NEW ENGLAND: The ATTC of New England is currently involved in an exciting and challenging venture in the State of Massachusetts.  We are introducing the MIA: STEP Blending Product into adult residential programs working collaboratively with the Massachusetts Bureau of Substance Abuse Services (BSAS), their training contractor, AdCare Educational Institute, as well as 20 adult residential agencies.
The timing for the adoption of MIA: STEP at this juncture has proven fortuitous as providers from these agencies recently received training in the Massachusetts Adult Residential Motivational Interviewing (MARMI) project as well as MI coaching--which was found to be an extremely beneficial component to the MI process. Further, in August 2008, these agencies were given the opportunity to report out on their MI experiences during a panel discussion sponsored by the state entitled: Motivational Interviewing:  Adopting an Evidence-Based Practice in Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Programs.  All of these exposures resulted in an extremely motivated group that welcomed the introduction of the NIDA-ATTC supervisory evidence-based practice to round out the MI process and keep the momentum going.
The ATTC of New England recently hosted an “exposure meeting” with all the participants to provide an overview of the MIA: STEP protocol so that supervisors could determine their degrees of readiness for adoption.   
In January, the ATTC of New England, BSAS and AdCare will jointly kick off a statewide, multi-agency MIA-STEP training.

NATIONAL OFFICE: The ATTC Network and Directors Meetings are fast approaching. For complete information please click here or you can navigate to the meeting information pages from the intranet home page! Please contact Cindy Christy with any questions. The meeting dates are:

• Network Meeting - December 2-3, 2008
• Directors Meeting - December 4-5, 2008
• Pre-Event: ATTC Web Site Meeting - December 1, 2008 (1-4:00)
• Pre-Event: Leadership Institute Coordinators Meeting - December 1 (6-8:00)
  

NATIONAL OFFICE: A Network Web Site Meeting is added to the schedule on Monday, December 1st, prior to the Network Meeting! Please click here for details or contact Erin Fridley for more information

NATIONAL OFFICE: In hopes of simplifying staff member contact information changes and updates on the ATTC Network web site, a feature was recently added to your Administration Portal to update staff contact information for your Regional Center. This information will drive your “Staff Directory” on your Regional Center’s section of the Network website.read full discription

NATIONAL OFFICE: We Need Your News!! ATTC Network news is featured on the home page of the Network Web site. This section highlights newsworthy items from around the Network such as awards received by ATTC staff, new publications by ATTC staff, updates from ATTC workgroups of interest to the public, etc. In other words, recent things happening around our Network that we want to BRAG about to our web users go in this section. read full discription

NATIONAL OFFICE: A Leadership Institute Coordinators Meeting is being added to the Network Meeting Schedule as a pre-event. It will take place on Monday, December 1, 2008 from 6:00 - 8:00 pm. Please contact Deann Jepson for additional information.

NEW ENGLAND: The ATTC of New England introduced a new distance learning course in November titled Implementing Motivational Enhancement Therapy - Cognitive Behavioral Therapy five sessions (MET/CBT 5) an Evidence-Based Brief Treatment. read full discription

CARIBBEAN BASIN: The workshop entitled: Theoretical Foundations on Substance Abuse Counseling will be conducted in San Juan, PR on November 18th for the “Mas Salud” staff and will be presented by Areliz Quiñones, EdD. For more information contact Maria del Mar Garcia at (787) 785-4211 or mgarcia@uccaribe.edu.

CARIBBEAN BASIN: Cognitive Therapy in Substance Abuse Counseling will be offered in Ponce for the local SSA staff of Puerto Rico on November 21st and will be presented by Zahira Lespier, PsyD. For more information contact Maria del Mar Garcia at (787) 785-4211 or mgarcia@uccaribe.edu.

NEW ENGLAND: The State of Maine Office of Substance Abuse will host a NIATx Access and Retention Learning Collaborative in 2009, a pilot project with NIATx and the New England ATTC.

PACIFIC SOUTHWEST: The Center for Applied Behavioral Health Policy will be conducting a full day Motivational Interviewing emersion training at the Gila River Indian Community on November 24, 2008. The training will be conducted by Dr. Robert Rhode, a MINT Certified Motivational Interviewing trainer. This training is open to Gila River Indian Community staff only. For more information on this training, please contact Marsha Chischilly at marsha.chischilly@gric.nsn.us.

