Thanks for attending our successful program!

Substance Abuse Treatment Using Harm Reduction Psychotherapy

June 28, 2002

Featuring Dr. Pat Denning

Dr. Patt Denning, special guests from the Butte County Drug Court will join us for a luncheon presentation with an update on drug court issues.

Harm Reduction Psychotherapy is based on sound public health interventions and provides practicing psychotherapists a model of clinical treatment for people whose emotional problems are complicated by alcohol or drug use. This workshop will expose the participants to specific therapeutic interventions and strategies for assessment, goal negotiation, and treatment of substance abuse problems, with special emphasis on the active user who has a concurrent psychiatric disorder. Harm Reduction in the context of traditional psychodynamic and cognitive therapy will be presented as an innovative conceptual orientation and a legitimate treatment option.

The lunch-hour Drug Court presentation will feature Judge Darrell W. Stevens. Judge Stevens is one of the nation's leading proponents of drug courts. Additional panel members include Lisa Cox, Program Manager for Treatment Courts for Behavioral Health; Dwayne Martin, Supervising Probation Officer; Pam Hospers, Superior Court Services Manager; and Vahan Hovsepian, Family Court Services Administrator.

About Dr. Jenning

Patt Denning, Ph.D., specializes in differential diagnosis, psychopharmacology, psychotherapy with seriously disturbed patients, HIV, and substance use disorders. Denning has been in full time private practice since 1993 and worked in San Francisco Community Mental Health as a clinician and program director for 16 years. Most recently Dr. Denning has developed Addiction Treatment Alternatives, a comprehensive assessment, treatment, and training program based on harm reduction. She has just finished a book on the subject, Practicing Harm Reduction Psychotherapy (Guilford Press, 2000).