

I'm studying addictions for my degree. My prof has a fair bit of experience with addiction research (he's moving into different areas, but still has his finger in it, hence why I'm there) and there is a great practicum site close to the university working with different types of addictions (separate residential and outpatient, adult and child programs in drug and alcohol, eating disorders and I believe gambling).

I go to a smaller Canadian university so I don't know if you'd be into it. PM me if you want more info.

 

[cleverhans]

I work as a licensed psychologist in addiction medicine. You do not need certification in substance abuse to work in a hospital - I work in a hospital setting, all you need is to be a licensed psychologist. However, I work alongside many CDAC's (who do have certifications in addiction studies) but this is not a requirement if you're a psychologist.

Your best bet is to get a clinical psyd or phd and then do clinical training at a substance abuse clinic for your externships, internships, post-doc, etc, such as at the VA. I did my post doc with Kaiser in addiction medicine and found this to be great experience for subsequent dual diagnosis work. I know of no doctorate programs wih specific substance abuse tracks, though I know University of Vermont has a great clinical research program in behavioral psychopharmacology and addiction med.

 

[PsyDr]

uhm, i belive that JCAHO does have some standards in the CAMBHC specifically about addiction and certification.

more about certification stuff:

taken from an article off the APA's website:


"Take New Hampshire's impaired driver intervention program, for example. Until a few years ago, only certified or licensed alcohol and drug counselors could provide treatment to people caught driving under the influence. Now the state accepts psychologists holding the APA certificate as well."

 

[blondie1oed83]

Thanks everyone!
I'm also wondering what I should be doing in terms of next year, when I have a year off. I'll have my master's in MHS Mental Health, and am assuming I need to be doing something related to what I'm interested in (drug addiction and mental illness), but does anyone know the types of jobs I could possibly get or what direction I should go in, in terms of contacting people or learning more about what is out there?

Thanks,
Erica

 

[cleverhans]

"Take New Hampshire's impaired driver intervention program, for example. Until a few years ago, only certified or licensed alcohol and drug counselors could provide treatment to people caught driving under the influence. Now the state accepts psychologists holding the APA certificate as well."[/quote]

For specific populations (DUI's for instance) this might be true in some states. I work in California, exclusively with the chemically dependent in a hospital setting - the only requirement here is licensure with the board.
Analogously, if I wanted to work with anxiety disorders, I wouldn't need an anxiety disorder certification to do CBT with people having panic attacks.

However, with specific Union's (like Longshoremen, for instance) they employ a Substance Abuse Professional (SAP), who hold power over Union members with substance abuse problems, and can determine what type of treatment they need, and when they can return to work. SAP's are CADC's. However, the SAP's in turn, refer patients/clients to my treatment center, where a multitude of different professionals (MDs, PsyDs/PhDs, MFTs, CADCs) treat them. By and large, however, one does not need to be a CADC or SAP to work as a psychologist to do therapy or psych assess with the chemically dependant. Previous experience in a post-doc or pre-doc with substance abuse disorders is helpful to get such a job, however,

 

[synergygroup]

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