Addictions, Substance Use Category

CDCA Preliminary Certification

40 CE Hours
3 members have taken this course
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About the Course

This is the education bundle that has been approved by the OCDPB for those seeking their CDCA Preliminary Certificate.

This course is based on the reading online article and recorded webinar, CDCA Preliminary Certification created by Danny Wamsley et al in 2026.

Publication Details

Publication Date: First

Course Material Authors

Course Material Authors authored the material only, and were not involved in creating this CE course. They are identified here for your own evaluation of the relevancy of the material this course is based on.

Danny Wamsley, LCASA

Danny Wamsley is a licensed addiction specialist with a clinical certification with the National Association of Dual Diagnosis (NADD). Danny currently works in manage care as a DSS liaison. His primary goal is to provide consultation to social workers who are involved with child-protective services and In-Home Services. Danny also has 10+ years of experience working with individuals diagnosed with intellectual disability and substance use. Danny’s professional interests include addictions/recovery, intellectual disability, foster care, military, trauma, and domestic violence.

Kathryn Held, Psy.D., CADC III

Kathryn Held, Psy. D associate and CADC III, is an individual therapist at Visions adolescent treatment centers. With a decade of experience in the mental health field, Kathryn specializes in the treatment of anxiety disorders, OCD, and the OCD spectrum. Kathryn also has expertise in working with LGBTQ+ adolescents while navigating complex family systems. Her current research projects include adolescent suicide and the use of OCD art interventions in anxiety and OCD treatment. She is trained in CBT, ACT and Exposure and Response Prevention. Her empathetic and artistic approach helps support, educate, and instill agency in her clients. Prior to joining the Visions team, Kathryn worked in various treatment settings including detox, sober living, and as the Program Director of a dual diagnosis outpatient treatment center.

Wendy Wade

Wendy Wade, PhD, LPCC and CADC 1 has worked with children and families for many years. She began by facilitating educational support groups with children of parents with substance use disorder in the 1980s when the field was first beginning. She taught in elementary school, both public and private, and was principal in a public elementary school. Her next opportunity was as coordinator of Children’s Program at the Betty Ford Center 2000s. She began training and speaking at conferences at that time. She volunteered at Santa Cruz County Children’s Mental Health working up assessments to ascertain if psychological issues may be interfering with meeting educational goals for children with IEPs. She also provided therapeutic support to children in special education, their families, and school staff. She was counselor/case manager with adults in inpatient treatment for substance use disorder and was also coordinator of family program services at Beacon House in Northern California. She volunteered as camp counselor bi-monthly for 4 years at Camp Mariposa for COAs. The children were from ages 9-12 and were referred by Youth Services in San Diego. She has continued providing training for teachers, counselors, therapists, and addiction professionals especially beginning in 2016 to the present and speaks at conferences as often as possible about this marginalized cohort of children who need understanding and information on how to help them. She has been a trainer for the National Association for Children of Addiction (NACoA) for several years, first on the Celebrating Families Curriculum and more recently with the revised Children’s Program Kit She has co-written curricula for online training in both curricula, and is developing a significantly revised in-person training on the CP Kit. She is Assistant Professor at Palo Alto University in the MA in Counseling Program, beginning in 2014. She is lead teacher in the Addiction Counseling Class, and teaches several other classes as well

Beth Rontal, LICSW

Beth Rontal, LICSW, is a nationally recognized and engaging speaker on mental health documentation for private practice clinicians and those working in agency behavioral health settings. Her Misery and Mastery SM trainings and accompanying forms have been used all over the world. She mastered her teaching skills with thousands of hours supervising and training both seasoned professionals and interns when supervising at an agency for 11 years.

Beth writes blogs on clinical documentation, co-chairs the NASW Private Practice Shared Interest Group, and has a private practice in Brookline, MA specializing in working with people who struggle with emotional eating.

Carmen Ferrer-Pérez, PhD

Dr. Ferrer-Pérez is an assistant professor in the Department of Developmental Psychology at the University of Valencia. Her work focuses on neurobiology and she has been published in multiple peer reviewed journals.

