Bringing Recovery to Diverse Populations

This course provides exposure to the fundamentals of cross-cultural counseling of substance-abusing and dependent individuals. The cultural impact of race, nationality, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion, and socio-economic status on the development and progression of substance use disorders is explored. In addition, commonly encountered cultural obstacles to traditional chemical dependency counseling are examined. Suggestions are offered on how to culturally enrich existing counseling services and when to refer to alternative culturally specific treatment programs. This course also explores clinical aspects and current trends in the prevention and treatment of such diseases as tuberculosis; hepatitis A, B, and C; and HIV/AIDS. Topics include current issues in epidemiology, psychosocial issues and strategies to help clients, treatment planning for the whole person (not just the disease), culturally competent intervention, harm reduction strategies, and special counseling needs of HIV and other critically ill patients.