2021 Winter Training Series

These are ATOD specific courses good for certification and re-certification for ADC, LCDC, CPS & ACPS credentials.


December 1st- ATOD Specific
9:00-12:00    Addiction as a Learning Disorder of the Brain        Dr. John Duncan
1:30-4:30       Alcohol and its Effects     Mitchell Moore, LCDC, ADC, ACPS

December 2nd- ATOD Specific
9:00-12:00    Opioids:  The Making of a Crisis     Julie Stevens, MPS, ACPS, ICPS
1:30-4:30       Drugs of Abuse    Mitchell Moore, LCDC, ADC, ACPS

December 3rd- ATOD Specific
9:00-12:00   The Impact of Substance Use Disorders on Families and Children  Dr. Marcia Baker


Addiction as a Learning Disorder of the Brain will address how addiction is just the brain doing what it normally does, but with neurological consequences that exaggerate “seeking behavior.” In other words, strong chemicals that hyperactivate a natural system of the brain cause pathological “rewiring” of the brain to seek drugs. Further, we will discuss how this rewiring of the brain presents a dual diagnosis of addiction and hypofrontality (decrease in frontal lobe activity). This phenomenon makes treatment much more difficult because the executive center of the brain has ceded control to the automatic behavioral parts.

While theories of addiction have ranged from seeing it as the moral failure of an individual to characterizing it as behavioral disease, only in the last decade has the microbiology of neurochemical processes and their response to nontherapeutic substances, such as drugs of abuse, been explained.
With the aid of new discoveries in neuroscience, contemporary understanding of addiction is that it is a disorder of the natural learning system of the brain and biologically inevitable with prolonged exposure to strong addictive drugs.


Alcohol is one of the most widely used drugs in the world. Even though we know a lot about its effect on the human body and brain our society continues to consume it. Alcohol and it’s effects will examine alcohol’s effect on the body, define use, misuse and alcohol use disorder (AUD) and perhaps help participants better understand why some individuals should avoid alcohol completely. We will also explore higher risk populations including women, college age & underage youth and examine how alcohol consumption weakens the immune system and thus reduces the ability to cope with infectious diseases such as & COVID-19.


Opioids:  The Making of a Crisis informs participants about the various forms of narcotics and opioids, their prevalence, effects on the physical and psychological well-being of users.  This workshop examines the events that contributed to the crisis, and failed attempts to deal with it. The opioid epidemic has caught the country off guard, draining resources which were designed to address the problem.  Alarmed federal and state agencies are scrambling to address the problem.  But it is the communities that have borne the brunt of the opioid crisis.  Communities blame the pharmaceutical companies that have, since the 1980s, promoted opioids as a panacea for relieving pain.

Participants will learn of events that contributed to the current opioid crisis, about the various forms of narcotics and opioids and how opioids work on the brain and body.


Drugs of Abuse will provide fast facts about Narcotics, Depressants, Stimulants, Hallucinogens, Anabolic Steroids including Alcohol, Tobacco, Marijuana, Designer drugs,  Inhalants, Prescription Medication, Synthetics, Marijuana Concentrates and Delta 8.

Upon completion of this training the participant will be able to name the classification of drugs and list the effects of each classification. A list of excellent online resources will also be provided that participants can use for their own presentations.


The Impact of Substance Use Disorders on Families and Children will focus on how substance use disorders impact families and children. Families and children are impacted in unique ways that are not often recognized or acknowledged by treatment providers. Evidenced based practices will be discussed as it relates to assisting families and children heal and stabilize when a family member has a substance use disorder.
Objectives:
1)      Gain knowledge on the impact of substance use disorders on families and children
2)      Specific techniques will be provided that can assist providers in assisting families and children when substance use disorders have impacted them.


Presenters:

John Duncan, Assistant Professor, OU College of Professional and Continuing Studies. Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, OU Health Sciences Center, College of Medicine
Dr. John Duncan is an assistant professor with PACS, where he teaches courses on drug abuse, drugs and society, global drug trafficking, and drugs and the brain. He is also a clinical associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, OU Health Sciences Center, College of Medicine, where he teaches about the neurobiology of addiction, psychopharmacology of non-therapeutic drug use and medical ethics. He has worked as a professor since 1997 and is the recipient of numerous awards and honors.

In 2007, John retired after 27 years in law enforcement from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control (OBN) as Chief Agent. Although he worked as an undercover agent for years, the past 13 years were as an agency administrator, where he was responsible for agency direction and vision and programmatic development, specifically in the medical communities. He is the author of much of Oklahoma drug law, including the Oklahoma Precursor Control Law, Prescription Drug Tracking Act, and the Pseudoephedrine control law. John received and administered over $6 million in federal grants for drug control in Oklahoma. While at OBN, John researched and wrote the Comprehensive Oklahoma Strategic Drug Threat Assessment for the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) North Texas HIDTA. He also developed and implemented Science-Based Drug Education for the ONDCP Kansas City HIDTA and presented this program nationally.

Additionally, John was a consultant for the U.S. Department of State and has traveled throughout the former Soviet Eastern-Bloc countries, helping develop approaches to address issues of drug trafficking and governmental corruption. He has served on a White House commission that developed model legislation, was a member of the Advisory Council for Alcohol and Drug Abuse for the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, has served as a member of the Governor’s Committee on Substance Abuse, was the vice chairman of the Oklahoma Drug and Alcohol Policy Board, and has served as a member of the Oklahoma Epidemiological Workgroup.

Mitchell Moore is a dynamic educator who has a passion for training people and serves those who serve by designing and delivering training and across America.
He is an advanced certified prevention specialist and licensed chemical dependency counselor who has extensive experience working with youth and families in both prevention and recovery settings. He has served as a counselor, prevention specialist and executive director of a charitable organization.
In 2019, he was awarded the Texas Prevention Specialist of the Year.

Julie Stevens is an Advanced Certified Prevention Specialist and was a Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor for 20 years. She has served as Director of Prevention for the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, and Training Specialist for the University of Oklahoma’s Southwest Prevention Center, and most recently as Executive Director of LifeSteps Council on Alcohol and Drugs. She is currently Member At Large of the Board of the International Certification and Reciprocity Consortium. Ms. Stevens serves on the Texas Certification Board of Addiction Professionals and is chair of the Prevention Subcommittee. She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Baylor University and a Masters of Prevention Science from the University of Oklahoma. In addition, Ms. Stevens is an adjunct professor for the University Of Oklahoma College Of Liberal Studies.

Marcia Baker has a PhD in Psychology with a specialty in Health Psychology/Behavioral Medicine. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor, Master Addiction Counselor Advanced Certified Prevention Specialist and Registered Yoga Teacher. She is currently owner of Third Coast Counseling and Wellness where she is a practicing therapist. In addition, she is a college professor, yoga instructor for Lakeview Health and coordinator of a federal grant for mental health services with Santa Maria Hostel, Bonita House. She has developed programs and worked as a therapist in the substance abuse treatment, prevention and behavioral health field for over 30 years. She utilizes her education and experience to provide a holistic approach when treating emotional/physical health issues for all ages. Her research expertise is in psychosocial oncology with families of children that had cancer and substance use prevention. She is a trainer for Strengthening Families Training Certification, Towards No Drug Abuse Certification, Prevention Skill training program for substance abuse prevention professionals and teaches/ trains adjunct in the field of substance abuse, prevention and mental health for numerous colleges and educational institutions. She is a Registered Yoga Teacher and has been a Yoga practitioner for over 25 years.