Catherine E. Paquette, PhD

Dr. Paquette is a Postdoctoral Associate in Research with the Bellwether Collaborative for Health Justice. Her research focuses on harm reduction interventions for physical and mental health among people who use criminalized drugs, including those affected by the criminal legal system. She has had multiple works published in peer reviewed journals.

Tiara Totten

Tiara Totten is a Licensed Clinical Addictions Specialist and Licensed Professional Counselor with more than nine years of experience working with adolescents and adults utilizing person-centered, motivational interviewing, solution-focused, and cognitive behavioral techniques to help individuals achieve optimal wellness. She has extensive experience in individual therapy, group therapy and supervision and is currently working on her PsyD in clinical psychology.

Target Audience

This course is intended for Addictions professionals, including addiction counselors. It is appropriate for beginner levels of knowledge.

Learning Objectives

After taking this activity, you should be able to:

  1. 1 Explain the differences between drug abuse and addiction, identify key risk factors that contribute to substance use disorders and recognize signs and symptoms of substance misuse.
  2. 2 Define recovery capital, identify its five key domains, and explain how these resources support sustained, long-term recovery from substance use.
  3. 3 Describe the principles and goals of harm reduction and explain how harm reduction strategies help prevent overdose deaths and improve public health.
  4. 4 Identify and describe the medications commonly used to treat various types of substance use disorders (SUD).
  5. 5 Explain one way counselor self-disclosure can be helpful to a client and identify one way boundary violations harm a client and/or the therapeutic relationship.
  6. 6 Relate two main features of either Cognitive Behavior Therapy or Motivational Interviewing and at least one advantage of Motivational Interviewing.
  7. 7 Provide 2 examples of trauma a client may have experienced and one example of a trauma informed interaction and one example of how trauma and addiction are related.
  8. 8 Identify one potential harm reduction therapy and 2 co-occurring disorders commonly present with SUD.
  9. 9 Describe the historical evolution of group work, from early medical groups to twelve step influence and modern professional standards and identify key therapeutic benefits of group counseling in addiction treatment.
  10. 10 List major group formats and theoretical approaches commonly used in addiction counseling and describe their core features.
  11. 11 Identify essential ethical and safety considerations for group facilitation, including screening, informed consent, and confidentiality norms.
  12. 12 List and apply the six ASAM dimensions to evaluate and assess individuals with substance use disorders.
  13. 13 Describe collateral information from family, friends, and other external sources.
  14. 14 Describe what is meant by “Golden Thread” in treatment planning and provide an example of an individualized safety plan that integrates harm reduction, protective factors, and cultural considerations.
  15. 15 Identify 1 question to ask a client to co-create a treatment plan.
  16. 16 Identify 2 early signs of crisis and describe at least 2 challenges of navigating complex system collaborations while centering client autonomy, dignity, and relational safety.
  17. 17 Identify 2 parts of a decision-making model and 2 best practices used in addiction counseling.
  18. 18 Describe 3 basic principles of confidentiality and two components of ethical treatment for chemical dependency counselors.
  19. 19 Identify one role that is outside the scope of practice for a CDCA holder.

Disclosure to Learners

CE Learning Systems adheres to the ACCME's Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Medical Education. Any individuals in a position to control the content of a CE activity – including faculty, planners, reviewers, or others ― are required to disclose all relevant financial relationships with ineligible entities (formerly known as commercial interests).

The following relevant financial relationships have been disclosed by this activity's planners, faculty, and the reviewer:

Planners and Reviewers

The planners of this activity have reported that they have no relevant financial relationships.

Material Authors

Any relevant financial disclosures for course material authors can be found in the article.

Commercial support

There is no commercial support for this distance-learning course.