PACIFIC SOUTHWEST: The Center for Applied Behavioral Health Policy is pleased to host a two day training with John DeMiranda on the subject of Recovery Oriented Systems of Care on December 1 and 2, 2008 at Arizona State University, Memorial Union, Pima Room. This is a unique opportunity for participants to receive a basic understanding of recovery orientation in addressing community alcohol and drug problems. read full discription

CARIBBEAN BASIN: Responding to the need of information in the elderly population, specifically Hispanics, Dr. Rafaela Robes, Dr, Ibis Carrion and Mrs. Carmen Andujar participated in the National Hispanic Council on Aging Annual Conference: Transforming the Future of Aging: Sharing the Best of Us to Empower Hispanic Older Adults and their Families. read full discription

CARIBBEAN BASIN: Cognitive Therapy in Substance Abuse Counseling was offered in San Juan on November 15th for the local SSA staff of Puerto Rico and was presented by Zahira Lespier, PsyD. For more information contact Maria del Mar Garcia at (787) 785-4211 or mgarcia@uccaribe.edu.

CARIBBEAN BASIN: Substance Abuse Counseling: Relapse Prevention Workshop was delivered by Delia Patricia Gonzalez, PsyD and conducted inSan Juan, PR on November 13th. For more information contact Maria del Mar Garcia at (787) 785-4211 or mgarcia@uccaribe.edu.

MID-AMERICA: Mid-America ATTC sponsored a two-day training on the curriculum, Foundations of Substance Use, Abuse and Dependence, in Oklahoma City, OK, on November 12-13, 2008. The 19 participants included American Indian professionals in substance abuse treatment, prevention, education, and the faith community in the state of Oklahoma. read full discription

NEW ENGLAND: On October 22nd, the ATTC of New England participated in a 4TC meeting that included representatives from the Regional Training Centers, the AIDS Education Training Center, and the STD/HIV Prevention Training Center. read full discription

NEW ENGLAND: Leslie Cohen was recently promoted to Workforce and Program Development Coordinator. Leslie has been working with our Distance Learning Program for more than a year, and has a lengthy work history with NIDA and other federal programs. In her new role, she will assist in the development and coordination of ATTC-sponsored and co-sponsored workforce development activities. She will have responsibility for overseeing NIDA Blending Product initiatives.

NEW ENGLAND: The New England ATTC has been providing technical assistance for the Vermont state office of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs for its strategic plan. Over two site visits, the New England ATTC staff has supported efforts by the state treatment, prevention and recovery oversight teams to understand the implications of recovery-focused care, the impact of recovery management, and distinctions between recovery and treatment. These efforts laid the groundwork for the development of a cohesive and collaborative multi-year strategic plan.

NORTHEAST: The Northeast ATTC conducted a two seminar session of Overview of Motivational Interviewing to eighty participants as a part of the Allegheny County Healthchoices two week training program on November 13, 2008.

NORTHEAST: The Northeast ATTC attended the How to Stop Wasting the Best and the Brightest: Substance Abuse at America’s Colleges and Universities, conference on October 23, 2008.This conference was organized by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University on Thursday, October 23, 2008 at the Conference Center at Dewey & LeBoeuf in New York City. Keynote presenter – Dr. Nora D. Volkow and J. A Califano, Jr. Chairman and President of CASA Columbia.

NORTHEAST: The Northeast ATTC is conducting a training-of-trainers for the Adolescent Co-occurring Disorders for the state of Pennsylvania Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and Bureau of Drug and Alcohol Programs. Twenty-seven regionally placed trainers will attend this training November 19 – 20, 2008 in Grantsville, PA.

CARIBBEAN BASIN: On November 11, 2008 Drug Addiction a Chronic Illness was offered in San Juan for the Counselors Association of Puerto Rico and was presented by Ibis Carrion, PsyD. For more information contact Jose Soto at (787) 798-3001 ext. 2120 or joseg.soto@uccaribe.edu.

CARIBBEAN BASIN: Promoting Awareness of Motivational Incentives (PAMI) was offered in San Juan on November 14, 2008 for the Counselors Association of Puerto Rico and was presented by Jorge Nogales, MA. For more information contact Jose Soto at (787) 798-3001 ext. 2120 or joseg.soto@uccaribe.edu.

CARIBBEAN BASIN: MATRS Treatment Planning was offered in San Juan on November 14, 2008 for the Counselors Association of Puerto Rico and was presented by Omar Perez, PhD. For more information contact Jose Soto at (787) 798-3001 ext. 2120 or joseg.soto@uccaribe.edu.