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Ask the Expert!

Welcome to the world of evidence based practices for youth with substance use and co-occurring disorders. Ask the Expert is brought to you by a collaboration between Project TREAT, the CSAT grantee in the Office of Child and Family Services of Virginia’s Dept. of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services and the Mid-Atlantic Addiction Technology Transfer Center. This project is meant to provide you with an easy way to learn more about a variety of evidence based practices and to provide a forum for asking questions and receiving answers from developers of and experts in those practices.

We will feature a specific model for 4 to 6 weeks and during that time you can read the summary of the model, explore more details through linkages to other sites and resources, and pose questions to the developer of or an expert in each model through a monitored blog.

Please note that our monitored blog does not operate like a chat room. The Experts for each model will establish a pattern of frequency of response to the questions on the blog (no less than once a week) and we will note how often you can expect to see their responses in the area below that links you to the blog.

Susan Pauley, Training Coordinator for Project TREAT, is the Mid-ATTC staff contact and blog monitor for Ask the Expert and welcomes any suggestions you have for practices to highlight and resources to link to or questions about how this works.

SAMHSA’s National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices does not endorse any one definition of what constitutes an “evidenced-based practice” but does state that:

“ In the health care field, evidence-based practice (or practices), also called EBP or EBPs, generally refers to approaches to prevention or treatment that are validated by some form of documented scientific evidence. What counts as "evidence" varies. Evidence often is defined as findings established through scientific research, such as controlled clinical studies, but other methods of establishing evidence are considered valid as well. Evidence-based practice stands in contrast to approaches that are based on tradition, convention, belief, or anecdotal evidence.

One concern is that too much emphasis on EBPs may in some cases restrict practitioners from exercising their own judgment to provide the best care for individuals. For this reason many organizations have adopted definitions of evidence-based practice that emphasize balancing the "scientific" with the "practical." “

Their site is a good starting place to explore EBPs and other sites are shown in our Resource area to the left.

Helping you increase your skills and add to your toolbox for helping youth and their families is what we hope this project will accomplish. Thank you for your interest and your commitment to the health of our youth and communities.

Featured Adolescent Evidence Based Practice

The Seven Challenges	®

Overview

The Seven Challenges® is a counseling program designed specifically for adolescent youth to simultaneously address drug problems as well as the co-occurring psychological problems and life skill deficits. Recognizing that when young people come into drug counseling, they are usually in the early stages of change -- unprepared and often resistant to making a sincere decision to quit – the program aims to “start where youth are at,” not where we adults wish they might be, or where young people often pretend to be – ready, willing and prepared to immediately abstain. Although the program strategy includes capturing any sincere impulse to quit, counselors avert power struggles and insincere commitments to change by striving for honesty and engagement instead of the “mad rush for abstinence.” We want youth to see their counselors as problem solving partners – helping them successfully cope with life rather than as people who are trying to control their lives and make them behave in certain ways. We help youth make their own informed decisions, and then succeed in implementing the changes they desire. Read complete overview

Bios
In the Mid-Atlantic ATTC internet sessions, Robert Schwebel, PhD and Sharon Conner will be answering questions posed by interested parties.

Dr. Schwebel, Ph.D., is a psychologist who wrote and developed The Seven Challenges® Program for adolescents, now widely used across the United States. He has worked in the field of drug prevention and counseling for more than 35 years and is the author of several books including Saying No Is Not Enough; Keep Your Kids Tobacco-Free; and Who’s on Top, Who’s on Bottom: How Couples Can Learn to Share Power. He has appeared on the Oprah Show, The Today Show, The CBS Early Show, CNN interviews and other national media.

Sharon Conner is the Director of Program Services for The Seven Challenges®. She assists organizations during their process of determining whether the Program is a good fit for their organization. Sharon also coordinates the licensing, training, and ongoing support process.

Go to the "Ask the Expert" Blog

Click here to post questions and read comments by the Experts

Dr. Schwebel and Sharon Conner will post responses on a weekly basis.