This one-day introductory training provides a foundational overview of the ASAM Criteria, designed specifically for professionals new to the Criteria. Participants will explore the historical development of the ASAM Criteria and its role in shaping modern addiction treatment systems, with an emphasis on its history, Guiding Principles, Dimensions and the Continuum of Care.
This training is intended to build baseline literacy and shared language around the ASAM Criteria, serving as a basic foundation for the more hands skills based adult or adolescent-specific criteria focused on assessing the Dimensional needs and determining level of care level of care in practical application.
The Fourth Edition of The ASAM Criteria builds on the past 30 years of The Criteria and provides an updated, streamlined, and pragmatic approach to assessment and treatment planning. This 4.5 hour session will provide a consolidated overview, in addition to some of the "why" in relation to the major changes in terminology, levels of care, dimensions and assessment processes.
This training provides participants a foundational understanding of The ASAM Criteria and equips participants with the skills needed to effectively make level of care decisions and guide initial treatment planning. The session focuses on the levels of care service characteristics and the essentials for level of care decisions. By mastering the key pillars—Multidimensional Assessment, Dimensional Admission Criteria, and Level of Care Determination Rules—participants will gain the confidence and skills to make level-of-care decisions aligned with the ASAM Criteria.
This two-day, application focused training will provide participants with an in-depth look at some of the significant changes and improvements in the Fourth Edition. Participants will have opportunities to apply and practice key components of the Criteria, including but not limited to; the six dimensions, level of care assessment, application of Risk Ratings to each of the Five Dimensions, Dimensional Admission Criteria Decision Rules, shared decision making and an overview of Service Characteristic Standards, Discharge and Transition Criteria.
Participants will understand the relationship between the treatment plan and the use of admission, continued stay, and transition criteria. In addition, participants will learn how to write measurable, individualized treatment plans based on the Dimensional Drivers and individualized needs and preferences of the person served. Participants will also have the opportunity to explore ways in which the patient’s stage of change impacts and drives a person-centered treatment plan and a cursory review of core motivational interviewing skills for treatment planning conversations, shared-decision making and to support readiness for and engagement in treatment.
This intensive one-day training is designed for clinicians, supervisors, and program leaders who have completed the Two-Day ASAM Criteria Fourth Edition Skill-Building Training and are ready to advance their application of the 4th Edition in complex, real-world clinical situations. Drawing from the full scope of the Two-Day Skill-Building Training as its foundation, this advanced session moves participants from competency to mastery — emphasizing nuanced clinical judgment, complex case decision-making, and more in depth skills. The training uses multiple case vignettes, presenting participants with clinical scenarios for in depth practice of the Criteria. The emphasis is placed on equipping participants to apply the Criteria at a high level and also understand how to navigate some of the more nuanced aspects of the Criteria.
*Prerequisite: completion of a 2-day ASAM Criteria Skill Building Training
Through partnership with the NIATx Foundation, Train for Change will provide an ASAM Implementation Guide training that helps organizations utilize NIATx's evidence-based process improvement model to help treatment programs and systems improve care and find a balance between fidelity to standards and the flexibility to meet the needs of patients. This training is essential for leadership to implement the Criteria and make organizational changes that support its fidelity.
Focusing on the NIATx Five Principles, the training provides a science-based foundation for evolving a culture of continuous improvement within the organization, not only for The Criteria but for any improvement or implementation project, Trauma Informed Care, Motivational Interviewing, CBT, Decreasing "no shows," EHR, Treatment Plan Quality, Documentation, etc.
Individual and/or team calls are conducted to enhance additional understanding of the nuances of the Criteria and the ongoing “real-world” implementation issues. Coaching helps Change Agents and the agency identify and plan for improvements needed in relation to findings of The ASAM Criteria Change Agent Support Tool. The coaching calls also provide support and accountability for the related improvement processes.
This one-day training builds on the pre-requisite 2-Day ASAM Criteria Skills Training. The training provides a brief review and then goes into more specific application, focusing on use of the Criteria to determine admission, continued stay and discharge. With case studies participants will practice applying the risk ratings, dimensional admission criteria specifications, conceptualizing the initial framework of a service plan and then using continued stay/transfer and discharge Criteria. The training will also include a focus on clinical documentation to support the use and application of the Criteria.