Instructor | Dr. Brian Paulson, Ph.D.

Clinicians apply the biopsychosocial model to address the cognitive, emotional, and physical drivers of chronic pain.

Professionals implement quota-contingent activity pacing to break the boom-and-bust cycle of functional decline.

Practitioners evaluate pharmacological risk factors including opioid misuse potential and dangerous drug interactions.

Facilitators apply Tuckman's five developmental stages to guide groups safely from forming through performing.

Clinicians leverage Yalom's curative therapeutic factors to create peer-driven healing within the treatment milieu.

Practitioners execute non-authoritarian de-escalation techniques to manage interpersonal conflict and resistance.

Clinicians trace the ADME process to predict onset, peak, and duration of intoxication across administration routes.

Practitioners identify specific physiological markers of intoxication and withdrawal for stimulants, depressants, opioids, and hallucinogens.

Professionals evaluate dangerous drug-drug interactions involving the CYP450 enzyme system to prevent fatal synergistic toxicity.

Practitioners evaluate the historical shift from confrontational break-them-down models to collaborative, person-centered addiction counseling.

Clinicians execute the four OARS micro-skills to elicit intrinsic motivation and navigate therapeutic discord safely.

Health professionals apply accurate empathy and unconditional positive regard to build secure therapeutic alliances.

Practitioners trace the historical transition from moral frameworks to contemporary biopsychosocial models of addiction.

Clinicians evaluate how U.S. drug policy has shaped treatment accessibility and clinical practice across generations.

Professionals assess genetic vulnerabilities and ACE scores to identify individual baseline risk for substance use disorders.

Applying DSM-5-TR Z-codes documents social determinants of health that directly influence clinical outcomes.

Distinguishing manic features from major depressive episodes prevents dangerous diagnostic misclassification.

Utilizing ASAM placement criteria ensures clients receive the precise level of care their clinical severity demands.

Clinicians apply the Brain Disease Model to reduce client shame and increase engagement with structured treatment.

Understanding mesolimbic dopamine dynamics explains the physiological basis of craving and compulsive use.

Evaluating prefrontal cortex impairment helps practitioners set realistic behavioral expectations during early recovery.

Applying DSM-5-TR Z-codes documents social determinants of health that directly influence clinical outcomes.

Distinguishing manic features from major depressive episodes prevents dangerous diagnostic misclassification.

Utilizing ASAM placement criteria ensures clients receive the precise level of care their clinical severity demands.

Applying DSM-5-TR Z-codes documents social determinants of health that directly influence clinical outcomes.

Distinguishing manic features from major depressive episodes prevents dangerous diagnostic misclassification.

Utilizing ASAM placement criteria ensures clients receive the precise level of care their clinical severity demands.

Applying DSM-5-TR Z-codes documents social determinants of health that directly influence clinical outcomes.

Distinguishing manic features from major depressive episodes prevents dangerous diagnostic misclassification.

Utilizing ASAM placement criteria ensures clients receive the precise level of care their clinical severity demands.

Analyzing mesolimbic dopamine systems explains why conventional punitive interventions fail to produce lasting behavioral change.

Evaluating neuroadaptive receptor changes allows clinicians to reframe early recovery struggles as biological rehabilitation.

Implementing HALT and relapse drift frameworks prevents the gradual erosion of recovery capital.

Analyzing mesolimbic dopamine systems explains why conventional punitive interventions fail to produce lasting behavioral change.

Evaluating neuroadaptive receptor changes allows clinicians to reframe early recovery struggles as biological rehabilitation.

Implementing HALT and relapse drift frameworks prevents the gradual erosion of recovery capital.