Tag: Substance Use Disorder Screening Instrument

Clinical Q&A – Please Join Us | Register Now!

We welcome you to join us for a free one-hour online SASSI Q&A session hosted by our Clinical Director, David Helton, LMSW, LCDC. Whether you’re new to the SASSI, considering using the SASSI, or a seasoned veteran at screening with the SASSI, everyone is welcome. The Q&A is scheduled from Noon-1pm ET on: November 12th. You can save your spot by clicking here. We welcome you to share profiles to discuss with the group by sending them (de-identified) via email any time prior to the session to scarlett@sassi.com. These profiles will help others learn about the SASSI and offer insight into the various profile configurations.

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

Navigating Change: A Minimal Price Increase at The SASSI Institute

In the dynamic landscape of addiction screening, assessment and intervention, The SASSI Institute remains dedicated to providing high-quality, reliable tools to professionals across the globe. As we continue to enhance our services and maintain the highest standards, we must occasionally adjust our pricing. Today, we want to discuss a 2025 minimal price increase for our products and services and how it will impact our valued clients.

Why the Increase?

The decision to implement a price increase is never taken lightly. Our commitment to delivering top-notch screening tools is unwavering, and maintaining this level of excellence requires ongoing investment. Here are the primary reasons behind this change:

  1. Continuing Research and Development:
    • Continuous improvement of our screening tools and delivery options to ensure they remain at the cutting edge of addiction science.
    • Investment in new technologies and methodologies to enhance the accuracy and reliability of our screening tools and services.
  2. Operational Costs:
    • Increases in costs for materials, production, and distribution.
    • Investments in better infrastructure to support seamless customer experiences.

We understand that any change in pricing can raise concerns, especially in fields where budgets are often tight. Therefore, we have made every effort to keep this increase minimal and manageable. Please note that as an added consideration we have chosen to forego any increase to our online training platforms. The adjustment to our Paper & Pencil and SASSI Online options resulted in a nominal average increase of 5%.

At The SASSI Institute, our mission is to support you in your vital work of screening, assessing and treating addiction. This minimal price increase is a step toward ensuring that we can continue to innovate, improve, and deliver the highest quality tools and services, as we continue to collaborate with you. We stand behind you in our mutual resolve that Early Intervention Saves Lives. We appreciate your understanding and continued trust in our products. Together, we can make a difference in the lives of those affected by addiction.

Change, while sometimes challenging, is often necessary for growth and improvement. The SASSI Institute remains steadfast in our dedication to providing exceptional tools and services. Thank you for your continued support and partnership.

Sincerely,

The SASSI Institute Team

Adolescent FRISK, ATT, & SYM Scale FAQ

In our last blog post we discussed a frequent question we get regarding the web-based version of the SASSI-4 and how to identify the SYM (Symptoms) scale items on a client’s completed questionnaire. This week we discuss identifying the FRISK (Family-Friends Risk), ATT (Attitudes), and SYM scale items on the web-based version of the Adolescent SASSI-A3. Because these scales are face valid, they can give you information concerning the client’s substance use and it may be worthwhile to do a content analysis of the items comprising them as they are directly related to substance use.

While logged into your sassionline.com account, click on the tab ‘My Clients’ and then click on ‘Support Materials.’ On the Support Materials page click on ‘SASSI-A3 User Guide.’ Go to pages 15-18 for the information on these scales. There you will see the 6 FRISK items, 8 ATT items, and the 19 SYM items listed. We suggest you print these pages out to assist in identifying these items on your clients’ completed questionnaires.

As always, we encourage you to call our free clinical help line for interpretation assistance M-F 1-5 pm EST at 800.726.0526 Option 2.

SYM Scale FAQ

A frequent question we get is regarding the web-based version of the SASSI-4 and how to identify the SYM (Symptoms) scale items on a client’s completed questionnaire. Because the SYM items are face valid they can give you information concerning the client’s substance use and it may be worthwhile to do a content analysis of the SYM items as they directly relate to substance use.

While logged into your sassionline.com account, click on the tab ‘My Clients’ and then click on ‘Support Materials.’ On the Support Materials page click on ‘SASSI-4 User Guide.’ Go to page 19 for the information on SYM. There you will see the 20 SYM items listed. We suggest you print this page out to assist in identifying the SYM items on your clients’ completed questionnaires.

As always, we encourage you to call our free clinical help line for interpretation assistance at 800.726.0526 Option 2.

A Good Assessment is Key to a Good Use of the SASSI

This SASSI-4 profile is an excellent example of why the comprehensive assessment is a crucial part of the evaluation process.

This 33-year-old male completed the FVA/FVOD side of the questionnaire for his whole lifetime.

His RAP is 0 as is his Prescription Drug Scale.

His profile graphs most of his scores within the norm, between the 15th and 85th percentiles. The one standout is the SAT score of 0. That score indicates someone who is hypersensitive to what others think about him and may harbor feelings of resentment coming across as having a chip on his shoulder. Although the DEF score of 7 is not quite high enough to trigger looking at the possibility of SASSI missing individuals with a substance use disorder, it is significantly above average so there may be a “hint” of him exhibiting defensiveness.

Based on the face of it and on the SASSI alone, he comes up with a Low Probability of a Substance Disorder.

So, what is missing? The information gathered from the rest of his evaluation.

This individual has a history of 3 DUI’s – one in 2013, 2020 and the last in 2023.

