Mindfulness Techniques to Treat Addiction

CE Course Description

The goal of this continuing education course is to provide strategies for long term wellness and recovery for those who have faced addiction. It was developed from the book, The Mindfulness Workbook for Addiction: A Guide to Coping with the Grief, Stress, and Anger that Trigger Addictive Behavior by Rebecca E. Williams, PhD, and Julie Kraft, MA. The book offers stories, worksheets, and activities to help addicted individuals get to know thoughts, feelings, and behavior patterns and find a path toward self-acceptance, transformation, and healing. Mindfulness practices that will benefit those in recovery as well as the professionals who work with them are outlined along with ways to identify the root of addictive behaviors and healthy coping strategies.

CE Course Objectives

1. Evaluate the connection between addiction and loss, and identify positive coping skills for dealing with grief and loss.

2. Determine how thoughts, feelings, and behavior patterns are related to addiction and how they can influence recovery and healing.

3. Identify how acceptance of oneself and learning to tolerate and investigate present-moment experiences can help improve relationships and impact long-term emotional growth.

4. Define the concept of mindfulness and describe how mindfulness practices can help addicted individuals participate in their own recovery.

5. Review the characteristics of addiction, the function that addiction is serving, and approaches to help avoid addiction triggers.

6. Outline strategies to heal broken relationships and build a healthy support system.

7. Examine various exercises and activities that will help facilitate self-understanding, responsibility, and lasting change.