Instructor: Lara Okoloko, LICSW

Level: Intermediate

CEs: 3

Smith College, School for Social Work, Professional Education

Stigma against people with substance use disorders (SUDs) degrades the quality of services available for clients. This stigma also radiates out to the family and limits the informal social supports that families receive from their community, and the development and dissemination of quality services for families. Are we, as helping professionals, unwittingly contributing to the stigma these families face? If so, what can we do about it? How can we use what we already know about the value of unconditional positive regard, cultural humility and the family system to guide us forward and improve services for families experiencing a substance use disorder?

Weaving together wisdom from multiple theoretical orientations, this short course will challenge the outdated paradigm of codependency, detachment and confrontation to build a more validating, strength-based, theoretically-grounded base to work from when helping families survive a substance use disorder.