Addictions, Abuse and Recovery

Addictions, Abuse and Recovery Certificate Program

Program Description

The goal of the Addictions, Abuse and Recovery Certificate Program is to provide reflective practitioners with an integrated approach in the treatment of addictions with individuals, families and communities. Special attention will be given to the utilization of evidence-based practices in cultural contexts that lead to meaningful outcomes.

The mission of Southwestern College is Transforming Consciousness Through Education. This mission has guided the College’s success in preparing practitioners to take a deeper look at the relationship between consciousness and compulsivity. Conscious awareness is the path to choice and freedom, whereas compulsivity leaves us in trances in which little freedom is possible.

For persons interested in seeking licensure as a Licensed Substance Abuse Associate (LSAA) or Licensed Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselor (LADAC) in the state of New Mexico, this certificate provides hours that pertain to either license. This certificate provides each student with 16 hours per class in the various topics dealing with addiction, with a total reaching 96 hrs. To apply for the LSAA license, applicants need only 90 clock hours in the field of Alcohol Abuse and Drug Abuse. For the LADAC license applicants will need 276 hours.

96-HOUR CERTIFICATE
2 required core courses
4 elective courses
$365 per workshop, 16 CECs or 2 quarter units

Core Courses:

Holistic Models and Biological Aspects of Addiction and Recovery
Ethical and Cultural Issues in Addiction

Elective Courses:

Clinical Skills: Evidence-Based Practices in the Treatment of Co-Occurring Disorders
Clinical Skills: Motivational Interviewing, Basic to Intermediate Level
Process Addictions: Sex, Gambling, Gaming, Eating, Shopping and other Compulsive Behaviors
Adolescents and Addictions
Clinical Skills: Using Expressive Therapies To Treat Addiction
Clinical Skills: Using Nature-Based Approaches in the Treatment of Addiction
Additional courses may be listed in quarterly schedules. Click here to see upcoming classes in this certificate.

Program Learning Outcomes

KNOWLEDGE
Students will demonstrate an understanding of the addictive process and recovery and resiliency factors in order to facilitate transformation in persons who are struggling with compulsive and addictive behaviors.

SKILLS
Students will acquire proficiency with screening, diagnosing and treatment of addiction issues with their clients utilizing tools from leading Evidence-Based Practices.

ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOR
Students will exhibit an awareness around the importance of compassion, empathy and cultural contexts that impact work with addictive processes. They will demonstrate an understanding of ethical practice while using a strength-based and transformation approach.

Where you might use these skills:

Community Mental Health Centers
Private Practice
Residential Treatment Centers
Hospitals
Primary and Secondary Schools
Youth Development Programs
Public and Private Agencies
Institutions of Higher Learning
Correctional Facilities
Medical Settings

For further information about this and our other Certificate programs, contact katelatimer@swc.edu, Counseling Program Chair

"Southwestern College has been an amazing part of my journey. This education endeavor as an art therapist has been a series of miracles for me. I've seen such a shift in myself. It's been a beautiful experience."

Crystal Hoffman, Graduate

"I'm honored to be applying myself in a clinical environment and my experience at Southwestern enabled me to not only work as an art therapist but to facilitate mindfulness groups. A dream within a dream job I had not even fathomed."

Anna Mills, Graduate

"My experience at Southwestern has been truly transformational. From the lessons learned in Consciousness class to my light figure project and vision quest. The impact on me and on my soul has been absolutely profound."

Stephanie Albury. Graduate 2012

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Cynthia Alexis, Graduate

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Eliza Buck, Graduate

"This is the place that empowered me to do things the way that I do them, the way I'm good at doing them. I've come to surmise that to be an art therapist; to me means being an artist at therapy so the therapy is the art. The creative engagement with another, with each other, that is the art. "

Renee Borsberry, from Art Therapy Capstone Presentation

"The New Earth Institute of Southwestern College offers an array of educational and transformational opportunities to the community. It has been a rich and rewarding experience, enabling the college to grow and expand our mission of transforming consciousness through education. True education engages and awakens all parts of one’s being, allowing for the integration of mind, body and spirit. It cultivates reverence for life and nurtures us in the journey of the soul.”

Katherine Ninos, Vice President

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Denise Moore, Graduate

"I feel so much gratitude for being part of this caring, supporting, reflective, soulful community."

Linnea Knoespel, Graduate

CrystalHoffmanGraduate
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ElizaBuckGraduate
ReneeBorsberryfromArtTherapyCapstonePresentation
KatherineNinosVicePresident
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