"This is a great opportunity for our counselors to learn from the best in the addiction and recovery field," said Charlie Gould, director of the Navy Substance Abuse Program. "Hazelden offers the cutting-edge knowledge and resources needed to provide expert training to our staff. The training will help us bolster our substance abuse program and standardize our approach to care.

"Addiction is a serious chronic disease, and we want to identify it promptly, treat it, and put men and women on the road to recovery," continued Gould. "Addiction is an equal opportunity disease--it can affect anyone--so it's not a shame to surrender to it and seek help."

For the last six months, counselors have been traveling to Hazelden's main campus in Center City, Minnesota, for two weeks of training. Included is a five-day training that focuses on nicotine cessation, a three-day Professional in Residence training on Hazelden treatment units, and a two-day clinical care training.

The five-day training teaches the principles of Quit and Stay Quit, which provides another nicotine cessation program to be used by the Navy and Marine Corps to help people quit tobacco. Trainees are certified to deliver the program, and they receive instruction on complementary resources such as the Twelve Steps of Nicotine Anonymous, stress management and wellness, and quit techniques for adolescents and young adults. The three-day Professionals-in-Residence program offers didactic learning about the disease of addiction and Hazelden's Twelve Step, multidisciplinary model of care and the opportunity to observe patients and staff and participate in the treatment process. The two-day training enhances counseling skills and addresses topics such as Motivational Interviewing, Twelve Step Facilitation, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and addiction, and American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) criteria for diagnosing addiction.

The training complements Living in Balance, the core treatment curriculum used by the Navy to treat alcohol and other drug addiction. All counselors receive a separate, customized Hazelden training on Living in Balance.

"Hazelden gives our people a look at how civilians receive addiction treatment, and it gives them more exposure to co-occurring disorders such as PTSD," said Gould. For instance, one part of the clinical training includes a session on PTSD, led by Don Elverd, PsyD, a Hazelden psychologist and a combat veteran of the Vietnam War. The training stresses the need to address co-occurring disorders concurrently with treatment for addiction.

In addition to the knowledge gained, each trainee receives printed materials and treatment curricula. At the end of the training, participants are asked to develop an action plan to describe how they will implement what they've learned.

"We're gratified to provide this important training to the dedicated professionals who serve our service men and women," said Kris VanHoof-Haines, executive director of Content Development and Training at Hazelden Publishing. "Given that Hazelden has a long history of training professionals on addiction, an accredited Graduate School of Addiction Studies on campus, and a plethora of published books, videos and curricula, we feel well qualified to offer a well-rounded training experience to advance the clinical skills of Navy counselors."

--by Marty Duda, Hazelden

Published Summer 2008, The Voice