Ohio Chemical Dependency Professionals Board (OCDPB)

40 CE credit hours

CDCA Preliminary, CDCA Renewable, LCDC II, LCDC III, LICDC, LICDC-CS, GE, RA, OCPSA, OCPS, OCPC

Eligible until Jun 1st, 2028
CE Learning Systems, service provider of Addiction Counselor CE, is approved as a provider for addiction counseling continuing education by the Ohio Chemical Dependency Professionals Board (Provider # 50-17843)
More Info

Agenda

1. Models of Addiction
Addiction is often seen as a long-term condition where a person keeps using substances, like drugs or alcohol, even though it harms them. This section will explain the main ideas behind several models of addiction.
2. Understanding Drug Abuse
This module defines drug abuse and drug addiction and discusses common reasons why people misuse drugs.  We will also cover harm reduction.
3. Recovery Capital and Medications for SUD
Understanding how recovery capital impacts addiction and the medications that are approved for treating SUD expands the tools that can be used in treatment.  This module will give you an overview of both of these important topics.
4. Motivational Interviewing and Brief Interventions
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is the agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that leads public health efforts to advance the behavioral health of the nation. Part of accomplishing this mission, is the publication of documents and toolkits for those who provide mental health and substance misuse services.    This module is one of those publications and focuses on Motivational Interviewing and Brief Interventions that are recommended when working with clients struggling with SUD.
5. Trauma and Addiction
This section provides a quick review of different models of addictions before discussing interventions.   We will also look at the relationship between trauma and addiction.
6. Trauma Informed Care
A history of trauma is common among those being treated for substance misuse.  This module will discuss the importance of providing trauma inforned care and will provide guidelines to improve your ability to provide this type of care.
7. The Fundamentals
Back to basics!   This module provides some basic information about being a counselor including documentation and case management responsibilities.
8. Co-occurring Disorder

Co-occurring disorders are very common among people who struggle with substance misuse. This module will discuss common co-morbid disorders as well as treatment considerations for this population.

9. Client Counselor Relationship in Addiction Counseling
Multiple studies have demonstrated the importance of the counselor client relationship in treatment.  This module will provide an overview of this important topic and tips for building a positive relationship with your clients.
10. Harm Reduction
Harm reduction is becoming a more accepted approach in treatment.  This module will discuss the development of nonabstinence approaches, review theoretical and empirical rationales, and review existing harm reduction models.
11. Group Dynamics – Foundations and Context
Groups are very common in SUD treatment. This module will provide a strong foundation as you begin to work with groups.
12. Evidence Based Frameworks in Group Therapy
This module discusses the evidence based frameworks that are commonly used in group therapy.  Examples are included to enhance understanding of the different types of groups.
13. Group Planning
This module focuses on planning and leading addiction focused therapy groups. The session emphasizes the importance of thoughtful group structure, intentional goal setting, and the strategic use of therapeutic interventions to support meaningful change.
14. Purpose, Management, Documentation and Cultural Awareness in Group Therapy
This module provides an overview of the core principles of effective group counseling practice. Participants will explore the therapeutic purpose of group counseling, strategies for managing group dynamics, best practices for documentation and referrals, and the role of cultural awareness in group settings. 
15. ASAM Guidelines
This module provides an in-depth exploration of the ASAM Criteria and the crucial role of collateral information in assessing and treating individuals with Substance Use Disorders (SUD). It covers all six dimensions of the ASAM criteria, highlighting their application in creating individualized treatment plans.
16. Introduction to the 12 Core Functions
Originating from established practices and later codified through educational, regulatory, and clinical standards, these functions form the backbone of professional addiction counseling. This module explores the 12 core functions of substance use disorder (SUD) counseling as foundational elements in the assessment, treatment, and recovery support for individuals experiencing substance misuse. 
17. The Golden Thread in Treatment Planning
Knowing how to develop a treatment plan is a critical part of every counselor's job. This module will provide details on best practices for accomplishing this task.
18. Staying Safe and Connected
This module discusses effective approaches to crisis intervention, safety planning, and system collaboration for individuals navigating substance use, trauma, and mental health challenges. Trauma-informed, culturally responsive, person-centered care will be the focus of this section.
19. Ethics for Addiction Professionals
Ethical considerations are key to providing quality care.  This module provides an introduction into this complex content area.
20. Ethics and Laws Handouts

In this final section we provide handouts that cover OH specific laws for addiction professionals including duty to warn guidelines. 42 CFR Part 2 is also covered in the handouts.

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