Tag: SASSI Training

Opportunity for Experienced SASSI Users

If you enjoy sharing knowledge and have an enthusiasm for the SASSI, we invite you to consider becoming a certified SASSI trainer. We are looking for individuals to offer live in-person trainings to the public (open trainers) in their state/province of residence and possibly surrounding states/provinces, as well as individuals to provide training for their organization’s staff and their satellite offices (closed trainers).

Open trainers charge a fee to participants and advertise their training to the public (placement on SASSI website is provided). Closed trainers do not advertise to the public and do not collect a registration fee for providing the training. Both types of trainers can issue certificates of attendance with continuing education credits and all materials needed to provide training are sent at no cost.

Qualifications for trainers are as follows:

  • At least five years of experience in addictions or mental health counseling
  • Experience in assessment, group work, teaching, or workshop presentation
  • Experience using the SASSI, having screened at least 20 clients with it
  • Good verbal communication skills
  • Education: College degree or advanced degree or certification as a substance abuse professional
  • Experience in psychometrics helpful, but not required

Procedures for obtaining open trainer certification can be found here and closed trainer certification here. Please reply to scarlett@sassi.com with any questions or to apply.

Clinical Q&A and Live SASSI Training Webinar 

We are pleased that people have been joining us for our free one-hour online Clinical Q&A sessions hosted by our Clinical Director, Kristin Kimmell, LCSW, LCAC.  

We enjoy hearing how you are using the SASSI in your clinical practice and agencies as well as answering your questions and speaking to you all.  We have scheduled additional sessions that we hope you can join in on. You can reserve your spot and view available dates and times by clicking here. If you have profiles you would like to share with the group for discussion, please send them (de-identified) via email any time prior to the session to scarlett@sassi.com. Your contributions would be of great value. Also, a reminder that we have a live webinar on Administration & Scoring of the paper & pencil version of the SASSI on April 18th and Clinical Interpretation on April 25th. You can register by clicking here.   

Note that the Q&A sessions do not provide CEUs and are not a substitute for SASSI Training. SASSI training provides 3.5 NAADAC CEs per session. 

We hope to see you there! 

Engaging Caregivers & Family Members into an Adolescent’s Intervention & Treatment

Learn to strengthen social support for clients and families in order to learn skills that can be used with the entire family. Adolescent-Community Reinforcement Approach (A-CRA) skills are simple, behavioral, and easy for families to repeat during family sessions and outside of treatment. The positive, supportive approach of A-CRA allows participants to focus on the positive aspects of the family and build upon family strengths to improve relationships.

On Thursday March 16th, The SASSI Institute will be sponsoring a workshop on the A-CRA approach with families. The workshop will be hosted by Courtney Hupp, MSW, LCSW, CADC, who is an EBT Clinical Coordinator at Chestnut Health Systems in Illinois. She had an active role in the Assertive Continuing Care (ACC) study, funded by NIAAA, in which she administered the ACC and Community Reinforcement Approach (CRA) protocols to residential clients’ post-discharge, as well as supervised other therapists on the study. Courtney has clinical experience with a variety of populations and settings including domestic violence intervention, crisis intervention, corrections, substance use disordered adults and adolescents, adults with developmental disabilities, persons with HIV and AIDS, and adults with severe and persistent mental illness. For the past 18 years, Courtney has trained and certified therapists across the U.S. and Canada in CRA and A-CRA. She has conducted over 80 trainings and has helped to certify over 1,000 therapists and supervisors in the CRA and A-CRA models.

The A-CRA intervention has been implemented in outpatient, intensive outpatient, schools, prevention services, and residential treatment settings. This research-tested intervention has been used in over 500 organizations across the United States and Canada. Courtney will introduce the A-CRA model, a summary of the research base, and details about how to use A-CRA during family sessions.

To learn more about this workshop and/or to register, please visit: Adolescent – Community Reinforcement Approach – FAMILY SESSIONS

SASSI customers and university students please email scarlett@sassi.com and mention this blog for a special offer code.

REMINDER: More Live Clinical Q&A Sessions Coming Up

Please join us for our free Clinical Q&A sessions online. The sessions are hosted by our Clinical Director, Kristin Kimmell, LCSW, LCAC, and last approximately one-hour. We invite you to ask questions or share experiences regarding unusual or difficult profiles you may have come across. However, all questions are welcome. We would be delighted if you have profiles you would like to share with the group for discussion. Please send them (de-identified) via email any time prior to the session to scarlett@sassi.com. Your contributions would be of great value.

The next upcoming dates are Tuesday, February 21st and Tuesday, March 21st from 1-2 pm ET. Click here to register today.

Note that these Q&A sessions do not provide CEUs and are not a substitute for SASSI Training.

See you there!

SASSI Training

As we prepare to move into 2023, we are excited that our certified SASSI trainers throughout the U.S. and Canada have begun doing live in-person trainings again and with more frequency. We invite you to check out our training page to view a list of currently scheduled workshops at https://sassi.com/sassi-training/.  These lists are updated frequently and also contain contact information for your local trainer/s. If nothing is scheduled in your area, we encourage you to reach out directly to the trainer so they know there is interest in their area. We also continue to offer online training webinars both live and on-demand if in-person is not a viable option for you.

Reminder: Our clinical team is available M-F to answer questions about the administration, scoring, and interpretation of our instruments at 800.726.0526 option 2. This is a free service, and we encourage you to call often.

