Trauma, Opioids, and Domestic Violence

This webinar will discuss the connection between addiction and trauma in the lives of women. Definitions will be provided for trauma-informed, trauma-responsive and gender-responsive services, and research will be reviewed highlighting the importance of women-centered addiction treatment. The webinar is designed to help service providers consider what addressing trauma actually means in the context of addiction treatment, and more specifically, what is involved in providing trauma-informed addiction treatment for women.

This webinar will provide an overview of the Seeking Safety model and how to implement it, including elements specific to peer-led Seeking Safety. Topics will include definition of terms, options for co-leading groups, and how to handle emergencies. The presenter will also review the evidence on peer-led Seeking Safety and describe ways that peers can evaluate fidelity.

For more information about this webinar, visit Seeking Safety.

Many of us remember the PSA: This is Your Brain on Drugs. Although the “war on drugs” has had many unintended negative consequences, we remember the egg in the skillet—a powerful image connecting brain function to drug use. Since the 80’s we’ve learned much about the effects of both trauma and opioids on brain structure and chemistry. In this webinar, we will provide participants the tools to confidently discuss the basic science of the surprisingly similar effects of trauma and opioids on the brain, as well as medication and therapeutic interventions, with clients, colleagues, and policy makers.

Substance use is a challenging issue facing domestic violence survivors and the programs that serve them. The national opioid epidemic has intensified the problem.

But progress is being made. We are identifying promising approaches and building community capacity to address the complex needs of survivors. Recognition of the impact of trauma on survivors’ use of substances as well as the role of substance use-related coercion by perpetrators has led to more integrated approaches.

This webinar will highlight strategies for addressing the multiple factors that contribute to substance use in the context of domestic violence; promising approaches to the opioid epidemic by rural domestic violence programs; and an evidence-based intervention to increase safety for people dealing with substance use and trauma.

This webinar is co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Children and Families, Families and Youth Services Bureau, Division of Family Violence Prevention and Services in honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

This webinar will discuss the social determinants of the current opioid epidemic, with particular attention to how opioid use relates to an increased rate of “deaths of despair.” It will also discuss how a trauma-informed approach that takes into consideration all aspects of a person’s life is essential in responding at both individual and systems levels.

This webinar will highlight Child-Parent Psychotherapy, a trauma-informed, trauma-specific, evidence-based, intergenerational intervention for children 0-5. The presenters will use case scenarios from their work in Philadelphia with women who are in treatment for substance use and who are pregnant or parenting a young child. The first cohort of parents has an average ACE score of 6.

Women with substance use concerns often experience unique barriers to treatment and specialized needs that go unmet within traditional treatment settings, including: experiences of trauma and intimate partner violence, co-occurring health conditions, increased economic instability, family and parenting needs, medication assisted treatment during pregnancy, and gender-specific risk factors. This trans-inclusive webinar defines what it means for services to be comprehensive, trauma-informed, and gender responsive for women; identifies issues to consider when working with women, including women who are pregnant or parenting; and discusses how to apply gender-responsive care in the delivery of behavioral health treatment and recovery services in order to improve outcomes for women and their families.

Accidental drug overdose is the leading cause of death for people under age 50 in the U.S., claiming over 72,000 lives in 2017 (CDC WONDER). People who experience abuse from their intimate partners are at increased risk for substance use concerns, and often have a harder time getting help because of the ways that their partner sabotages their attempts at recovery, a form of abuse known as substance use coercion. Information and resources presented in this webinar will support advocates to empower survivors with potentially life-saving information on how to prevent and reverse overdose, including information on the opioid overdose antidote naloxone (Narcan®), risk factors for overdose, advocacy strategies to reduce the risk of overdose, evidence-based approaches, as well as cutting-edge innovations in the fight against fatal overdose. This webinar is relevant for DV advocates, program managers/directors, DV/SA coalition members, administrators, policy makers, substance use counselors, mental health practitioners, community health workers, and outreach specialists.

Objectives:

• Identify factors that increase the risk of an accidental fatal opioid overdose.
• Identify signs of opioid overdose and steps in preventing fatal overdose.
• Describe innovative collaborations and evidence-based strategies in preventing overdose.

Survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault experience increased barriers to safe, accessible, and effective substance use disorder treatment, despite high rates of substance use concerns. Recovery-Oriented Systems of Care (ROSC) presents an opportunity to address many of the barriers survivors face in traditional acute-care treatment models by instead fostering coordinated networks of wrap-around services that support long-term recovery and are driven by an individual’s self-defined needs and goals. ROSC highlights the need for substance use care to be accessible and engaging in order to be effective, and emphasizes the importance of approaches that are gender-responsive, culturally relevant, strengths-based, and embedded in the community. This webinar, in honor of Recovery Month, will introduce the concept and principles of ROSC and invite programs to reflect on which aspects of ROSC and recovery support services are already present within their services. It will also offer resources on how to connect and collaborate with Recovery Community Organizations (RCOs). This webinar is appropriate for anyone who wants to become more familiar with ROSC and RCOs and is more specifically tailored for DV/SA programs.

Hosted by: The National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma & Mental Health in partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Family and Youth Services Bureau, Family Violence Prevention and Services Program.

While it has long been recognized that domestic violence can have significant mental health and substance use-related effects, the lack of collaboration between systems often leave survivors and their families without ways to address both safety and recovery needs. In order to address these intersecting issues, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Administration for children and Families (ACF) have issues an Information Memorandum calling for increased collaboration between domestic violence, mental health and substance use disorder treatment service providers and systems. This webinar will introduce key issues highlighted in the Information Memorandum, along with recommendations, a media toolkit, and resources for supporting individuals and families experiencing domestic violence.