Research-Backed Ways to Reduce or Eliminate Substance Use:
Learn Evidence-Informed Skills to Address Substance Use Concerns, a free, online course for people with substance use concerns. Here’s an introduction to the course and here’s the direct link.
Help That Helps: A Kind, Research-Informed, Field-Tested Guide for People with Substance Use Concerns, by Anne Giles, M.A., M.S., L.P.C. and Sanjay Kishore, M.D., July 2019
Help that Helps is a self-guided program for people with substance use challenges to use in tandem with medical care. Self-help is not an evidence-based treatment for substance use disorder.
Here’s an overview and introduction to Help That Helps.
Questions to Ask and Answer to Reduce or Eliminate Substance Use
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Supplements to Help That Helps (work in progress; latest revisions posted)
Fundamental Awareness Skills
- Insider’s Guide to Early Abstinence
- Self-Care Checklist
- Awareness Skills Self-Assessment
- Relationships Between Feelings, Thoughts, and Actions: Pie Charts
- Attention > Awareness of Feelings and Thoughts > Inner Wisdom
- Awareness + Action + Kindness Worksheet
Additional Awareness Skills
- Abstinence Solitaire Explanation | Fact Deck | Action Deck (added 10/23/19)
- How to Help Myself with Feeling Flooded
- I Can Give Myself and Others a Better Time (added 8/2/19)
- How Else Can I Help Myself Meet My Needs, Wants, and Preferences? (added 9/4/19)
- A Kind, Cost-Benefit Analysis (added 9/6/19)
- Working multiple awareness skills at once to achieve remission efficiently (added 11/25/19)
- Self-Soothing (added 12/6/19)
You are invited to create an individualized supplement to Help That Helps. Here are the related materials:
We are developing an Awareness Skills Curriculum to accompany Help That Helps.
You are invited to view other suggested readings and activities on the For Clients page.
An earlier version of the guide, which used to reside on this page, has been moved here.
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I am attempting to distill research, work collaboratively with clients, and derive a manualized, brief protocol to assist people in achieving remission from substance use disorders. I am hoping researchers will be interested in our case study outcome data and begin to design research trials to test the protocol’s efficacy.
If you’re interested in learning about our process, here’s what I’ve published online so far:
- Derivation of a Counseling Protocol for Problematic Substance Use
- The Context for Learning and Implementing Awareness Skills
- Awareness Skills Curriculum: Session Outlines
This content is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical or professional advice. Consult a qualified health care professional for personalized medical and professional advice.
Last updated 1/24/22