Happy holidays to all.

Registration Open for more FREE LIVE Clinical Q&A Sessions

Please join us for one of our new Clinical Q&A sessions online. The Q&A is hosted by our Clinical Director, Kristin Kimmell, LCSW, LCAC, and lasts one-hour. We invite you to ask questions or share experiences regarding unusual or difficult profiles you may have come across, but all questions are welcome. You can also join just to listen to the group discussion.

Join us for one or both sessions. There are two dates currently scheduled: Tuesday, November 15th and Tuesday, December 13th from 1-2 pm ET. Click here to register today. Due to time constraints, each session will be limited to the first 25 registrants. As new dates are added we will post them to our blog page or you can check the registration page via the link within this blog.

Note that these Q&A sessions do not provide CEUs and are not a substitute for SASSI Training.

See you there!

Registration Open: Adolescent-Community Reinforcement Approach

Courtney Hupp, MSW, LCSW, CADC will be presenting a live webinar on implementing the A-CRA treatment model on November 14th. On December 1st she will be presenting how to implement Family Sessions using this model.

The treatment model known as Adolescent-Community Reinforcement Approach (A-CRA) recognizes that, at least initially, alcohol and drug use is about reinforcing consequences — that make us more likely to repeat actions. This is true whether we are hanging out with friends, playing a favorite game, eating a good meal, or using alcohol or other drugs. People who use alcohol and drugs get something out of it – or they wouldn’t keep doing it.

The overall goal of A-CRA is to help individuals reconnect with or discover new sources of positive reinforcement within their community to compete with alcohol or drug use. How do A-CRA clinicians do this? By listening to and learning from their clients what is important to them. They then help them connect to pro-recovery activities that have meaning and value to their client. In addition, A-CRA clinicians help their clients identify goals and learn how to achieve them. A-CRA clients also learn a variety of new skills, such as problem-solving and positive communication (with partners, friends, and others), which help them attain a better quality of life. Practicing new skills is a critical component of the skills training used in A-CRA. Every session ends with a mutually-agreed upon homework assignment to practice skills learned during sessions. A-CRA clinicians engage caregivers or other family members to support the client and to learn skills that can be used with the entire family.

This intervention has been implemented in outpatient, intensive outpatient, schools, prevention services, and residential treatment settings. This research-tested intervention has been used in over 500 organizations across the United States and Canada. Courtney Hupp will provide an introduction to the A-CRA model, a summary of the research base, and details about how to use a variety of A-CRA skills during sessions.

What You Will Learn:
• An Introduction to the A-CRA model
• History of A-CRA research and implementation
• Goals of A-CRA treatment
• An overview of the A-CRA session structure and treatment guidelines
• How to use some of the A-CRA procedures during sessions like a Functional Analysis for substance use, Happiness Scale, Sobriety Sampling, and Increasing Prosocial Recreation
• General clinical skills necessary to implement A-CRA

FAMILY SESSIONS:
Engaging caregivers and other healthy family members into A-CRA treatment to strengthen social support. A-CRA clinicians help clients and families learn skills that can be used with the entire family. A-CRA skills are simple, behavioral, and easy for families to repeat during the family sessions and outside of treatment. In addition, the positive, supportive approach of A-CRA allows participants to focus on the positive aspects of the family and build upon family strengths to improve the relationship.

On addition to bullets above you will also learn:
• How to use the A-CRA skills during family session. Family session skills include: three positives exercise, relationship happiness scale, problem solving, communication skills, and daily reminder to be nice.

Be sure to register for one or both of these webinars at: www.sassi.com/other-training-online

FREE LIVE Clinical Q&A Registration Open

As discussed in a prior blog, we are expanding our free clinical phone service by offering free live clinical Q&A sessions online. These Q&A sessions are open to everyone. The Q&A will be hosted by our Clinical Director, Kristin Kimmell, LCSW, LCAC, and will last one-hour. We invite you to ask questions or share experiences regarding unusual or difficult profiles you may have come across, but all questions are welcome. You can also join just to listen to the group discussion.

Our first free Q&A session is scheduled for Tuesday, October 4th from 1-2 pm ET. Click here to register today. Due to time restraints, the session will be limited to the first 25 registrants. As new dates are added we will post them to our blog or you can check the registration page via the link above in this blog.

Note that this Q&A does not provide CEUs and is not a substitute for SASSI Training.

We hope you will join us!

Coming Soon: LIVE Clinical Q&A Sessions

Since the release of the original SASSI in the late 80’s we have had the pleasure of providing free clinical consultation and support for those using our instruments via our toll-free phone line. Our clinicians have enjoyed speaking with professionals about SASSI results and strive to make it a useful and pleasant experience. We are planning to expand on this service by offering free live clinical Q&A sessions online. We invite users of our instruments, those considering implementing our instruments, and students, to join our Clinical Director, Kristin Kimmell, LCSW, LCAC, for these FREE live one-hour sessions. Here you will be able to ask questions or share experiences regarding unusual or difficult profiles you may have come across, but all questions are welcome. You can also join in simply to listen to the group discussion and are not required to ask questions.

We hope this will be a useful expansion of our clinical service and look forward to having engaging group discussions. We believe we can learn from you as well and these discussions will help us be sure that our research is up to date with current concerns in the field of SUD. We will be announcing the date, time and registration information for our first Clinical Q&A next month on our Blog so be on the lookout for it!