Millions of students in our schools live with a parent experiencing substance use disorder. Most people with substance use disorder begin using while they are school-age. School personnel are on the frontlines of this crisis; yet our policies, practices, and social norms create barriers to witnessing and healing for these students and families.…

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the abuse of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs in United States costs over 740 billion yearly (https://www.drugabuse.gov/relatedtopics/trends-statistics, accessed March 2018). However, statistics like this rarely include the toll that alcohol tobacco, and illegal drugs takes on family members,…

This paper is an "ofrenda" (offering), a "testimonio" (testimony) of the healing power of reconstituting severed relationships and reconstructing agentic creation stories in the pathology of soul-wounds where pictures and "cuentos" serve to mend genealogical traumas. This paper is a refusal of neglecting traumas, it…

Because of their demographics, university counseling centers have an opportunity to reach both adult children of alcoholics and adult children of parents with mental illness who are at risk for poor psychosocial outcomes. This article presents a group intervention targeting these students. The authors describe the development and implementation of…

The "droso4schools" project aims to introduce the fruit fly "Drosophila" as a powerful modern teaching tool to convey curriculum-relevant specifications in biology lessons. Flies are easy and cheap to breed and have been at the forefront of biology research for a century, providing unique conceptual understanding of biology and…

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), the goal of screening in student health or other college settings is to reduce alcohol-related harm. NIAAA points out that identifying those students at greatest risk for alcohol problems is the first step in prevention. Colleges and universities have used a number of…

This article presents three issues regarding alcoholism, recovery, and career development. First, alcoholism is a disease that creates health and wellness problems for those it afflicts. It also impacts individual and workplace productivity. Second, alcoholism has a persistent stigmatization. As a result, those alcoholics who are in recovery face…

The author describes how 5 Buddhist practices--enlightenment, compassion, acceptance, mindfulness/meditation, and the spiritual community--can serve as a foundation for an integrated recovery model that incorporates numerous perspectives from the 12-step program of Alcoholics Anonymous. An application of the model illustrates how it is applied to…

Professional counselors have long been practicing in alcohol and drug treatment settings. However, only recently has the counseling field offered formal recognition of addictions counseling as a specialization through the implementation of accreditation standards for addiction counseling training programs. With the passage of the 2009 standards,…

This article examines the impact of childhood sexual abuse on young adult lesbians' sexual identity and their recovery from chemical dependency. The authors recommend that counselors assess for sexual orientation (past and present), sexual abuse, and possible dual diagnosis. Implications for counselors are discussed.

Many students, and the public in general, believe that drinking alcohol is a normal part of the college experience. Unfortunately, students' efforts to "be sociable" or "fit in" can escalate into substance use behavior that puts their health and well-being at risk: One in four full-time college students have experienced past year alcohol abuse or…

In 1837, Margaret Prior became the first female missionary for the American Female Moral Reform Society. She traveled throughout the poorest neighborhoods in New York City--entering barrooms, brothels, and sickrooms. Based on an analysis of Prior's missionary reports, published in the society's periodical and included in her memoir, this essay…

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is an effective modality for the treatment of alcoholism. Given widespread interest in incorporating spirituality into professional treatment, this article orients practitioners to spiritually modified CBT, an approach that may enhance outcomes with some spiritually motivated clients. More specifically, by…

This article describes work undertaken in connection with an ongoing research project funded by the Training and Development Agency for Schools. It illustrates the educational implications of foetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) and its implications for the educational workforce in seeking to meet the needs of those children who are affected.

The disease model of alcoholism, which has gained prominence since the mid-20th century as the major etiological model of alcoholism, suffers from several limitations including its overemphasis on biological factors at the expense of other psychosocial factors, in addition to its lack of consistency with a holistic, social work…