Addiction and Stigma: It's Time to Talk!

Substance use disorder (SUD) conversations and education are needed due to a 28.5% increase in overdose death rates reported by CDC on November 17, 2021 (CDC, 2021). In previous years, CDC reported overdose death rates in the 70,000 range, this year’s report is over 100,000 for the same time periods. It is time to talk about promoting healing and long-term sobriety. We as humans, even with social work ethics, training, and licenses are still prone to biases and stigma, especially with persons who struggle with substance use/abuse issues. This webinar will help participants acknowledge personal biases and strategies to combat counterproductive attitudes that cause harm to the same people our code of ethics is designed to protect. It is time to talk about how reducing stigma and personal biases by re-embracing our commitments to service, dignity and worth of person, and value of human relationships.

• Assess personal biases when dealing with a person with substance use/abuse issues.
• List, describe, and apply strategies to combat unhelpful/counterproductive attitudes towards persons with substance abuse issues.
• Introduce healing conversations that motivate and encourage growth and continued sobriety.

Sidney H. Smith III, LMSW, CPSS