As you can see, he does not indicate in his FVA or SYM any issues with alcohol or negative consequences of his usage. From his perspective, he has not had negative consequences. It could be that what he was required to do historically was minimal i.e. an alcohol education class. As these offenses are spread over 10 years, it may mean that he has a problem with drinking and driving. What is his current usage? Does he have a diagnosable disorder based on the DSM-5? Knowing about his extensive history requires the Clinician to dig deeper into this client’s use history and question his perspectives.

A useful tool we offer for both individual administration and for alcohol-related education and treatment interventions is the BADDS – Behaviors & Attitudes Drinking and Driving Scale.

It identifies drinking and driving and riding behaviors, history of impaired driving, the likelihood of riding or driving with an impaired driver, rationalizations for drinking and driving and intervention effectiveness.

The BADDS can be used in Driver’s education classes, Impaired driving prevention, DUI courts and DUI programs, Colleges and Universities and Counseling and treatment programs.

The BADDS can be used as a pre-test or be re-administered to measure behavioral and/or attitudinal change in multiple intervals. The post-test can also assess overall program effectiveness.

The BADDS is available in a paper and pencil version only for those 18 years or older with a third grade reading level and takes about 15 minutes to administer. We do offer on-demand webinar training. For more information go to www.thebadds.com.

PDF Version Available for Download

Across the Pond and Beyond

Did you know that SASSI screening tools are available for use and are obtainable through our international distributors? If you are in, or have friends/colleagues in the UK, Australia, or Greece, please take note of our licensed distributors there for affordable access to SASSI screening tools.

In the UK, the paper & pencil version of the adult SASSI-4 and adolescent SASSI-A3 is available through SASSI Direct Ltd. For ordering information please email sassi@sassidirect.co.uk.

In Australia, the paper & pencil version of the adult SASSI-4 and adolescent SASSI-A3 is available through The Help Now Group. Since purchasing the web-based version of the SASSI through SASSI Online can be challenging for our Australian colleagues due to issues with credit card processing, access and administrations of the web-based version can also be purchased through The Help Now Group. For ordering information please email rodney@thehelpnow.org.

In Greece, a reliable and validated version of the translated adult SASSI-3 in Greek is available through Panagiota Kontoleon. For ordering information please email panagiota@kontoleon.com.gr.

We are pleased that these distributors are working with us to promote screening for those individuals suffering from substance use-related issues and disorders.

Introducing Our New Clinical Director

We wanted to take this opportunity to introduce our new Clinical Director, Mr. David Helton, LMSW, LCDC. David has worked in the behavioral health field in Texas for over 35 years as a clinician, a manager, division director, trainer, an evaluator, a program developer, and a grant writer/reviewer. In addition to training on the SASSI for over 30 years, David has been a member of the SASSI Clinical Team for the last several years assisting on the clinical helpline. David is a passionate and caring individual that brings a vast wealth of understanding of the initiates, correlates and consequences of substance use disorder. But in addition; he is a marvelous communicator able to disseminate complex theoretical paradigms into readily understandable language, which simultaneously assists providers with the sometimes-nuanced interpretations of SASSI clinical results.

Please join us at The SASSI Institute in welcoming David in taking on his new role. We are thrilled to have him continuing collaborations with the SASSI team.

SASSI Online Tips and Tricks: Volume 8 | Viewing Report Results

SASSI Online is our web-based platform that supports the digital administration of the Adult SASSI-4, Adolescent SASSI-A3, and Spanish SASSI.

In this edition of SASSI Online Tips and Tricks we highlight the steps to view a client’s completed SASSI questionnaire results.  When a client completes the questionnaire, responses are sent to the scoring server for immediate results. You will receive an email notification that the questionnaire is complete, with instructions on how to view the report from the Account Dashboard. For security reasons, report results are not sent via email. 

To view the report and questionnaire responses you must be logged in to your dashboard, and locate the client on your My Clients tab. To view the report or questionnaire responses for your client, click on their Client ID. In the window, select what you would like to view from the following options: View Report or View Questionnaire.

The SASSI report includes a graph of the client’s scale scores, the outcome of the decision rules based on the client’s responses, and a narrative report on the client’s profile. The completed questionnaire contains all questions asked, the client’s responses, and the scale scores.

Sample SASSI Online Reports are available here:

If you are not currently using SASSI Online and would like to experience the features of the digital platform, create an account at www.sassionline.com.  If you already have an account, let us know if you have any suggestions for our next edition of SASSI Online Tips and Tricks.  As a bonus for reading this blog post to the end, reach out to us at blog@sassi.com, with the code phrase: Report Results, to request two free SASSI Online administrations!

Last Clinical Q&A Until Summer | Register Now!

We wanted to welcome you to join us for a free one-hour online SASSI Q&A session hosted by our Clinical Director, Kristin Kimmell, LCSW, LCAC. This will be our last free Q&A session until Summer.

The Q&A is scheduled from Noon-1pm ET on: April 16th. You can save your spot by clicking here. We welcome you to share profiles to discuss with the group by sending them (de-identified) via email any time prior to the session to scarlett@sassi.com. These profiles will help others learn about the SASSI and offer insight into the various profile configurations.

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

In-Person SASSI Trainings

Happy Spring! Our certified SASSI trainers have been busy doing live in-person training this year and would like to hear from you about the need in your local area for this service. Please visit the training page on our website to view a list of currently scheduled workshops at www.sassi.com/sassi-training. If nothing is scheduled in your area, please reach out directly to the trainer so they know there is interest in their area, and they can plan accordingly. They are also happy to schedule private in-person training for your agency/organization.

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.