Training

• Short “exposure” type trainings give basic information about a topic, usually in lecture format.
• Skill-building trainings are experiential, interactive, with a chance to focus on real-life implementation or role-playing during the training

• Seek trainings evaluated on the basis of how well students demonstrate mastery of the skill and use it in ongoing practice as determined by follow-up.

• Trainings can be taken
  • in person at a training center or education campus;
  • online
  • a blend of in person and online
• Your work may offer individual or multi-staff trainings at work or offsite.
• Online trainings taken by all staff individually can be supplemented with group discussions to add the interactive element.

A director might take an exposure training on a topic they are less familiar with, and consider sending staff and supervisors to a skill-building level training on the topic.

Most addiction-related sites would like to see staff trained in:

• Motivational interviewing
• Cultural responsiveness
• Trauma-informed care
• Person-centered planning/shared decision making
• Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT)

In addition, other trainings that might help as addiction healthcare delivery becomes more integrated with other healthcare would be managed care billing.

If you are working toward a license or certification, or need to accrue Continuing Education hours, ask whether the course is accredited to provide hours for your field.

See these Suggestions for the Fully-Prepared Addiction Worker, from Stakeholders who developed the MA Workforce and Organizational Development Strategic Plan.