Social Workers and Delivery of Evidence-Based Psychosocial Treatments for Substance Use Disorders

Abstract

Social workers encounter individuals with substance use disorders (SUDs) in a variety of settings. With changes in health care policy and a movement toward integration of health and behavioral health services, social workers will play an increased role vis-á-vis SUD. As direct service providers, administrators, care managers, and policy makers, they will select, deliver, or advocate for delivery of evidence-based SUD treatment practices. This article provides an overview of effective psychosocial SUD treatment approaches. In addition to describing the treatments, the article discusses empirical support, populations for whom the treatments are known to be efficacious, and implementation issues.

Keywords:

• Substance use disorders
• social workers
• psychosocial treatment
• evidence-based practice

Notes

Preparation of this manuscript was supported by National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Grant # U10 DA013714 (D. M. Donovan & J. Roll—Principal Investigators).