Current Scientific Evidence About Mutual Help Groups
A Recorded Webinar
Recorded on Wednesday, March 29, 2023
Description
This presentation summarizes the current evidence about the effectiveness of mutual help groups and the mechanisms of action in these groups, including AA, SMART, LifeRing, and WFS. AA is comparably effective to well-implemented CBT. The evidence so far suggests that the other groups are comparably effective to AA. Further studies are in progress. Similar to evidence about common factors in psychotherapy, mutual help groups appear to have common factors. Any freely chosen mutual help group appears likely to be helpful. This presentation also overviews the range of mutual help groups currently available, their surface differences, and interventions for clients who report having no interest in attending any group.
Learning Objectives
- Participants will be able to identify two mutual help groups not based on the 12-step approach.
- Participants will be able to explain how recent research suggests that mutual help groups may be equally effective so that clients can be encouraged to seek out options most agreeable to them.
- Participants will be able to name at least one strategy for integrating client attendance in mutual help groups as an adjunctive component of addiction treatment.
Presenter
A. Tom Horvath, PhD
A. Tom Horvath, PhD, is the Founder and President of Practical Recovery Psychology Group, Past President of the American Psychological Association (APA)’s Society of Addiction Psychology (Division 50; the world’s largest organization of addiction psychologists), and author of Sex, Drugs, Gambling & Chocolate: A Workbook for Overcoming Addictions. For 20 years, he was the Volunteer President of SMART Recovery (established 1994), an international non-profit offering free, self-empowering, science-based addiction mutual help groups. He continues to serve on SMART’s U.S. Board of Directors, and the Global Research Advisory Council of SMART Recovery International. He is also a fellow of the APA. In 2022, Horvath received Division 50’s award for Distinguished Career Contribution to Public Interest.
A. Tom Horvath, PhD, is the Founder and President of Practical Recovery Psychology Group, Past President of the American Psychological Association (APA)’s Society of Addiction Psychology (Division 50; the world’s largest organization of addiction psychologists), and author of Sex, Drugs, Gambling & Chocolate: A Workbook for Overcoming Addictions. For 20 years, he was the Volunteer President of SMART Recovery (established 1994), an international non-profit offering free, self-empowering, science-based addiction mutual help groups. He continues to serve on SMART’s U.S. Board of Directors, and the Global Research Advisory Council of SMART Recovery International. He is also a fellow of the APA. In 2022, Horvath received Division 50’s award for Distinguished Career Contribution to Public Interest.
Content Level
Beginning and Intermediate
Beginning level courses introduce learners to a content area; include information about a condition, treatment method, or issue; and involve learning and comprehending content.
Intermediate level courses provide information that builds on knowledge practitioners with some experience already have. These courses focus on skill-building or adding knowledge, possibly following a brief overview of basic information, and involve using information in concrete situations and understanding the underlying structure of the material.
Beginning level courses introduce learners to a content area; include information about a condition, treatment method, or issue; and involve learning and comprehending content.
Intermediate level courses provide information that builds on knowledge practitioners with some experience already have. These courses focus on skill-building or adding knowledge, possibly following a brief overview of basic information, and involve using information in concrete situations and understanding the underlying structure of the material.
Interactivity
Polls and Q&A.
Price
Education is FREE to all professionals.
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Click here for a complete list of organizations who approve NAADAC to provide continuing education hours.
This webinar is NOT eligible for ASWB ACE CE hours.
Who Should Attend
Addiction professionals, employee assistance professionals, social workers, mental health counselors, professional counselors, psychologists, and other helping professionals that are interested in learning about addiction-related matters.
Accessibility
Live closed captioning is available and the captioning capabilities are in compliance with the practices defined in Worldwide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. In addition, transcripts are available for on-demand webinars recorded on and after March 27, 2019.
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This presentation is for individual use only and may not be reproduced without permission from NAADAC.
Click here to learn about system requirements for NAADAC Webinars.
This presentation is for individual use only and may not be reproduced without permission from NAADAC.